By Gwen Schanker, News Correspondent
For some, the Boston Book Festival (BBF) is a chance to meet favorite authors, professing “I just love you” at a book signing. For others, it’s a chance to meet with other readers or writers for discussions about what everyone at the festival has in common: a love of books.
The fifth annual BBF was held in Copley Square on Saturday, Oct. 19 and provided an engaging environment for readers and writers of all ages.
Nearly 50 tents were set up all around the square, and while most were selling books or merchandise, almost all had some kind of free giveaway, whether it was an information packet describing the organization in question, a pin that determined one’s “literary fate,” or the latest issue of a literary journal. Each vendor also featured a representative or two who were eager to reach out to readers and writers casually strolling around.
According to Rudy Martinez, representative at the Soho Press tent, the BBF is something to look forward to because “it gets a little more crowded every year.” For Martinez and others that work in the publishing business, it’s a great opportunity to promote their business.
“Everyone is genuinely interested in what we’re doing [and] people are willing to chat [about books],” she said.
Among those book-lovers was student Meredith Lawrence, an aspiring writer at Boston University, who loved that the festival gave her an opportunity to “listen to writers talk.”
The BBF featured more than 20 different author discussions over the course of the event in the buildings surrounding Copley Square, including the Boston Public Library and the Old South Church.
One of these authors was Chuck Klosterman, who spoke in a panel at the festival to promote his eighth book, “I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling with Villians (Real and Imagined).”
“When I was touring for this book, I did one of the book stores here and 200 something people showed up, so out of all the colleges and the type of person who lives here, it is just more literary than most of the country,” Klosterman said.
There was also a variety of interactive events that took place, such as poetry readings at Cuff’s Bar and this year’s pick for the annual “One City One Story” publication, Rishi Reddi’s short story, “Karma.”
There was something for everyone: children, adolescents and adults alike.
Miriam Karmel, author of the novel “Being Esther,” felt that the festival was “wonderfully organized.”
Karmel participated in a Q&A discussion with Amity Gaige and Jessica Keener entitled “Being and Becoming.” The panel discussed the issue of identity in fiction writing.
“There were so many different activities, [and] whoever put this together did it very thoughtfully,” she said.
Author Jessica Khoury spoke about her new science fiction novel “Origin” at one of three young adult (YA) events.
“It was an honor to be [at the festival],” Khoury said. “[It was] really encouraging to see such a big crowd at a YA event.”
Avid reader and writer Casey Lee Freeman, said that this is her second year coming to the BBF, and that while author talks and book signings were what originally drew her to the festival, she also loves the vendors and giveaways.
“I just had to come back,” Freeman said.
Musicians and poets added to the atmosphere by performing on the Berklee stage throughout the day. Chris Lee, who is captain of the reVERB poetry club at the Berklee College of Music and participated in a poetry slam, thought the festival provided “a great space,” and he “had a lot of fun” performing with the reVERB team. This is the second time the Berklee club has been asked to perform at the BBF.
Ruvi Perumal, a representative from Arts Boston, felt that the festival “has a really interesting audience.”
“There aren’t a lot of festivals like this, where people are falling over to learn about playwrights,” Perumal said.
This is especially exciting for a company like Arts Boston, which strives to connect people of all ages with the variety of arts organizations around the city.
While poetry readings, author discussions and music were offered nonstop on Saturday, there were also special events on Thursday and Friday, including a keynote speech from Salman Rushdie, award-winning novelist and essayist, and an opportunity to talk with various Newbury medalists like Lois Lowry (“The Giver”) and Kate DiCamillo, (“The Tale of Desperaux.”)
The 2013 BBF brought readers, writers and vendors together to talk about books, community and ideas and to share their love of words.
Kate Mills, a Boston resident who came out to festival, was enthusiastic in her review of the festival.
“I love books and hearing about them at the sessions,” she said. “I also love the festival atmosphere, everything is set up conveniently and there is a lot of variety.”
