The Bay Area Book Festival is kicking off its 10th anniversary event a month early and plans to introduce new programming under new leadership.
For the first time, the festival is hosting Family Day, set for May 4, at Berkeley Public Library, with a lineup of activities including children’s story time readings, interactive panels, giveaways and more. Among the featured authors are Oakland-raised bestselling author Mac Barnett, 2023 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate Nairobi Barnes and 2020 National Book Award honoree Traci Chee.
A month later, the main festival begins, boasting four outdoor stages for panels and author conversations, book signings and 10 free workshops as part of Writers’ Day, another new addition this year. Writers’ Day launches the two-day festival on June 1, with sessions at Berkeley Public Library focused on topics from nonfiction and poetry to publishing and pitching. While the workshops are free, attendees are required to RSVP due to limited space.
The final day will see daytime author events, including panels, signings and an outdoor fair featuring more than 100 literary exhibitors and a food court.
This year marks the first edition without founding director Cherilyn Parsons, who stepped down last June. Since then, Managing Director Samee Roberts’ role has expanded to temporarily cover some of the duties of the executive director. The festival’s Board of Directors is also helping fill in and has been expanded to include Piper Kerman, Aida Salazar and Aya de León, who is currently serving as interim program director. The board plans to hire a new executive director for next year’s festival, said festival spokesperson Julia Drake.
Special events over the festival weekend include Bay Area musician, artist and activist Joan Baez, who also headlined last year’s event, in conversation with writer, professor and Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria tribal leader Greg Sarris; Naomi Klein, author of “Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World,” in conversation with author and publisher Brooke Warner; and “Page to Screen: A Dance Between Words and Images,” featuring Piper Kerman, Alka Joshi and UC Berkeley alum and novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen, whose 2015 novel “The Sympathizer” has been adapted into a new HBO series debuting Sunday, April 14.
Each speaking engagement has been curated to provide a call to action for festivalgoers, de León noted, adding that she paired authors with community organizers “who will share strategies and opportunities to engage.”
Bay Area Book Festival: Family Day. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. May 4. Free. Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St., Berkeley. baybookfest.org/familyday • Festival. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. June 1-2. Free. Civic Center Park, 2151 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, and surrounding Berkeley venues. • Joan Baez in conversation with Greg Sarris, 5:30 p.m. June 1; Naomi Klein in conversation with Brooke Warner, 7:30 p.m. June 1; “Page to Screen: A Dance Between Words and Images,” 5:30 p.m. June 2. $20. Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. baybookfest.org
“In 2024, our world is at a different level of crisis than it was a decade ago,” de León said. “The well-being of our democracy and the survival of our species is at stake. I believe that now is the time for art to help mobilize our communities to participate in creating the futures they want to see.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the new leadership for the Bay Area Book Festival.
Reach Zara Irshad: zara.irshad@sfchronicle.com