Bay Area Book Festival Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Dark teen storytelling Feb 06, 2025

Show notes

Traci Chee, Sarah Lariviere, Darcie Little Badger, Sandra Proudman, Brittany Williams, moderated by Laura Gao Daniel

Sometimes, the darkness can illuminate the imagination—especially in these beautifully wrought novels for teen readers. New York Times bestselling author Traci Chee's gut-wrenching fantasy Kindling tells the tale of postwar "kindlings," a corps of elite, magic-wielding warriors whose devastating power comes at the cost of their own young lives. Darcie Little Badger's A Snake Falls to Earth, longlisted for the National Book Award and winner of the Newbery Award, is a breathtaking saga of Indigenous futurism that draws from the author's knowledge of Lipan Apache storytelling. Sarah Lariviere's Riot Act is an alternate history set in 1991 in which theatre kids fight for freedom of expression, while Brittany N. Williams (That Self-Same Metal) melds the world of fae with the grit and excitement of Shakespeare's London acting troupe; and Sandra Proudman's anthology Relit, featuring sixteen award-winning and bestselling YA authors, reimagines classic tales through fantasy and science fiction, anchored by a Latinx point of view. Moderated by Laura Gao.

Immigration Narratives: Expansive Genres, Expansive Identities Jan 30, 2025

Show notes

Faith Adiele, Bill Hing, Tessa Hulls, Lauren Markham, moderated by Tasneem Raja

Immigrant narratives span time, place, and genre to reach deeper universal truths. Four writers join in conversation to explore the many facets of immigrant narratives. Migration and immigration narratives are foundational to how we understand and celebrate culture, and these four panelists grapple with this central theme through various lenses—from Lauren Markham's exploration of the criminalization of migration, to Tessa Hulls' depiction of the immigrant experience through multiple generations of Chinese women, to Bill Hing's analysis of the racial justice implications within the U.S. immigration system, to Faith Adiele's personal reflections on identity and belonging as an immigrant. Moderated by Tasneem Raja (Berkeleyside), the conversation will venture into intergenerational trauma, social justice and adversity, and narrative form and genre-bending. This event highlights the deepest reflections on identity and belonging, and also celebrates the lasting meaning and social impact of representing immigrant experiences in literature.

The Forgetters: Greg Sarris in conversation with Jane Ciabattari Jan 23, 2025

Show notes

Greg Sarris in conversation with Jane Ciabattari

Join Greg Sarris, acclaimed author and tribal leader, in an engaging conversation with literary critic and interviewer Jane Ciabattari as they explore his latest work, The Forgetters. Don't miss this insightful conversation between two literary luminaries about a book that is as thought-provoking as it is unforgettable.

Navigating the Mirror World: Misinformation, Conspiracies, and Why It's Time to Wake Up Jan 16, 2025

Show notes

Naomi Klein in conversation with Brooke Warner

Join award-winning author, professor, filmmaker, and activist Naomi Klein in conversation about her latest book, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World. Doppelganger offers a unique and dynamic perspective on the absurdity and complexity of our current political moment. Klein uses her own experience of being mistaken for "Other Naomi" (Naomi Wolf, the feminist intellectual turned anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist) as a springboard to explore what she calls the "mirror world," where conspiracy theories, online paranoia, mimicking, and more are creating a far-right parallel universe that's been all too tempting for Democrats to dismiss or ignore. With her signature intellectual rigor, Klein refuses to look the other way, and with genuine curiosity and desire to understand what fuels her doppelganger and other conspiracists, she flings herself into the underworld to shine light on its appeal and its real-world consequences. Klein is an associate professor in the department of geography at the University of British Columbia, the founding co-director of UBC's Centre for Climate Justice, and an honorary professor of Media and Climate at Rutgers University. She is a columnist for The Guardian, and her writing has appeared in leading publications around the world. Klein will be in conversation with Brooke Warner, the Festival's Board Chair and Publisher of She Writes Press. This is an exciting opportunity to hear one of our most influential social critics unpack and muse on the current political moment and the doubles that haunt us.

Memoir and Imagination: Where Truth and Creativity Collide Jan 09, 2025

Show notes

Grace Loh Prasad, Sylvia Brownrigg, Leta McCollough Seletzky, Tarek El-Ariss, moderated by Piper Kerman

Moderated by Piper Kerman (Orange Is the New Black), four panelists share their process and experience of memoir as the telling of a true story, but also as a work of imagination. Our esteemed panelists, Grace Prasad (The Translator's Daughter), Sylvia Brownrigg (The Whole Staggering Mystery), Leta McCollough Seletzky (The Kneeling Man), and Tarek El-Ariss (Water on Fire), have recently released memoirs that touch upon the authors'relationship to their parents—how they mourn them, imagine them, reconcile with them, and in the process, come to terms with themselves. Writing memoir is a process of self-understanding that also invites the reader into a context and a world that is by definition subjective. Our stories and personal agency can also be circumscribed by institutions and systemic pressures, which may in turn shape memory and imagination. Join this deep conversation about memory, lived experience, and how writers choose the stories they do in a journey of self-understanding, reinvention, and empathy.

First Person Plural: Poets Speaking for Self and Community in Poetry and Memoir Jan 02, 2025

Show notes

José Vadi, Brontez Purnell, Priscilla Wathington, Adrienne Chung, MC'd by Sam Sax

Come hear some of the Bay Area's most dynamic poets with new collections of poetry and memoir. Panelists include Brontez Purnell, whose Ten Bridges I've Burnt is a wrenching, sexy, and exhilaratingly energetic memoir in genre-defying verse; Priscilla Wathington, whose debut chapbook, Paper & Stick, draws from her experiences as a Palestinian American and her past human rights and humanitarian work with NGOs such as Defense for Children International – Palestine; poet José Vadi, whose book, Chipped: Writing from a Skateboarder's Lens, is a memoir-in-essays that begins with wheels and a mere piece of wood—often chipped; and Adrienne Chung, whose debut collection, Organs of Little Importance, is a winner of the National Poetry Series that claps back at Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. The reading will be emceed by Sam Sax, author of Pig, a collection of poems that uses the humble animal as a lens to explore the body, faith, desire, and power.

National Book Critics Circle Superstars of Fiction Dec 26, 2024

Show notes

Amy Tan and Jonathan Lethem, moderated by Jane Ciabattari

Honoring the fiftieth anniversary of the National Book Critics Circle, this panel presents a beautiful range of voices representing some of the best and most beloved fiction writers of our times. First books by Jonathan Lethem (Motherless Brooklyn) and Amy Tan (The Joy Luck Club) won NBCC awards. The esteemed panelists will read from recent work and discuss the transformative nature of winning an NBCC award and their writing life since with moderator Jane Ciabattari, NBCC Vice President/Events.

Architectural Insights: Revealing Layers of Meaning in Bay Area Landmarks Dec 19, 2024

Show notes

John King, Eric Porter, moderated by Bianca Taylor

Discover the Bay Area's architectural gems through a narrative lens, as they unveil the intricate interplay of cultural, social, and technological forces. This panel showcases the authors of two captivating reads: John King, author of Portal, a vivid exploration of the Ferry Building's rich history and symbolic significance, and Eric Porter, author of A People's History of SFO, a compelling voyage through the ever-evolving landscape of San Francisco International Airport, beyond its terminals and tarmacs and into the ongoing struggle for regional equity. This panel promises to be as rich as the Bay Area culture and landscape itself, delving into the rise of activism, locally sourced food, globalization and climate change, and regional equity struggles. Moderated by Bianca Taylor (KQED), this conversation promises to unravel hidden narratives embedded within these iconic structures and to explore the insights they offer into our collective future challenges.

Special Episode: The Next Chapter: Arts and Advocacy and the role of festivals Dec 12, 2024

Show notes

J.K. Fowler of Bay Area Book Festival in conversation with Steve Wasserman of Heyday Books

The arts are widely underfunded at a time when we need meaning and connection more than ever. What can we do as writers, creatives, and community members? Support the Bay Area Book Festival

Lurking in Plain Sight: Crime Fiction Beyond Genre Borders Dec 05, 2024

Show notes

Nancy Jooyoun Kim, Ritu Mukerji, Jason Powell, moderated by Heather Young

Moderated by thriller author Heather Young (The Distant Dead), this panel brings together novelists whose books center elements of crime, whether they're shelved in mystery or literary fiction. Writer and firefighter Jason Powell's debut novel, No Man's Ghost, explores the psyches of those who fight fires and those who set them. Nancy Jooyoun Kim's What We Kept To Ourselves is a historical novel about a Korean immigrant family grappling with the mystery of the mother's disappearance, only to find a dead body in their yard somehow connected to her. An Edgar Award Finalist for Best First Novel, Ritu Mukerji's Murder by Degrees is a historical mystery set in 19th-century Philadelphia, following a pioneering woman doctor as she investigates the disappearance of a young patient who is presumed dead. This panel brings to its audience an expansive celebration of crime fiction from exciting writers whose page-turning stories model why readers love these tales.

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