LITERARY SUPERSTARS AND HOT NEW AUTHORS: 2008 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL LINEUP DAZZLES

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 10AM - 6PM

BOROUGH HALL PLAZA, 209 JORALEMON STREET, BROOKLYN, NY

Major free public event: Joan Didion, Richard Price, Jonathan Lethem, Dorothy Allison, Russell Banks, A.M. Homes, George Pelecanos, Terry McMillan, Jonathan Franzen,

Susan Choi, Esmeralda Santiago, Thurston Moore, Paul Beatty, Jacqueline Woodson, Chuck Klosterman, Jimmy Breslin, Pete Hamill, Nikki Turner, Elizabeth Nunez, Ed Park, Pico Iyer, Gail Carson Levine, Cecily von Ziegesar, Chris Myers, Jane O’Connor, Jon Scieszka, Mo Willems and more!

On Sunday, September 14, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, the Brooklyn Literary Council and Brooklyn Tourism host the annual Brooklyn Book Festival, a huge, free event presenting an array of literary stars and emerging authors who represent the exciting world of literature today.

The Brooklyn Book Festival is one of America’s premier literary and literacy events—a hip, smart, diverse gathering attracting thousands of book lovers of all ages. The festival is organized around themed readings and devoted to timely and lively panel discussions. The inclusion of top national and international authors and new partners has expanded the festival’s reach while continuing to celebrate and enhance Brooklyn’s contemporary and historic literary reputation.

Confirmed authors include Joan Didion, Richard Price, Jonathan Lethem, Dorothy Allison, Russell Banks, A.M. Homes, George Pelecanos, Terry McMillan, Jonathan Franzen, Susan Choi, Esmeralda Santiago, Thurston Moore, Paul Beatty, Jacqueline Woodson, Chuck Klosterman, Jimmy Breslin, Pete Hamill, Nikki Turner, Elizabeth Nunez, Ed Park, Pico Iyer, Gail Carson Levine, Cecily von Ziegesar, Chris Myers, Jane O’Connor, Jon Scieszka, Mo Willems and many more.

“These days, Brooklyn is indeed the Creative Capital of America. We’re home to many of the world’s renowned writers and a thriving reading audience—as well as a destination for culture-seeking tourists worldwide,” says BP Markowitz. “The Brooklyn Book Festival is as diverse as our borough itself, and it’s only fitting that it’s now become a must on the national and international literary circuit. How sweet it is!”

The festival boasts five outdoor stages in Borough Hall Plaza and Columbus Park, as well as “Reading Rooms” inside beautiful, historic Borough Hall and nearby at the Brooklyn Historical Society and St. Francis College auditorium. An outdoor literary marketplace will include more than 140 booksellers, publishers and literary organizations.

Young adults and young adults at heart are in for a special treat. The Brooklyn Book Festival caters to the facebook set with hip panels on topics from graphic novels to fantasy and wildly popular teen “glamour fiction” at the “Youth Stoop” stage. Children of all ages will also be entertained at the Target “Children’s Area,” whereby kingpins of children’s lit like Mo Willems and Jane O’Connor will read from their work.

Again this year, beautiful, collectable Brooklyn Book Festival bookmarks will be available at all branches of the Brooklyn Public Library and most independent bookstores.

The 2008 Brooklyn Book Festival is an initiative of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz presented by Brooklyn Tourism and the Brooklyn Literary Council. Target is a major sponsor of this year’s Festival and Time Out New York will once again serve as the event’s media sponsor. NYC and Company Foundation is a cultural partner.

Following is a complete list of confirmed authors to date. As programming information becomes available, check www.visitbrooklyn.org. Also visit myspace.com/brooklynbookfestival and the Brooklyn Book Festival Official Site on facebook.

BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL 2008 CONFIRMED AUTHORS

Warren Adler

Henry Alford

Jose Eduardo Agualusa

Dorothy Allison

Russell Banks

Toby Barlow

Moustafa Bayoumi

Mo Beasley

Paul Beatty

Ross Benjamin

Charles Bock

Philip Boehm

Mirko Bonne

Jimmy Breslin

Breyten Breytenbach

Geoff Canada

Colin Channer

Susan Choi

Kate Christensen

Melissa Clark

Gabriel Cohen

Ta-Nahisi Coates

Jerry Craft

Celine Curiol

Mark Danner

Frank Delaney

Stacey D'Erasmo

Joan Didion

Robert Draper

Steve Dublanica (The Waiter)

Ronald Dworkin

Nathan Englander

Rachel Fereshleiser

Isaac Fingerer

Nick Flynn

Jonathan Franzen

David Frum

Aleksander Genis

Dagoberto Gilb

Andrew Sean Greer

Ben Greenman

Philippe Grimbert

Paul Guest

Jessica Hagedorn

Pete Hamill

Theodore Hamm

Kathryn Harrison

Matthea Harvey

Joanna Hershorn

Paul Holdengrabber

A.M. Homes

Pico Iyer

Steven Jenkins

Nina Katchadourian

Porochista Khakpour

Josh Kilmer-Purcell

Chuck Klosterman

Lily Koppel

Pavel Lembersky

Jonathan Lethem

Tao Lin

Sandra Tsing Loh

Leonard Lopate

Phillip Lopate

John R. MacArthur

Ian MacKaye

John Manbeck

Alice Mattison

Patrick McGrath

Terry McMillan

Joe Meno

Thurston Moore

Eileen Myles

Arthur Nersesian

Jay Neugeboren

Fae Myenne Ng

Patrice Nganang

Elizabeth Nunez

D. Nurkse

Patricia O’Brien

Joseph O’Neill

Ed Park

Jose Luis Peixoto

George Pelecanos

Arthur Phillips

Darryl Pinckney

Katha Pollitt

Kevin Powell

Richard Price

David Rakoff

Aaron Raskin

Elizabeth Reddin

John Reed

Nathaniel Rich

Simon Rich

Steven Rinella

Cristy C. Road

Carl Hancock Rux

Linda Sanchez

Loretta Sanchez

Esmeralda Santiago

Said Sayrafiezadeh 

Ken Siegelman

Amy Shearn

Robert Silvers

Esther K. Smith

Larry Smith

Patricia Smith

Amanda Stern

Manil Suri

Paco I. Taibo II

Marina Temkina

Hannah Tinti

Adrian Tomine

Paul Tough

Nikki Turner

Linn Ullmann

Binyavanga Winaina

Matt Weiland

Jacob Weisberg

Sean Wilsey

Dirk Wittenborn

Naomi Wolf

Peter Wortsman

John Wray

Matvei Yankelvich

Kevin Young

Gary Younge

YOUTH

Holly Black

Susan Cooper

Deborah Gregory

Gail Carson Levine

David Levithan

Patricia MacLachlan

Sarah Mlynowski

An Na

Ariel Schrag

Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez

Paul Valponi

Ivan Velez Jr.

Cecily von Ziegesar

Brian Wood

Jacqueline Woodson

Bil Wright

CHILDREN

Raul Colon

Grace Chang

Nina Crews

Melanie Hope Greenberg

Edward Hemingway

Betsy Lewin

Ted Lewin

John Bemelmans Marciano

Chris Myers

Jane O’Connor

Chris Raschka

Jon Scieszka

Marilyn Singer

Mo Willems