Reports from book festivals, readings, conferences, etc.

[Erika]

Hi, everyone. I thought that it might be nice for us to have a place to share reports from book festivals, conferences, and readings. Please note: This is NOT a thread for authors to promote their own events; it IS intended to be a place to share insights impressions, and ideas gleaned as audience members at OTHER authors' events.

[Erika]

On Monday evening, I was in the audience for a New York Public Library conversation between André Aciman and Nicole Krauss. My coverage of that event is now online.

[Sally]

Great idea, Erika. After reading your post, I'm adding "Harvard Square" to my must-read list.

Of course, the mother of all book conferences are in a couple of months: Book Expo. I'm looking forward to the NBCC panel in response to the VIDA study about how female authors are so under-represented in book reviews -- even those by female book reviewers.

[Erika]

Hi, Sally. I'm only going to be at BEA on Saturday ("Power Reader" day). I went for the first time last year, and it was quite an experience. One highlight was the chance to meet Francesca Segal at her autograph booth--I was lucky to get a galley of her fabulous, multiple award-winning novel The Innocents, which I wrote about here.

[Sally]

Hi Erika: I love Book Expo, mostly because it's where I see so many of "my people" -- others who love and create books, who understand my obsession with story and language. I'm going for the day before, to attend some of the NBCC events(my husband Daniel is a member), and stop in at the Digital World and Book Bloggers conferences. Then, the first day of for the floor and main conference. I'll return home for a couple of days, then go back to the city for the Jewish Book Council. I'll try to post here about those conferences.

"The Innocents" looks fascinating. I'm going to buy it and put it toward the top of my bedside to-read pile. Thanks for pointing it out to me.

[Sally]

If anyone is going to be in NYC tomorrow, the NBCC (National Book Critics Circle) has a couple of very interesting panels planned at the Center for Fiction -- on the future of literary journals, and another in response to the VIDA study about how women authors are less reviewed than their male counterparts. I'll be attending the latter, and trying to make it to the one on literary journals.

[Sally]

I'm still organizing my notes from Book Expo, and the NBCC panel in response to the VIDA study (see above). As usual Book Expo was very energizing. I simply love being among so many others who are as passionate about books and language as I am. I met some delightful folks and saw quite a few old friends and acquaintances. I attended an intriguing panel about fonts for eBooks that made me realize that we should actual see well-designed eBooks (in the traditional sense of good typography) within another five years. At least, I hope so.

[Erika]

Sally wrote: "I'm still organizing my notes from Book Expo, and the NBCC panel in response to the VIDA study (see above). As usual Book Expo was very energizing. I simply love being among so many others who are ..."
Sally, I wasn't able to attend any of the NBCC events, but I've watched the video of the panel on ethics in book reviewing and read a summary of the VIDA panel. I'll share them here in case anyone else is interested:
http://bookcritics.org/blog/archive/v...
https://anne-fernald.squarespace.com/...

[Sally]

Thanks for sharing those links. I didn't have any on hand to share. The VIDA panel was definitely a high point of the week. The audience was as fascinating as the panelist.

One older woman stood up to say, "I can't believe this is 2013, and we're still talking about this." As an activist, she had fought the good fight for all of us decades ago. And she's right. How is it that women are still having to struggle to be heard above the din of male-dominated industries? Yes, the glass ceiling is still firmly entrenched, and I have the bumps on my head to prove it.

[Erika]

Well, the NBCC president has just pointed out (on Twitter) the encouraging signs in this week's NYTBR.....

[Sally]

One would hope, now that a woman is at the head. But Tin House is the really encouraging breath of fresh air. They jumped in a while ago, determined to no longer have gender bias. Check out Rob Spillman's comments on the NBCC VIDA panel... http://www.centerforfiction.org/calen...

[Erika]

Check out the JTA report on the Foundation for Jewish Culture's awards gala. Includes an audio link for Michael Chabon's acceptance speech. http://www.jta.org/2013/06/11/arts-en...

[Roberta]

Hi Everyone, I live in Chicago and attended the Printers Row literary fest a few weeks ago. As all of you book lovers know, it's just fun to be outside browsing through books and knowing you're among people who share your interests. The highlight of the fest was meeting Art Spiegelman and having him sign and draw in one of his new books for me. His Sunday appearance was unscheduled so it was just by chance that we happened to meet. I can identify with him on many levels. The Holocaust destroyed much of my family, and my paternal grandfather was a prominent political cartoonist in pre-war Europe....My husband and I attended a panel discussion about ebooks, but it was more about the panel promoting their own interests than that of the audience. Actually, everyone at the fest was scurrying around and promoting themselves.It was all part of the fun!

[Erika]

Roberta wrote: " The highlight of the fest was meeting Art Spiegelman and having him sign and draw in one of his new books for me."

That sounds great!

[Erika]

Okay, so it's not a festival per se, but I just discovered this amazing playlist series of Israeli authors reading from their works. (Discovered via Twitter, which pointed me to the new video of Amir Gutfreund, whose Our Holocaust I adored.) Kind of a way to attend mini-readings from afar. Looking forward to spending more time with this list. http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=...

[Erika]

New audio recordings from the 2013 Jewish Book Week festival (London) are now available: http://www.jewishbookweek.com/news/au...

[Erika]

Here's a report from last evening's event featuring Rutu Modan at NYC's Society of Illustrators. As the piece mentions, you can still catch Modan at other NYC venues over the next several days.

[Erika]

An account of Saturday evening's fantastic Etgar Keret event in NYC. (Apologies in advance if you have any troubles accessing--my website is going through some strange instability I'm trying to get resolved.)

[Erika]

A glimpse into a recent Philip Roth tribute in NYC (post includes a link to Tablet magazine's fuller report).

[Erika]

List of events and online resources to help celebrate Jewish Book Month: http://blogs.forward.com/the-arty-sem...

[Marvin]

Peril: From Jackboots To Jack Benny

Pearl Goodman spoke at two events during the Toronto Holocaust Education Week. The tapestry of Trauma http://www.jewishtribune.ca/arts-and-...

[Erika]

New post on My Machberet about the Association of Jewish Libraries conference (includes direct links to conference proceedings and selected session info).

[Erika]

We haven't had much activity in this part of the discussion board, have we? I attended an event, "A Celebration of Jewish Books," on Sunday here in NYC; you can find some info/photos from this Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/erikadreifus/stat....

[Philip]

No discussions on this board, or any of he others, for that matter. I find the talks here like messages in a bottle. Any reading of them takes place weeks or months later when it's no longer relevant. There's no give and take, just posts that go nowhere.

[Dan]

Erika wrote: "We haven't had much activity in this part of the discussion board, have we? I attended an event, "A Celebration of Jewish Books," on Sunday here in NYC; you can find some info/photos from this Twit..."

Thanks for sharing, Erika.

[Iris]

Okay, I'll jump in. Last week, I did an author talk on my book "An Epiphany in Lilacs" for the REAP group at the JCC in Tenafly. It was excellent. I was asked some very thought-provoking questions and I sold quite a few books. A really nice way to spend the afternoon.

[Erika]

Well, that one may verge into "authors on their own books" territory, but I'll bite: What IS REAP?

Iris wrote: "Okay, I'll jump in. Last week, I did an author talk on my book "An Epiphany in Lilacs" for the REAP group at the JCC in Tenafly. It was excellent. I was asked some very thought-provoking questions ..."

[Iris]

It stands for Retired Executives and Professionals. They're a group of active senior adults who meet regularly at the JCC for various cultural and intellectual activities.

I was very impressed with them and the JCC itself.

[Stacey B]

Erika wrote: "We haven't had much activity in this part of the discussion board, have we? I attended an event, "A Celebration of Jewish Books," on Sunday here in NYC; you can find some info/photos from this Twit..."

Was that event part of JBC?
I was invited- but live in Florida; weather was nasty.
I sit on their advisory board.

[Erika]

Stacey, I believe that the JBC coordinated the program content; the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center here in NYC hosted. I very much hope that it will become a regular event--and perhaps you'll be able to attend next time!

Stacey wrote: "Erika wrote: "We haven't had much activity in this part of the discussion board, have we? I attended an event, "A Celebration of Jewish Books," on Sunday here in NYC; you can find some info/photos ..."

[Terri]

Harvard Square looks good!