Meet the Interns

What is your favorite book and genre?

 

Kyle: My favorite book is actually a series of four, the Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante. Ferrante is incredible in everything she does, and I think the series encapsulates everything her work sets out to do, which is to combine the personal and the political in a fiery narrative. Other than that, I’d reckon some of my other favorites are Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. That being said, my favorite genre is probably literary fiction, but I’m also a sucker for a good YA novel.

 

Megan: I’m always torn when asked what my favorite book is. I usually pick three from different categories. My favorite book that I read for school is The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger, for Young Adult it’s currently the Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas (though the Harry Potter series will always have a special place in my heart), and in general I adore A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. I’m currently reading the Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin (the books that Game of Thrones was based on) and I can already tell it’s going to be in my top five favorites once I’m caught up. Growing up I couldn’t get enough of the Warrior Cats series by Erin Hunter as they were the books that made me actually like reading in the first place. As for genre, Young Adult Fantasy will always have my heart. Give me a story with some magic and romance and I’m all yours!

 

Katelynn: My favorite book is Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It is one of those books that I’m still thinking of years after reading it. They say to never judge a book by its cover, but let me tell you! Anyone looking at the mangled cover of my copy of Herland can tell it is extremely loved and constantly read. My favorite genres are Sci-Fi and Dystopian. I appreciate the freedom these genres allow writers to play with plot and themes. Plus I always finish a Sci-Fi or Dystopian novel with a new perspective of my own reality and self, which I think is especially important for the present time.

 

If you could meet any writer, dead or alive, who would it be?

 

Kyle: It’s a weird choice, but I’d want to meet William Shakespeare. I’m studying to be a Shakespeare scholar later in my career, so my whole life is basically already devoted to him. There are so many mysteries surrounding his identity, work, and biography that’d I love to be able to sit down with him for a talk, just to hear what he has to say about art and life. Sure, his tragedies and histories and comedies have a life of their own, but if I had one wish it’d be to see the man behind this facade of greatness.

 

Megan: I would have to say JK Rowling. As much as I disagree with her on a lot of things that she has said about Harry Potter after it first came out, at the end of the day when I read those books it feels like I’m coming home. Her words have always found a way to make me feel at peace no matter what. I really would like to talk with her about a lot of the questions and theories that I have, as well as her experience as a writer in general. She really did a lot in the realm of literature, and culture in general, and I would love to get the chance to have a cup of tea with her and chat.

 

Katelynn: I think I would like to have a late evening dinner in the warm months of summer with Anne Frank, Mary Shelley, the authors of Curious George,H. A. Rey and Margret Rey, and Oscar Wilde. An interesting group I know, but I just want to sit down with each of them to express how much their words have meant to me and so many around the world. Then after dinner I’d like round out the night by going stargazing with Kurt Vonnegut and talk about the universe and the human experience with him.  

 

Favorite adaptation of a piece of literature?

 

Kyle: I’m a complete geek for HBO’s Game of Thrones and can ramble on about it for days if you get me started. (Targaryen forever!) But I also adore Keira Knightley’s Pride and Prejudice, which I think captures the Austen vibe perfect, through all her quirky plot points and complex, yet fascinating character portraits. Also, Knightley perfect depicts the Elizabeth Bennet spirit.

 

Megan: I absolutely adore Sleep No More, an immersive theater adaptation of Macbeth by Shakespeare and Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I’ve been to see it a few times now in NYC. Each experience is completely unique and I come away with a greater appreciation for the production as a whole, especially how they were able to take two pieces of literature and blend them together to form something new. The fact that I can interact with these characters and the set as part of the immersive experience has given me a better understanding of the original texts as well. I’ll never forget Lady Macbeth whispering her “out, damned spot” monologue in my ear while comparing my hand to hers and leading me up a flight of stairs!

 

Katelynn: I will always love Baz Luhrmann’s adaptations of Romeo and Juliet and The Great Gatsby. Both of those movies are so visually stunning and evoked the same emotion in me (aka I cried the moment the movie began) as the books did. Any adaptation of a children’s book also makes me extremely emotional because my biggest passion is making sure the next generation has great stories that will impact their lives for the better. I thought the most recent adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time was brilliant, and I couldn’t help but think of all the kids who had either read the book or would be begging their parents for it after watching the movie. Storytelling is so important so I am basically here for any book being adapted and therefore able to reach a larger audience.

 

Hobby outside of reading?

 

Kyle: Truthfully I don’t really do much outside of reading! But jokes aside, I love to write: fiction, essays, poems, you name it. There’s no feeling better than seeing my name in a byline or within a magazine, and I actually had a collection of short stories published in 2017 by my college’s press! Other than that, I’m a huge fan of history and study it constantly on the side (see above: Shakespeare), plus philosophy and psychology. But I’m not always so serious: I spend hours watching YouTube Let’s Plays and mukbangs—don’t judge me!

 

Megan: I love to spend hours playing video games. It’s a whole different form of storytelling that I can’t get enough of. I love being able to be at the center and control the narrative. My favorites are usually story-based as a result, such as the Dragon Age series by Bioware (especially Inquisition). I actually wrote an entire paper analyzing the representation of elves in that series for my Research Writing class when I was a freshman! I also love Overwatch and have sunk in hundreds of hours playing as Mercy. On top of video games, I’m really into Dungeons and Dragons as well as it gives me time with friends and is another immersive outlet for storytelling. I typically play as an elf and rogue is my favorite class!

 

Katelynn: Ever since moving to Boston I have become a huge plant fanatic. I love watering my little plants and making sure they are happy. There is just something about coming home to a room full of plants. My favorite plant right now is my Royal Hustler Ivy because I love watching the vines grow longer. As a graduate student I have put effort into finding hobbies that really allow me to escape from the stresses of school. Cooking, singing, and dancing seem to always boost my mood and clear my mind. I’m big into soups and have gotten pretty good at making a wicked creamy tomato soup.  

 

What are you most excited for at the BBF?

 

Kyle: I may be cheating on this, since I’m its project manager, but I can’t wait for One City One Story! I can’t reveal too much, but I can say this year’s story is beyond immersive, touching, and heartfelt, revealing bits of humanity that are both intimate and private. One aspect I love most about 1C1S is the fact that we distribute free copies, and providing this citywide access to all is something that is very close to my heart. I’m so excited for everyone to see what we have been working on for so long.

 

Megan: I really can’t wait to meet and see the authors that I’ve been emailing! As the Author and Publisher Liaison intern, I’ve had a lot of communication with a wide variety of authors, publicists, and the like. Some of the authors I’m familiar with (I’m especially excited about the Young Adult authors that are coming) and others are new to me. I’ve really enjoyed being exposed to so many authors and I’m excited to meet them (and read their books in my free time). I wish I could be at every panel and event!

 

Katelynn: I’m a bit biased because I am the sole intern, but I am most excited for Lit Crawl Boston. I have poured my heart and soul into this event, and I am eager to see it all come together. I adore being a part of an event that helps to bring the community together while also helping to support local businesses and writers/performers. I have had the privilege of getting to correspond and work with some really inspirational people. It has been a lot of fun (and hard work) being so involved in planning Lit Crawl. I am most looking forward to seeing how attendees react to the different venues and their excitement for the different sessions as they “crawl” through Back Bay.

 

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“All Lit Up!”: Lit Crawl Boston’s Writers Talk About Writing About Writers

What’s more fun than mixing drinks? Mixing genres. Alden E. Jones’s session Writers Talk About Writing About Writers will have attendees fanning over interesting authors and inspired to explore the lives of their own favorite authors. Head to our Lit Crawl Boston event page to mark this session on your schedule and check out our previous blog posts to discover more about our other great sessions.

 

  1.     Tell me a bit about how your session came to be? Was there something that inspired you to form your group?

Alden: Fiction Advocate launched the Afterwords series in 2018, and its editors asked a number of literary critics to choose a major, recent work of fiction or memoir that had made an impact on them. We were given instructions to use 25,000 or so words to combine literary criticism with whatever other style of nonfiction we would like. We four Afterwords authors thought it would be fascinating to talk about how we each engaged with a text in different creative ways. Also, when you accumulate as many facts about certain writers as we have—our books are on Ben Lerner, Cormac McCarthy, Jonathan Letham, and Cheryl Strayed—we thought creating a trivia game from that knowledge would be fun for us and other fans of these writers.

  1.     What is one thing you hope those attending Lit Crawl Boston will gain from your session?

Alden: The genre combining literary/cultural criticism and memoir is in bloom. We hope attendees of our session will feel inspired to consider the books and writers that have impacted them the most, and that our session invites them to consider creative ways to write about other writers and their writing. Also—trivia prizes!

  1.     In honor of Lit Crawl including drinks or food, what would your session be if it could be any type of drink and or type of food item?

Alden: Fusion cuisine, of course. This session as a drink list would be quite eclectic: fancy vodka martinis for Stacie Williams’s book on gentrification; Snapple lemonade to acknowledge Cheryl Strayed’s fixation with it in Wild; and, to honor Cormac McCarthy, homemade whiskey with a touch of rattlesnake venom.

  1.     Boston is such a historic and literary city! If you could have any historic figure attend your session who would it be and why?

Alden: I think Oscar Wilde would get a kick out of this session. In his own critical writing on art and culture, he loved to go rogue, get personal, and invent his own style. I’d like to ask him what text he’d chose for his own Afterwords volume!

Thank you Alden for the wonderful interview. Now let’s get ready to “Lit Crawl!”

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“All Lit Up!”: Lit Crawl Boston’s Silent Book Club

We all have an author or character that has inspired us. Here at the Boston Book Fest we are inspired by Manasa Davuluri who has brought with her from the West Coast the great session Silent Book Club. This club was born from friendship and from it attendees may garner not only some great book recommendations, but some new friends too! The best part about this session? You can join the Silent Book Club and continue to have a great time long after Lit Crawl Boston. Continue reading to find out more and if you like what you read click on our previous blog posts to get an inside look at our many other great sessions happening at this year’s Lit Crawl Boston.

 

  1.    Tell me a bit about how your session came to be? Was there something that inspired you to form your group?

 

Manasa: I remember seeing an article last year on Silent Book Club that talked about how it got started by two friends in San Francisco before spreading to many other cities. At the time, I was living in Sacramento and decided to start a chapter there with my friend, just to see how it went. We were thrilled with the positive response and the strong turnout from the beginning. It’s a unique idea and it seemed like people were waiting for something like this to join. When I moved to Boston last summer, I started a chapter here as a way to meet new people. Hosting these events at Trident has been lovely and making guilt-free time to read in the middle of a busy week has been an act of self-care.

 

  1.    What is one thing you hope those attending Lit Crawl Boston will gain from your session?

 

Manasa: I hope they gain a relaxing space to enjoy one of their hobbies/passions and a sense of community by meeting new people. Silent Book Club is not a complicated concept but it almost seems revolutionary in its simplicity. The fact that you can take yourself out for a night while you’ve got all these other obligations going on (gasp!). Or that you can go to a book club that doesn’t bring you back to high school with assigned reading and discussion questions. It seems like people always say they wish they could read more but just don’t have the time. I hope some of them could walk away from SBC feeling like it’s possible, and that it’s something they can continue to do for themselves and/or with their friends.

  1.    In honor of Lit Crawl including drinks or food, what would your session be if it could be any type of drink and or type of food item?

 

 

  1.    Boston is such a historic and literary city! If you could have any historic figure attend your session who would it be and why?

 

Manasa: This is a really hard question and I definitely need more time to consider! But off the top of my head, Jane Austen springs to mind. Not only is she likely a beloved author of many of our attendees, I just feel her personality would be a great fit for SBC:  bookish, lighthearted, witty, curious, and fantastically observant!

 

Thank you Manasa for a fantastic interview! Now let’s get ready to “Lit Crawl!”

 

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“All Lit Up!”: Lit Crawl Boston’s The Great American Poetry Challenge

After interviewing Sara Siegel about her session The Great American Poetry Challenge it is clear to see the biggest challenge is having to wait for June 6 to attend it! The Great American Poetry Challenge will have everyone exploring the poet within themselves while bonding with fellow Bostonians over laughs, language, and great drinks and food. Continue reading below to find out more and once you are done check out our previous posts on the other sessions involved in this year’s Lit Crawl Boston.

1. Tell me a bit about how your session came to be? Was there something that inspired you to form your group?

Sara: There are so many different challenges around—from American Gladiator to the Ice Bucket Challenge. We liked the idea of grouping together friends or strangers for a literary challenge—creating an original poem based on a specific set of guidelines that will be secret until the evening-of. It will make for an interesting assortment of pieces—since no one will have the luxury of agonizing over theme, word choice, meter, etc. beforehand, because no one will know the guidelines!

2. What is one thing you hope those attending Lit Crawl Boston will gain from your session?

Sara: We hope that attendees will come away with the assurance that poetry is accessible and realize that it can also be silly, fun, and modern. We also hope that having working poets as team cheerleaders will give attendees confidence in their own writing.

3. In honor of Lit Crawl including drinks or food, what would your session be if it could be any type of drink and or type of food item?

Sara: I think the Great American Poetry Challenge would be a jambalaya—a mix of a little bit of everything. Who knows what’s going to come out of each team’s creations?

4. Boston is such a historic and literary city! If you could have any historic figure attend your session who would it be and why?

Sara: I’m leaning towards Dorothy Parker—she had such a quick wit. I think she’d be fine creating a masterpiece on the spot.

Thank you Sara for such a wonderful interview! Now let’s get ready to “Lit Crawl!”

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“All Lit Up!”: Lit Crawl Boston’s Immigrants in Conversation

Like a table filled with different dishes from all over, there is a beauty in what makes all of us unique. Jennifer and Julia’s interview is a great reminder as to how important it is to reach out and listen with love to the stories of those we may think are different from ourselves. Immigrants in Conversation is sure to bring people together to absorb the inspirational experiences and art of the immigrant community here in Boston. Read more about this event below and after you are done check out the schedule for Lit Crawl Boston posted on our website.

1. Tell me a bit about how your session came to be? Was there something that inspired you to form your group?

Jennifer: This was Julia’s idea. She had been hosting the Italian American Writers Association Reading Series at I AM Books for about a year when she asked if I’d co-curate/host with her. I AM Books has become the heart of Italian American writing in the city. In this day of scant independent bookstores, Nicola and the staff have created something special. And of course, the North End has always been a haven for immigrants to America—the Eastern Europeans, the Irish, the Italians. We wanted to explore, via conversation with recent immigrants, this deeply American history—especially in these fraught times. We’re trying to establish this conversation with literary works.

2. What is one thing you hope those attending Lit Crawl Boston will gain from your session?

Jennifer and Julia: We hope people will stop by, listen to some beautiful writing, and simply appreciate the conversation. And of course, we want Boston to discover this little bookstore!

3. In honor of Lit Crawl including drinks or food, what would your session be if it could be any type of drink and or type of food item?

Jennifer and Julia: Oooooh. This is tough! For a drink, we’d have to choose a nice Chianti, or a deep espresso. How about a sweet limoncello? Food? How about octopus (polpo) simmered in a red sauce (gravy???)? I’m thinking those long arms, reaching!
Actually, octopus is Jenn’s idea; Julia is embarrassed to admit as an Italian that octopus freaks her out. She prefers the circles of calamari grilled. Either way hands reaching out, circles of love!

4. Boston is such a historic and literary city! If you could have any historical figure attend your session who would it be and why?

Jennifer and Julia: We chose Margaret Fuller, who was our first full-time female journalist and critic and would have come to our event if she lived today. She reported on Italy’s unification struggles, married an Italian, and if their boat had not gone down off the shore of Fire Island, would have raised one of Boston’s earliest Italian Americans.

Thank you Jennifer and Julia, it was a pleasure getting to interview you. Now let’s get ready to “lit crawl!”

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BBF Unbound 2019: Seeking Submissions

2018’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 a primer on self-publishing, a workshop on telling politically relevant personal stories, a celebration of feminist romance, and a roundtable discussion on writing and publishing while queer. We love hearing your ideas for sessions and working with you to develop successful BBF presentations and workshops. Click here for a sample of last year’s selected “Queering the Canon” proposal (whose session participants are pictured above, toasting their success at the BBF afterparty).

We’re now accepting proposals for 2019 BBF Unbound sessions, to be presented at the Boston Book Festival on October 19 (in Copley Square) and October 20 (in Dudley Square/Roxbury).

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. We are especially interested in program proposals from organizations and individuals based in Roxbury, as well as by curators who represent communities historically underrepresented in publishing and literary programming. 

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 via your networks as well. Presenters who come to us via BBF Unbound receive all the same benefits as any invited presenters: a presenter badge that guarantees priority seating at sessions, a headshot and bio on the BBF website, and invitations to the kickoff cocktail reception and afterparty.

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 has been extended to July 5–applicants will be notified of their selection by mid-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, Executive Director
Boston Book Festival
32R Essex St. Cambridge, MA 02139
norah@bostonbookfest.org

We look forward to reviewing your submissions!

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“All Lit Up!”: Lit Crawl Boston’s Four Stories

We all know literature pairs well with laughter like a Cabernet Sauvignon with a juicy steak! Steven Beeber’s interview will have you giggling and eager to have even more fun at their session, Four Stories, during Lit Crawl Boston on June 6. Read on to find out more–and between the laughter, creative thoughts, and excitement make sure to check out this session on the Lit Crawl Boston schedule.

 

  1.    Tell me a bit about how your session came to be? Was there something that inspired you to form your group?

 

Steven: Four Stories was originally the baby of Tracy Slater, but when she moved to Japan and had a real baby, we three (myself, Sari Boren, and Steve Brykman) took over. Regarding our event at Lit Crawl, it’s a specialized version of Four Stories in which both the readings and the questions for the readers are shorter. It’s like Insta-Four-Stories. Just add water (well, alcohol actually) and you have our regular event at The Burren in Somerville.

  1.    What is one thing you hope those attending Lit Crawl Boston will gain from your session?

 

Steven: As with writing in general, we hope not just to entertain but to move those who come. Or rather, we hope that our readers do so. We have a great lineup and I’m sure that there will be laughter, provocative ideas and maybe even a few wet eyes during the course of the night. Of course after the readers do their thing, they answer questions from the audience, and these are by definition funny. No “What do you use to write, a pencil or a pen?” — more, “How does your mother feel knowing she gave birth to someone who could imagine something so sick?” (though asked in a tongue in cheek manner, of course.)

 

  1.    In honor of Lit Crawl including drinks or food, what would your session be if it could be any type of drink and or type of food item?

 

Steven: We actually offer food and drink at our regular events, so in a sense we’re only involved in Lit Crawl because it’s copasetic! But if we were to be a beverage or food item? Perhaps a very dry martini accompanied by a bowl of hot chili. Or a beer with vichyssoise. Or a shot of rubbing alcohol with a communion wafer. All of these pair well.

 

  1.    Boston is such a historic and literary city! If you could have any historical figure attend your session who would it be and why?

 

Steven: I personally have always felt guilty by association for Edgar Allan Poe being run out of the city, so he would definitely be on my short list. And to provide the appropriate beverage for the audience member who asked him the best question, we’d offer a “Rogue Dead Guy.”

Thank you Steven for such a fantastic interview! Now let’s get ready to “lit crawl!”

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“All Lit Up!”: Lit Crawl Boston’s Food Will Keep Us Together

Food is the way to the heart. Deborah Norkin’s session Food Will Keep Us Together is sure to bring out the foodie in us all. This interview is full of wise words, will make you want to delight in something delectable, and smile. Interviewing Deborah Norkin was the greatest treat of all, read on to find out more about this wonderful session and why you should attend it.

  1.    Tell me a bit about how your session came to be? Was there something that inspired you to form your group?

Deborah: I started producing and hosting literary events to bring my author friends and reader friends together. Bringing people together to celebrate books is one of my great joys. Being able to talk about books and food makes it even better. At the last Lit Crawl, I produced A Taste of Boston Food Writing. I chose Food Will Keep Us Together as this session’s theme because food really is one of the few things every human being has in common. If we understand each other through what we eat, all the noise of the world disappears and we can see each other as people with the same wants, needs, and desires.Crystal’s depth of knowledge of food history is brilliant. When I read Dariel’s work, I feel like he’s in the room with me. Grace’s memoir has many stories of how food and culture are often interchangeable.

  1.    What is one thing you hope those attending Lit Crawl Boston will gain from your session?

Deborah: To see beyond the surface and know that every person deserves dignity, respect, and consideration. We all hunger. We all love. We all want to live in peace.

  1.    In honor of Lit Crawl including drinks or food, what would your session be if it could be any type of drink and or type of food item?

Deborah: A great big pot of something that everyone can share. Paella, or Pot au Feu.

  1.    Boston is such a historic and literary city! If you could have any historical figure attend your session who would it be and why?

Deborah:No question. Julia Child. I actually served her a salad when I was working on the line at the Harvest in Harvard Square a few decades ago. I didn’t see her eat it, but when the plate came back empty, I was thrilled. She possessed such a generous spirit. I have rewatched her shows many times and even though beyond that one salad, we never met, she is like a friend to me.

Thank you Deborah for this lovely interview, now let’s get ready to “litcrawl!”

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“All Lit Up!”: Lit Crawl Boston’s A Little Box of Yes

 

Entertaining, delightful, and creative are three words that best describe a Little Box of Yes and the two wonderful people who created it, Ethan Gilsdorf and Brian Mooney. Life and stories are more fun when you just say YES! Getting to know this session and its presenters was enlightening and I hope you enjoy reading about them too.

  1.    Tell me a bit about how your session came to be? Was there something that inspired you to form your group?

Brian Mooney: Everyone knows that writing can be a solitary thing, but it’s also a spectacularly improvisational thing—it’s just that hardly anyone ever sees that part of it. Usually, nobody is around when you sit and ask your characters, What if you did this or that? What’s your first memory? What do you sound like? What do you want? When you ask your places, What if you rained? What if you snowed? What if you had purple trees? When you ask your story, What if I wrote you in first person? What if you’re in present tense? Writers constantly ask themselves questions like this. It’s important to be able to say Yes to asking and answering those questions and exploring where they take you. That spirit of exploration is what inspires A Little Box of Yes, and it’s a lot of fun to do that exploration with other people and see what comes out of it.

Ethan Gilsdorf: On a personal level, Brian and I have known each other since the early 1990s, back when I lived in Vermont. Brian still lives there. I live in Providence. So it’s great to reconnect in this way some years later on our literary trajectories, and see what kind of trouble we can cook up collaboratively as part of Lit Crawl Boston.

 

  1.    What is one thing you hope those attending Lit Crawl Boston will gain from your session?

Brian: That it’s totally entertaining (and legit) to hang out with your friends and make up characters and settings and scenes and stories.

Ethan: And that storytelling is something that anyone can do.

 

  1.    In honor of Lit Crawl including drinks or food, what would your session be if it could be any type of drink and or type of food item?

Brian: A spiked watermelon on a picnic table with a red-checkered table cloth.

Ethan: Or, that funky, improvisational soup/stew/stir fry you make from all the random found items in your refrigerator. That you wash down with a ‘Gansett TallBoy.

 

  1.    Boston is such a historic and literary city! If you could have any historic figure attend your session who would it be and why?

Brian: Gertrude Stein, the Queen of Yes. Or William Gass, because that guy knew how to say yes.  And if we’re going just Boston-area, then Kerouac. He also knew a thing or two about yes.

Ethan: And Poe was born not far from here, near the Boston Common behind GrubStreet‘s offices on Boylston Street. So it’s fun to think of his spirit watching over us.

Brian: Stein, Gass, Kerouac, and Poe… Now THAT’S a party!

 

Thank you to Brian and Ethan for letting us interview you! Now let’s get ready to Litcrawl!

 

 

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Request for Proposals: Shelf Help 2019

Boston Book Festival is once again reaching out to the Greater Boston community to help us implement our annual Shelf Help partnership, which this year is expanding to reach two schools–one serving grades K–8 and one serving grades 9–12. We know that many area schools lack the resources to fully stock their school libraries with contemporary, high-quality books. We want to help expand the library book collections at two local schools, and then we will work with the Wondermore organization to coordinate a children’s or YA 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, Boys Town Press, Capstone Publishing, and Random House Children’s Books donated books to the King K-8 School in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. The BBF and Wondermore also coordinated a school visit by award-winning author Meg Medina.

In 2019, Shelf Help will partner with not one but two school libraries! We will choose one K–8 school library and one 9–12 school library, providing a donation of new books near the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year. We will be collecting donations at the eleventh annual Boston Book Festival on October 19-20.

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 312019.

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 19 (in Copley) or October 20 (in Roxbury) and look out for our information booth, or you can donate through our online book wish list. Email us at info@bostonbookfest.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!

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