Press Room
A warm welcome to regional, national, and international credentialed members of the press. Thank you for your interest in the fifth annual Bay Area Book Festival, May 4-5, 2019, in downtown Berkeley.
Press Kit
Download our festival logo, press photos, and view our ticketing press release, press releases on our new literary society and our outdoor fair, plus press releases in partnership with Alta Journal of California, Mother Jones, the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, and UC Berkeley.
We’ve also broken down the festival’s programming into different areas of interest. They include:
Activism, Politics, and Current Events
For festival news and updates, sign up for our newsletter.
To receive information about the 2018 festival, please contact Scott Horton. We will issue press passes to credentialed members of the press.
What Others Are Saying:
“Thank you for keeping book festivals alive!!! So great to listen to authors wander among REAL books and pick up something I wasn’t searching for.”
“Caution: The Bay Area Book Fest has been known to seize the mind and engender pellucid perceptual processes that cause creative paradigm shifts.”
“The Bay Area Book Festival is a wonderful addition to our community! See you all there.”
“Yay Book Festival! Looking forward to another thrilling weekend bursting with good books and authors.”
Women Lit Speaker Series Coverage
- Salon, November 1st, Rebecca Traister on the long history of women’s anger: “There is no peak fury”
2018 Bay Area Book Festival Coverage
- San Francisco Chronicle, March 14: Bay Area Book Festival Announces Lineup for its Fourth Year
- Berkeleyside, April 11: Bay Area Book Festival is back in Berkeley, April 28-29, for fourth year
- The Daily Californian, April 11: Bay Area Book Festival’s Women Lit hosts author Leïla Slimani at Berkeley Repertory Theatre
- The Daily Californian, April 15: ‘An optimistic act’: Charlie Jane Anders talks future of science fiction before Bay Area Book Festival
- San Francisco Chronicle, April 18: Special Edition: Cherilyn Parsons on her most treasured book
- San Francisco Chronicle, April 21: Bay Area Book Festival in Berkeley: Literary resistance
- The Daily Californian, April 22: ‘Hippie Food’ author Jonathan Kauffman knows why you eat so much tofu
- KQED, April 22: The Bay Area Book Festival Serves Literature with a Side of Activism
- The Jewish News of Northern California, April 23: Pioneering underground comics artist Aline Kominsky-Crumb has nothing to hide
- KPFA/Radio Wolinsky, April 23: The Bay Area Book Festival 2018: Cherilyn Parsons
- East Bay Express, April 25: The Bay Area Book Festival Returns to Berkeley with Conversations that Go Beyond Literature
- KQED, April 25: A Whole World of Books at Berkeley’s Bay Area Book Fest
- The Daily Californian, April 26: Animating light: Local filmmaker Robert Kondo on ‘The Dam Keeper’
- The Daily Californian, April 27: Literature as travel, travel as transformation: An interview with Pico Iyer
- San Francisco Chronicle, April 27: Authors offer antidotes to democracy’s despair
- The Daily Californian, April 30: Saturday programming of Bay Area Book Festival uplifts marginalized voices
- The Daily Californian, May 1: Sunday programming of Bay Area Book Festival highlights expository power of literature
- The San Francisco Chronicle, May 5: Discussion on male entitlement ends with evidence
- Inflection Point, May 9: (Interview with Festival Speaker) Do haters deserve our compassion? Sally Kohn, Author of “The Opposite of Hate”
- Literary Hub, May 10: The Bay Area Book Festival in Five Acts
Selected 2017 Bay Area Book Festival Coverage
- Lit Hub, June 11: Radical Hope: The Bay Area Book Festival in Four Acts
- Los Angeles Times, July 26, “Writing Advice and F.L.O.W.: This week’s picks from the literary Web,” featuring Lit Hub’s video of Bay Area Book Festival writers’ advice: https://youtu.be/MCcHeyGKtYo
- Daily Californian, June 8: Beyond the Book: Celebrating Literary Activism at the Bay Area Book Festival. Plus, a photo essay.
- 7×7, June 2: Bay Area Book Festival Returns This Weekend
- KQED Arts, June 1: Good Old-Fashioned Berkeley Activism, By the Book
- San Francisco Chronicle, May 31: Star presents a new look at 1949 film about a lynching
- Huffington Post Books, May 31: Women Writers Face Major Hurdles, Especially in Bestselling Genres
- San Francisco Chronicle, May 31: ‘Love letters’ in turbulent political times
- Book Riot, May 30: Things to See and Do at the Bay Area Book Festival
- Marin magazine, May 30: Strong Marin Representation at Upcoming Bay Area Book Festival
- Red Tricycle, May 29: A Literary Extravaganza with 10,000 Free Kids Books
- SF Weekly, May 25: Trans-Genre: Geoff Dyer at the Bay Area Book Festival
- East Bay Times, May 24: Bay Area Book Festival a weekend dedicated to all things literary
- San Jose Mercury News, May 16: Bay Area Festivals 2017: Art, wine, cars, culture, and county fairs
- Berkeleyside.com, May 15: In its third year, Bay Area Book Festival to focus on literary activism
- San Francisco Chronicle, May 14: The Bay Area is still a literary haven from the mad digital world
- San Francisco Chronicle, April 17: Bay Area Book Festival to focus on ‘Literary Activism’
Selected 2016 Bay Area Book Festival Coverage
- LitHub, June 9, 2016: A Book Festival by the Bay, in Three Acts
- San Francisco Magazine, June 2, 2016: Authors’ Choice: Three Picks for the Bay Area Book Festival from Local Writers
- Oakland Magazine, June 1, 2016: A Bigger, Better Bay Area Book Festival
- East Bay Express, May 31, 2016: Rebecca Solnit on Sense of Place and Writing for Social Change
- SF Gate, May 31, 2016: Cherilyn Parsons risked it all on Bay Area Book Festival
- SF/Arts, May 29, 2016: Bay Area Book Festival
- East Bay Times, May 17, 2016: Berkeley: Bay Area Book Festival plans to pump up the volumes
- San Francisco Chronicle, May 12, 2016: Milosz Documentary Highlighted in Literary Film Series
- AFAR, March 31, 2016: 6 Literary Festivals Around the World You Can’t Miss
- San Jose Mercury News, April 5, 2016: Bay Area Festivals: 2016
- San Francisco Chronicle, April 15, 2016: Bay Area Book Festival back in Berkeley
- Berkeleyside, April 15, 2016: Bay Area Book Festival announces 2016 schedule
- AAA, April 27, 2016: A Berkeley Demonstration
Selected 2015 Bay Area Book Festival coverage
- RT Question More, October 24, 2015: French City Launches Literary Vending Machines…
- Publisher’s Weekly, June 12, 2015: Bay Area Spotlight 2015: The Bay Area’s Literary Landscape
- Berkeleyside, June 9, 2015: First Bay Area Book Festival in Berkeley a soaring success
- ShelfAwareness.com, June 8, 2015: First Bay Area Book Festival Triumphs in Berkeley
- San Francisco Chronicle, June 7, 2015: At The Bay Area Book Festival
- SFGate.com, June 6, 2015: A Bubbly Toast to the Latest Entry in Bay Area book festival scene.
- India Currents, June 2, 2015: Eye on India Festival
- San Francisco Chronicle, June 1, 2015: Temple of books to connect readers
- Inside Bay Area, May 31, 2015: Berkeley author bringing ‘Amelia’ children’s series to a close
- The Sacramento Bee, May 31, 2015: Black Book Fair, Bay Area Book Festival ahead
- Anime News Network, May 29, 2015: Viz Media Announces Participation in 2015 Bay Area Book Festival
- Lodi News, May 28, 2015: Visit the Bay Area Book Festival for a reading feast
- Daily Democrat News, May 27, 2015: Berkeley briefs: Book Festival table space available to authors; Fire Department offers steps to prevent wildfire danger; Rising Stars gala honors youth perseverance
- San Jose Mercury News, May 27, 2015: Berkeley: 8-year-old author will lead workshop at Bay Area Book Festival
- Contra Costa Times, May 25, 2015: Berkeley: Voluminous structure to be book festival centerpiece
- Geek Dad, May 20, 2015: Bay Area Book Festival 2015
- UC Berkeley News Center, May 19, 2015: Readers rejoice: Bay Area Book Festival to open in Berkeley
- The Daily Californian, May 12, 2015: Downtown Berkeley to host inaugural Bay Area Book Festival
- San Francisco Chronicle, May 6, 2015: Get early access to the first Bay Area Book Festival in Berkeley
- CBS SF Bay Area, May 3, 2015: Weekend Magazine: Earth’s Lawyers, Book Lovers’ Dream, And Youth Speaks
- SFGate.com, May 1, 2015: 300 authors to attend inaugural Bay Area Book Festival in June
- Twitter, May 1, 2015: 300 authors to attend inaugural Bay Area Book Festival in June
- The Bay Bridged, April 24, 2015: The Octopus Literary Salon is open!
- City Lab, April 1, 2015: The Bay Area Plans a Free Library Built out of Books
- Seattlepi.com, March 31, 2015: A library built with 50,000 free books hopes to debut at the Bay Area Book Festival
- Bustle, March 28, 2015: A Library Made Entirely Of Books Is Coming to Bay Area Book Festival
- Galley Cat, March 27, 2015: Library Made of Books Will be Built at Bay Area Book Festival
- San Jose Mercury News, March 18, 2015: Berkeley to host free Bay Area Book Festival downtown
- Publisher’s Weekly, December 7, 2014: Bay Area Book Fest Launches Indiegogo Campaign
- Leah Garchik via SFGate.com, June 25, 2014: Revving up for a literary fiesta in Berkeley
- Berkeleyside, June 23, 2014: Bay Area Book Festival to launch in Berkeley in 2015
- SFGate.com, June 22, 2014: Bay Area Book Festival to launch in 2015
