,

BBF Unbound 2018: Seeking Submissions

2017’s BBF Unbound series of community-curated sessions offered a bounty of creative sessions and workshops proposed by members of our community. BBF Unbound sessions at last year’s festival included an intro to writing positive spoken word and hip hop, a rousing game of “Literary Never Have I Ever,” a road map to reading and writing feminist romance novels, and a timely discussion on writing from a position of privilege. We love hearing your ideas for sessions and working with you to develop successful BBF presentations and workshops.

We’re now accepting proposals for 2018 BBF Unbound sessions, to be presented at the Boston Book Festival on October 13.

We are looking for outside groups/individuals who can introduce fresh voices and new ideas to the BBF. Be creative! The session can involve a debate, demo, workshop, literary improv, dramatic readings, panel discussion, literary games, etc. We are not looking for product promotions, plugs for businesses, or sessions featuring a single author publicizing his or her book. Note that in 2018, due to venue limitations, we are particularly interested in proposals for small writing/publishing workshops.

You will be responsible for running your session, i.e., gathering participants, beginning and ending on time, and covering any expenses (beyond room rental and basic A/V). We will publicize your session on our website and in our Program Guide, and we will expect you to publicize it as well.

We will evaluate proposals based on: 1. Will the content appeal to the BBF audience? 2. Does the content offer something different from standard BBF fare? 3. Is the individual/group offering a plausible plan for implementing the session?

APPLY HERE

The deadline for applications is June 29–applicants will be notified of their selection by late July.

Questions?: Contact Norah Piehl, norah@bostonbookfest.org

If you would like to submit a hard copy of your proposal, or if you would like to submit supporting materials, please send them to:

Norah Piehl, Deputy Director
Boston Book Festival
32R Essex St. Cambridge, MA 02139
norah@bostonbookfest.org

We look forward to reviewing your submissions!

Share this post:
by

Request for Proposals: Shelf Help 2018

Boston Book Festival is once again reaching out to the Greater Boston community to help us implement our annual Shelf Help partnership. We know that many elementary schools lack the resources to fully stock their school libraries with contemporary, high-quality books. We want to help expand one school library book collection, and then we will work with the Wondermore organization to coordinate a children’s book author or illustrator visit to share the wonders of book creation with young readers!

Last year, as part of the Shelf Help partnership, the Boston Book Festival, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Penguin Young Readers, HarperCollins and Candlewick Press donated books to the Curley K-8 School in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood. Pam Yosca, the co-chair of the Curley Library Committee, writes, “Our partnership with the Boston Book Festival and Wondermore through Shelf Help launched the reopening of the Curley K-8 School Library. Caldecott Medalist Javaka Steptoe’s insightful and entertaining presentation was the inaugural author visit in the library, and was a wonderful community event. We are so grateful to BBF for securing dozens of brand new, high quality books for our students and teachers, and for highlighting the importance of libraries in our public schools.”

Again in 2018, Shelf Help will partner with one K-8 school library, providing a donation of new books near the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year. We will be collecting donations at the tenth annual Boston Book Festival on October 13th.

If you know a library professional at a school that needs some Shelf Help, please forward them this RFP, which has links to a short online or downloadable application. All proposals are due by May 302018.

You can also lend direct “Shelf Help” to the Boston community! If you would like to donate a book, please come to the Boston Book Festival on October 13 and look out for our information booth, or you can donate through our online book wish list. Email us at info@bostonbookfestival.org to receive a link to the “Shelf Help” donation site. If you would prefer to make a cash donation, please visit our donate page. Upon checking out, select “Make this a gift” and designate “Shelf Help” as the gift recipient in the appropriate box.

With “Shelf Help,” we aim to support students’ discovery and expression of their voices through access to an increased selection of books within their school environment. Words have power to motivate and provoke all readers to discover themselves and their place in the world, and we hope that Shelf Help will encourage students to view themselves as literary explorers!

Share this post:
by