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The Bay Area Book Festival is throwing a 10th anniversary party, where festivalgoers will be treated to the top-tier speakers the festival is known to showcase as well as new attractions, including a full day of workshops for emerging writers, three evening headliner events, a reimagined Outdoor Fair in the park (Sunday only) and the inaugural Native California stage.

The icing on the birthday cake? Almost everything is free.

Bay Area Book Festival 2024
Saturday & Sunday, June 1-2, 2024 | 11a-5p
MLK, Jr. Civic Center Park and Various Venues in Downtown Berkeley
FREE – Daytime festival is free and open to the public (various headliner evening events are $20)

Schedule | Speakers | Exhibitors | Outdoor Map (June 2)

• Saturday – Writer’s Day (11a-5p) Berkeley Public Library, 3rd floor, Community Meeting Room
• Sunday – Outdoor Fair (11a-5p) at Civic Center Park + Freight & Salvage author events

Evening Headliner Events ($20)

This year’s ticketed headliners include the incomparable Joan Baez, cultural commentator Naomi Klein and a trio of book-to-screen superstars (Viet Thanh Nguyen, Piper Kerman and Alka Joshi).

• Joan Baez & Chairman Sarris: Legendary Artists on Identity and Remembering – Saturday, June 1 @ 5:30p – Freight & Salvage – Buy Tickets
• Naomi Klein: Navigating the Mirror World – Saturday, June 1 @ 7:30p – Freight & Salvage – Buy Tickets
• Viet Thanh Nguyen, Piper Kerman, Alka Joshi – Sunday, June 2 @ 5:30p – Freight & Salvage – Buy Tickets

About the Daytime Bay Area Book Festival (FREE)

Free programming features nearly 100 speakers, including Jonathan Lethem, Amy Tan, Steve Phillips, Forrest Gander, and Berkeley poet laureate Aya de León, as well as rising stars like Tommy Orange, R.O. Kwon, gina Breedlove and poet Brontez Purnell. Dozens of panels will encompass pressing issues such as Democracy, Equity, Immigration, Climate, Artificial Intelligence, and more. There will also be talks that elevate BIPOC voices, climate fiction and poetry as tools for climate justice, LGBTQIA voices, and more.

Anchored by four outdoor stages, the festival’s free Outdoor Fair & Literary Marketplace (Sunday only) features more than 100 exhibitors, including an eclectic array of authors, independent booksellers, local publishers, writing groups and programs, literary clubs and organizations, book artists, libraries, reading resources and more. Hosted by Oakland publishing house The Collective Book Studio, the Outdoor Fair’s interactive Family Zone will feature author talks, readings, storytelling sessions, cooking demos, and Drag Story Hour! Other booths will feature book-related arts and crafts, a book scavenger hunt, Literacy Bingo, the popular Half Price Books Free Book Giveaway — and more!

 

 

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Bay Area Book Festival 2024

Writers’ Day – June 1: 11-5pm
Berkeley Public Library, 3rd floor, Community Meeting Room

Workshops are free but spaces are limited and we require advance RSVP.We know our community is filled with writers and authors, aspiring and published. The Festival wants to honor all of you with a day-long series of workshops and sessions that drill down into topics that will spur your creativity, engage your writerly minds, and even support you with practical, insiders’ advice and guidance in your journey to publication.This full day of sessions will feature nonfiction, poetry, and fiction events, a session on publishing, and two workshops for kids and teens! You will find these events and their RSVP links in our schedule

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Outdoor Fair + Daytime Author Events – June 2: 11 am – 5 pm
Freight & Salvage, 4 outdoor stages in the park

Free Events
We have carefully curated a rich program for you to showcase important subjects and amazing authors.• Panels, Interviews, Readings
• Critical Conversations with Top Authors, Thought Leaders
• Indigenous Authors Showcase
• Author Q&A and Book Signings

You will find these events in our schedule

Sunday June 2 – Outdoor Fair
MLK, Jr. Civic Center Park ─ Free Admission• Author Pavilion – new and emerging writers
• Literary Marketplace ─ books, literary-themed gifts
• Youth Activity Tent ─ interactive fun for kids!
• Food Court ─ Popular Bay Area vendors and trucks