Session Spotlight: What Makes a Family?

“That's what people do who love you. They put their arms around you and love you when you're not so lovable.” ― Deb Caletti “One day you will do things for me that you hate. That is what it means to be family.” ― Jonathan Safran…

Noteworthy: 10 Lit Links Worth Reading

1. Here's how you can see your name among future Festival authors. 2. Unsure of what to read next? Ask Reese Witherspoon. No really, she can help! 3.Listen up—audiobooks may be the future of literature. 4. One publishing company's mission…

A Poem for You Right Now

An excerpt from “The Happy” by Ari Banias (Who'll be at the Festival in April!) In a room more chicken coop than room, I rent a fan that feels on my face like sound. Low traffic from San Fernando, named for a king who became a city,…

Noteworthy: 10 Lit Links Worth Reading

1. In memoriam: The female writers everyone overlooked, even in death.2. Your favorite LGBTQ character doesn’t have to die! 3. Why we still haven’t found the right way to write about race. 4. On Rachel Carson’s not-so-silent lifebefore…

The Fine Print: Here's what we're reading 

(All by 2018 Festival authors!) "The Wonder Down Under" by Nina Brochmann and Ellen Støkken Dahl These Norwegian writers pack equal doses of humor and information in this groundbreaking "user's guide to the vagina," answering questions…

Speaker Spotlight: Viv Albertine

Viv Albertine made a name for herself as the guitarist of punk rock band The Slits in the late 1970s. She made history as a member of an all-female band when the music industry was dominated by men. Throughout her life, she has worked as a musician,…

Author Spotlight: Geneen Roth

Our full list of Festival authors and speakers will go live mid-March, but to make the wait a bit less daunting, here’s one author you won’t want to miss in April. We’ve all experienced the messiness that is a constant byproduct of life.…

Speaker spotlight: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o

Our full list of Festival authors and speakers will go live mid-March, but to make the wait a bit less daunting, here’s one author you won’t want to miss in April. Kenyan-born Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was dubbed by The Washington Post as…

Out now: “The Line Becomes a River” by Francisco Cantú

Former border patrol agent and 2018 Festival speaker Francisco Cantú’s new book came out earlier this month, and it is already making waves. In “The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border,” Cantú shares his unique and dynamic…

Mother Jones and the Bay Area Book Festival kick off event series

On Thursday evening, more than 350 people filed into the auditorium of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to hear about the building of a movement. The event was the first in Mother Jones and the Bay Area Book Festival’s 2018 conversation…