March 11, 2020
We created the Bay Area Book Festival out of love for our local community and the wider literary community of writers, booksellers, literary nonprofits, and, of course, readers. It’s that same love that has led us to make a difficult decision: Due to the evolving situation related to the coronavirus, and in order to protect your health and that of others, our 6th annual Bay Area Book Festival slated for May 2 & 3, 2020 in Berkeley, California will move to spring 2021 — specifically, May 1 & 2, 2021.
From nearly six years of presenting this Festival, we know how much this event means to you: meeting the amazing authors, hearing the conversations, visiting the array of interesting exhibitors, and coming together as a community around the joy of books and reading—the life of the mind and imagination.
While we won’t gather in person this year as planned, we hope to help sustain you during this difficult time, whether that’s through an expanded newsletter with book recommendations and author interviews (subscribe here), our social media platforms, our year-round event series (Women Lit) once it’s safe to meet again, or other ways we’re already brainstorming. It’s time to get creative and scrappy. Luckily, the literary community has no shortage of either quality. Neither does the Festival.
We know you may have questions or concerns, and it will take a few days, or even weeks, to work through the adjustments we all need to make. We thank you in advance for your patience as we respond as quickly as we can. Please check our website for updates.
During this tough time, let’s all remember one tried-and-true way to promote wellness. Stress and anxiety are terrible for our immune systems, and there’s a proven antidote for that: read a book. In the midst of the chaos and uncertainty, it can help to spend half an hour escaping with a novel, feeding your soul with poetry, or finding companionship in a memoir.
Our deepest thanks to the scores of authors, illustrators, booksellers, exhibitors, partners, sponsors, donors, volunteers, Berkeley city leaders—and devoted patrons—for your understanding and continued support. We look forward to bringing you an amazing festival May 1 & 2, 2021. Meanwhile, as we always say at the end of our newsletters, Read on!