Boston
Book Festival Founder and President Deborah Z. Porter notes that "Boston
was home to the nation’s first printing press, newspaper and public library," so maybe today's announcement of the free Oct. 24 event in Copley Square is just the tonic we need on a day when the Boston Globe is fighting for its life. Today Mayor Tom Menino formally announced the event, which is underwritten by the State Street Corp. and names the Globe among its media sponsors.
They're calling for a crowd of 10,000 for the 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. event featuring "issue-driven panels featuring internationally-known fiction and non-fiction
writers, scholars, critics and commentators; a focus on technology as it
relates to reading; programming for children, teens and families; writing
workshops and publishing seminars; and theatre, spoken word and music
performances."
There are panels on fiction, sportswriting, food writing, biography and the literature of climate change. (One must wonder about the date, given the potential for wind and chilly weather. Perhaps it will all be in tents.)
Writers already set to attend include Walter Isaacson,
Barbara Lynch, Ken Burns, Joseph Finder (right), Elinor Lipman, Anita Diamant (above), David Pogue, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.,
Michael Porter and Stephen L. Carter. The writers on the advisory board include Chris Bohjalian,
Junot Diaz, Andre Dubus III,
Leslie Epstein, Atul Gawande, Julia Glass, Allegra Goodman, Elizabeth Graver,
John Hodgman (left), Alice Hoffman, Dennis Lehane, Elinor Lipman, Margot Livesey, Claire Messud, Sue Miller, Susan
Orlean, Robert Pinsky and Richard Russo.
Interestingly for those still focused on ink-on-paper reading, be it the Globe or books, the fest also features E-Ink among its sponsors and a separate technology board, as well as a discussion titled, "Books Without Pages:
Discussing the Future of E-books." Or, Kindle this.
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