by Taylor Follett
It’s almost that time of year again: The Fifth Annual Bay Area Book Festival is taking place in Downtown Berkeley on May 4 and 5, 2019. This year’s festival boasts a number of authors and exhibits, including the return of Robert Reich as a keynote speaker, a new interview series called Writer-to-Writer, where authors interview each other, and more wonderful talks than hours in a day. With so much to do, it can be difficult to figure out which authors to see, so before grabbing your book bag and heading to the festival, grab your library card and read some of the works by the speakers!
The novelists coming to the festival have written enough to keep readers occupied through five more years worth of book fests, but try getting started with these:
Esi Edugyan
Ann Beattie
Linn Ullmann
Justina Ireland
Joyce Carol Oates
André Alexis.
Tayari Jones
R.O. Kwan
Carmen Maria Machado
Poetry fans, rejoice! This year’s Book Fest has several wonderful poets in the lineup, including Ishmael Reed:
And, of course, the nonfiction selection shines with memoirs, essays, and critical works:
Albert Woodfox
Lacy M. Johnson
Jose Antonio Vargas
Kwame Anthony Appiah
Anand Giridharadas
Kiese Laymon
You can find more information about the 2019 Bay Area Book Festival here. Enjoy!