PEN America at the 2019 Brooklyn Book Festival

This fall, PEN America is proud to take part in the 2019 annual Brooklyn Book Festival, with events across New York City.

Brooklyn Book Festival brings together the best and brightest of the literary world for the largest free literary event in New York City. The Festival features a week of Bookend events, and a Festival day with more than 300 authors and 250 booksellers, publishers, and literary organizations.

PEN America is thrilled to take part in this celebration of the literary community. Be sure to join us during the Festival for the chance to meet PEN America staff, learn more about our work, and receive discounts on your Membership and PEN America publications.

Stop by Booth #355 for discounted merchandise and to chat with our staff about the work PEN America does!

#StrongGirls = Empowerment and Activism
Emily Arnold McCully KaeLyn Rich, Cheryl Willis Hudson, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Ciarra Chavarria
6:30pm – 8:30pm
9/17/19
Langston Hughes House 20 E 127th St. New York, NY 10035

Strong girls become great women, and this panel gives context to the process. Join Caldecott winner Emily Arnold McCully (She Did It!: 21 Women Who Change the Way We Think), publisher Cheryl Willis Hudson (We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices), and authors Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich (Someday is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-Ins) and KaeLyn Rich (Girls Resist!: A Guide to Activism, Leadership, and Starting a Revolution) for a discussion about empowered females of the past and girls’ activism today. Moderated by Ciarra Chavarria, Esq. @girlsreadtheworld

BREAK OUT: A 2019 PEN America Prison Writing Awards Celebration
Shaun Leonardo, Cortney Lamar Charleston, Margo Jefferson, T Kira Madden, Cecilia Gentili, Rachel Eliza Griffiths
7:30pm – 9:30pm
9/18/19
St. Mark’s Church 131 East 10th Street, New York, NY 10003

Celebrating the release of the 2019 PEN America Prison Writing Awards Anthology, PEN America and The Poetry Project present an evening of exceptional work from currently incarcerated writers, staged by dynamic authors, actors, and activists including Margo Jefferson, Shaun Leonardo, T Kira Madden, Cortney Lamar Charleston, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, and others to be announced.

PEN America & Catapult Present the Best Debut Short Stories of 2019
Jade Jones, Marilyn Manolakas, John Paul Infante, Sarah Curry, Doug Henderson
7pm – 9pm
9/18/19
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe 126 Crosby St, New York, NY 10012

Catapult, PEN America, and Housing Works celebrate the launch of the 2019 PEN America Best Debut Short Stories anthology, judged by Danielle Evans, Alice Sola Kim, and Carmen Maria Machado. Reception to follow. Featuring the essential annual collection of the newest voices in short fiction, the evening will feature contributor readings and editor talks, followed by a reception. Free and open to the public, with refreshments available for purchase. With Jade Jones, Marilyn Manolakas, John Paul Infante, Sarah Curry, and Doug Henderson.

Translating Visual Stories: Graphic Novels, Comics, Picture Books, and Illustrated YA
Lyn Miller-Lachmann, Lucas Zwirner, Sandra Smith, Kristi Fernandez, CJ Suzuki
6pm – 8:30pm
9/20/19
Deutsches Haus at NYU 42 Washington Mews, New York, NY 10003

Deutsches Haus at NYU presents together with the PEN Translation Committee, and PEN America’s Children’s and Young Adult Books Committee the panel discussion Translating Visual Stories: Graphic Novels, Comics, Picture Books, and Illustrated YA with Kristi Fernandez, Lyn Miller-Lachmann, Sandra Smith, CJ Suzuki, and Lucas Zwirner. Stories that combine text and illustration are growing in popularity. Some of the most interesting and innovative work is coming from outside the US and translated into English. Panelists will talk about translating graphic novels, comics, picture books, and illustrated YA books and how both text and visuals change when adapted to a new language and culture. We’ll focus on Japan, a pioneer of comics and graphic novels, Western Europe, where edgy stories dominate and refugees give voice to a more diverse continent, Germany, and the attempt to re-frame a beloved YA classic for a U.S. audience, and Brazil, with its unique picture book illustrations.

PEN Presents: Breaking the News
Jim Acosta, Suzanne Nossel, Joy Reid
3pm – 4:30pm
9/22/2019
Saint Francis College Founders Hall, 180 Remsen Street, Brooklyn, NY 

What is the state of press freedom in the United States? How can news consumers know what’s real news and what’s fake? How is the press covering (or not covering) under-represented communities? And heading into what promises to be a contentious campaign season, how can journalists do their jobs under increased threat? CNN’s Jim Acosta (The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America), PEN America’s Suzanne Nossel, and MSNBC’s Joy Reid (The Man Who Sold America: Trump and the Unraveling of the American Story) weigh in on journalism in the time of Trump in a conversation moderated by WNYC’s Jami Floyd.