Boston Book Festival 2018

How do artists grapple with tragedy? Poet Brian Clements (whose wife Abbey Clements was a teacher at Sandy Hook and survived the mass shooting there) dealt with unimaginable horror in the best way he knew how: by gathering poets and community members to reflect on the urgent need for gun control. Martín Espada’s poem “Heal the Cracks in the Bell of the World” inspired the title of the resulting volume, Bullets into Bells: Poets and Citizens Respond to Gun Violence. Espada and Brian Clements will read their poems, and Abbey Clements and anti-gun activist Clai Lasher-Sommers will share their responses. And, as befits the line from Espada’s poem--”Here the bells sing of a world where weapons crumble deep / in the earth, and no one remembers where they were buried”--the readings will be interspersed with music on themes of peace and nonviolence, performed by the Back Bay Ringers handbell ensemble. Hosting this powerful and transformative session is poet and activist Julie Carr, author most recently of Someone Shot My Book, a collection of essays on the role of art in a violent culture.

Poet Scott Edward Anderson will share his insights on the process of revision in writing poetry. Workshop participants will examine the poems "Ox Cart Man," by Donald Hall (1928-2018) and "Black Angus, Winter" by Anderson. Whether you are an avid writer of poetry or just want to improve your poetry reading experience, this workshop will help illuminate the revision process as it relates to a poet’s work.

Participants in this generative workshop craft collaborative poems in the shape of Dorchester’s most iconic architecture. Like its namesake, a Triple Decker Poem builds community through collaboration. All participants will have the chance to write and reflect together on what it means to share space—in a neighborhood and in a creative work. This session is facilitated by U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo, Anna Ross, Candelaria Silva-Collins, Aaron Devine, and Daniel Elfanbaum, members of Write on the DOT, a reading series and literary platform that supports and promotes local writing in Dorchester.

On November 9, 2016, many of us East Coast liberals woke up to the notion that there are a lot of people who do not share our experience of the world. Join us to discuss what we’ve been missing, because it turns out to be important to the future of our country. Sarah Kendzior, a journalist and a scholar, lives in the Midwest and writes about its decline in the NYT bestseller The View from Flyover Country. Ben Bradlee, Jr., in The Forgotten, writes about one county in Pennsylvania that serves as a microcosm of the nation. The county went for Obama twice, but then voted overwhelmingly for Trump. And, in Prius or Pickup?, political scientist Jonathan Weiler draws on original research to show that our political differences stem from personality differences that color our worldview. Poet Austin Smith, who grew up on an Illinois dairy farm, will start us off with a reading from his collection, Flyover Country. Midwesterner and cohost of WBUR’s Here & Now, Jeremy Hobson, will moderate this timely and urgent conversation.

In this international and multilingual poetry event, three Boston-area literary translators--Catherine Ciepiela, Jim Kates, and Elizabeth Oehlkers--will read and discuss the work of major contemporary poets from Russia, Germany, France, Kazakhstan, and elsewhere. The translators will illuminate how the process of translation bridges multiple divides: language first, but also culture, ethnicity, nationality, gender, and more. The readers will also discuss the craft, challenges, and pleasures of literary translation. Poets to be discussed will include Polina Barskova and Mikhail Aizenberg from Russia, the Turkish-German poets Zafer Şenocak and Zehra Çirak, Kazakhstani poet Aigerim Tazhi, Jean-Pierre Rosnay from France, and others. All three translator-presenters have published with Zephyr Press, a leading poetry translation press based in Brookline that is sponsoring the event.

During 2016/17 Shakespeare to Hiphop (literary performers and TEDxBoston alumni Regie Gibson and Marlon Carey) partnered with the Boston Public Library to celebrate William Shakespeare. The result is The Shakespeare Time-Traveling Speakeasy: an all-new presentation combining American jazz-funk-country-pop and hip-hop with poetry, song, storytelling, rap, and Shakespeare’s own words. The Shakespeare Time-Traveling Speakeasy is a hip literary trip that explores the life, influence and mysteries surrounding the man reverently known as “The Bard.”

What does the diversification of award-winners in the United States and beyond this mean for the literary landscape and for writers themselves? How far have we come, how far do we have left to go, and how will this change writing and reading in the future? Featured in this conversation will be 2017 National Book Award–honored authors Danez Smith (Poetry Finalist, Don't Call Us Dead), Carmen Maria Machado (Fiction Finalist, Her Body and Other Parties), and 2017 5 Under 35 honoree Lesley Nneka Arimah (What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky) as they discuss their work, achievements, and what awards and accolades mean for authors and readers. Moderated by Shuchi Saraswat, curator of the Transnational Literature Series at Brookline Booksmith, an events series focused on migration, exile and displacement and works in translation. Sponsored by the National Book Foundation.

Our annual toast to the art of poetry is back and bigger than ever, with a new venue (and plenty of room to stretch out!) at the Room & Board furniture store. Join fellow poetry fans to sample seasonal beers and pretzels and hear new work by five terrific poets: Shauna Barbosa (Cape Verdean Blues), P. Scott Cunningham (Ya Te Veo), Erica Funkhouser (Post and Rail), Emily O’Neill (A Falling Knife Has No Handle), and Austin Smith (Flyover Country). Triple threat singer-songwriter-novelist Robin MacArthur (Heart Spring Mountain) will also join us to play a few songs, making for the perfect capstone to another wonderful BBF day. Room & Board is sponsoring a book drive in connection with this event, so please consider bringing a used book or two to donate to the avid readers at the Women’s Lunch Place. This laid-back evening of poetry for ages 21+ is sponsored by Mass Poetry and hosted by Mass Poetry’s program director, Sara Siegel.