2016 Oakland Book Festival

The Oakland Book Festival is a one-day, annual literary event. Dedicated to books, ideas, and the pleasures of literacy, it aims to serve the reading public, to encourage debate, and to celebrate the city of Oakland. It will host more than 60 writers in 2016 and is free and open to the public.

More than a literary trade show or a series of readings, the festival asks authors to discuss ideas, to bring their expertise to bear, to share their experience: to challenge, elevate, and inspire one another and those in attendance.

2016 Oakland Book Festival
Sunday, May 22, 2016 | 11 am to 6 pm
Oakland City Hall & Frank Ogawa Plaza
FREE

The festival will be held at Oakland’s City Hall. Hearing rooms will be transformed into meeting halls in which journalists, fiction writers, historians, poets, editors, critics, and memoirists will convene on panels to discuss the challenges of gentrification, cosmopolitanism, diversity, tolerance, conflict, education, surveillance and security, labor, libraries, archives, magazine publishing, imprisonment, civil disobedience, whistle-blowing, prayer, food production and consumption, activism, and the future. Panels are moderated by experts and are oriented toward encouraging conversation with the audience.

In front of City Hall, on Frank Ogawa Plaza, there will be live performances for all ages as well as a dedicated children’s area that will feature readings hosted by the Oakland Public Library, book-making projects sponsored by Oakland’s Museum of Children’s Art (MOCHA), and interactive programs courtesy of Fairyland. Book vendors and publishers will have tables with merchandise for sale; food trucks will be parked on adjacent streets to provide nourishment.

2016 Schedule

MULTIRACIAL AMERICAN LITERATURE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Council Chambers: 11:00am—12:30pm
John R. Keene, Victor LaValle, Emily Raboteau, Justin Desmangles

SCREENING: AGRICULTURAL LABOR AND THE WPA
Hearing Room 1: 11:00am—12:15pm
Linda Norton, Nora Sweeney, Steve Dickison

THE NEW COMPANY TOWN
Hearing Room 2: 11:00am—12:15pm
Rachel Brahinsky, Ben Grant, Dan Lyons, Kara Platoni

SLAVERY: REALITY AND PERCEPTIONS
Hearing Room 3: 11:00am—12:00pm
Matthew Delmont, Shirley Ann Wilson Moore

REFORM VS. ABOLITION: FIXING OUR BROKEN PRISON SYSTEM
Hearing Room 4: 11:00am—12:00pm
Robin Levi, Cecily McMillan, Jessica Jackson Sloan

COMING OUT LIKE A PORN STAR
Dalziel Building, 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza: 11:00am—12:15pm
Cinnamon Maxxine, Chelsea Poe, Shar Rednour, Andre Shakti, Jackie Strano, Kitty Stryker, Madison Young

CONFESSIONS OF A NUMBER ONE SON: CHINESE-AMERICAN LITERATURE NOW
Laurel Book Store: 11:00am—12:15pm
Frank Chin, Genny Lim, Calvin McMillin

THE 100 YEAR CALL OF THE WILD
Hearing Room 3: 12:15—1:30pm
Tarnel Abbott, Iris Jamahl Dunkle, Steven Lavoie, Jay Williams, Jack Boulware

GLOBAL FICTION AND AMERICAN READERS
Hearing Room 4: 12:15—1:30pm
Mauro Javier Cardenas, Brad Johnson, Caille Millner, Oscar Villalon

LINES OF WORK
Hearing Room 1: 12:30—1:30pm
Pico Iyer, Leopold Froehlich

UTOPIAN THOUGHT TODAY
Hearing Room 2: 12:30—1:45pm
Russell Jacoby, Sarah Leonard, James Miller

THE POLICING CRISIS AND BLACK LIVES MATTER
Dalziel Building, 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza: 12:30—1:45pm
Justin Hansford, Rachel Herzing, George Lipsitz, Jordan T. Camp, Christina Heatherton

WORKING WRITERS
Chamber of Commerce: 12:30—1:45pm
Lucha Corpi, Mary Mackey, Maceo Montoya, Al Young, John Curl

THE FUTURE OF THE FAMILY
Laurel Book Store: 12:30—1:45pm
Marianne Cooper, Courtney Martin, Eveline Shen

SHOCKED: THE ADVENTURES OF MARY ROACH
Council Chambers: 12:45—1:45pm
Mary Roach in conversation with Jacob Ward

THE HANDS THAT FEED: CALIFORNIA FARMWORKERS, PAST AND PRESENT
Hearing Room 1: 1:45—3:00pm
David Bacon, Lori Flores, Dawn Mabalon, Gabriel Thompson

THE POET AND THE TSAR: ART AND POWER IN RUSSIA
Hearing Room 3: 1:45—3:00pm
Anastasia Edel, Grisha Freidin, Nariman Skakov, Artur Solomonov, Annemarie O’Brien

THE FBI’S WAR ON CULTURE
Hearing Room 4: 1:45—3:00pm
William J. Maxwell, Seth Rosenfeld, Frank B. Wilderson III, Justin Desmangles

SEX WORK IS WORK
Council Chambers: 2:00—3:00pm
Elizabeth Alice Clement, Melissa Gira Grant, Ramona Naddaff

WORK, FREEDOM, VIRTUE
Hearing Room 2: 2:00—3:15pm
Matthew B. Crawford, Steven Levine, B Scot Rousse

JUSTICE FOR THE YOUNG
Dalziel Building, 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza: 2:00—3:00pm
Elaine Brown, Dashka Slater

WORKING WITH OTHERS: CONVIVIAL RESEARCH
Chamber of Commerce: 2:00—3:15pm
Manuel Callahan, Stefano Harney, Fred Moten, Linda Norton

SONGS OF WORK AND STRUGGLE
Laurel Book Store: 2:00—3:00pm
Cecil Brown, Greil Marcus, Leopold Froehlich

RACE AND THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: MICHAEL ERIC DYSON in conversation
Council Chambers: 3:15—4:15pm
Michael Eric Dyson in conversation with Theodore Ross

CULTURE, RACE, CLASS: CLASS IDENTITIES IN THE EAST BAY
Hearing Room 1: 3:15—4:30pm
Waldo Martin Jr., Shirley Ann Wilson Moore, Fred Setterberg, Chris Rhomberg

THE LABOR OF CREATIVITY
Hearing Room 3: 3:15—4:45pm
Tim Buckwalter, Jennifer DeVere Brody, Grant Faulkner, Michael Ray, Michael Sturtz

REVOLUTION IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Hearing Room 4: 3:15—4:15pm
Laura Secor, Susanne Pari

WORKING IN SILICON VALLEY
Dalziel Building, 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza: 3:15—4:45pm
Y-Vonne Hutchinson, Dan Lyons, Brad Stone, Anastasia Edel

THE UNCANNINESS OF ALTRUISM
Hearing Room 2: 3:30—4:45pm
Mary Doyno, Gary Kamiya, Larissa MacFarquhar, Morgan Meis

DEMOCRACY IS IN THE STREETS!
Chamber of Commerce: 3:30—4:30pm
Joshua Clover, Jodi Dean, James Miller, B Scot Rousse

FOUR POETS APPROACHING DUSK
Laurel Book Store: 3:30—4:45pm
Joshua Beckman, Brynn Saito, Arisa White, Matthew Zapruder

RACE, POLITICS, AND THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY
Council Chambers: 4:45—6:00pm
Jamelle Bouie, Jelani Cobb, Isaac Chotiner

EAST BAY POETICS: LOVE & DUTY
Hearing Room 4: 4:30—6:00pm
Elmaz Abinader, Sharon Coleman, Sharon Doubiago, Claire Ortalda, Floyd Salas, Al Young, Tony R. Rodriguez

THE LEGACY OF MALCOLM X
Hearing Room 1: 4:45—6:00pm
Hisham Aidi, Michael Eric Dyson, Justin Desmangles

RETHINKING REENTRY
Hearing Room 2: 5:00—6:00pm
Abayomi Brame, Kevin McCracken, Eric Taylor

LABOR IN OAKLAND: FROM THE ’46 GENERAL STRIKE TO TODAY
Hearing Room 3: 5:00—6:00pm
Fred Glass, Chris Rhomberg, Carmen Rojas, Bill Sokol

UNDERVALUED, INVISIBLE: DOMESTIC & EMOTIONAL LABOR
Dalziel Building, 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza: 5:00—6:00pm
Arlie Hochschild, Katie Quan, Ruth Rosen, Deirdre English

JOURNALISM AND DIGITAL MEDIA
Laurel Book Store: 5:00—6:00pm
Clara Jeffery, Theodore Ross, Jamil Smith

MARATHON READING
Amphitheater, Frank Ogawa Plaza: 11:00am—6:00pm

CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING
Stage and Craft Workshops: 11:00am—5:00pm