The Bronx may have lost its only bookstore, but that doesn’t mean the Bronx stopped reading.
A Bronx native has made it possible for the Bronx to have its first ever book festival. Sareciea Fennell started a Kickstarter campaign to bring a book festival to the area. This is a great thing since the Bronx became the only borough without a bookstore when the only bookstore in the Bronx, Barnes and Noble, closed its doors in 2016.
Here is the festival’s mission from their website:
The Bronx Book Festival aims to promote literacy and foster a love of reading among children, teens, and adults. The festival will cover a wide range of topics relevant to the Bronx community through panels, workshops, and more with award-winning and bestselling authors, illustrators, and creators. The festival will help build the reading culture in the Bronx and become the premier literary experience open to Bronx residents and the general public.”
The festival begins on May 18 with an event called “The Bronx is Reading”. This event will occur at various schools in the Bronx. Students will have a chance to meet various authors like Sayantani DasGupta (“The Serpent’s Secret”) and Tracey Baptiste (“The Jumbies”), who will talk about reading and their writing experiences. The next day, May 19, is when the festival officially kicks off. The main event will be held outdoors, at Fordham Plaza. Fennell chose this location due to its central location and accessibility. Although the schedule is still being finalized, panels, readings and meet-and-greets are planned for the day. Popular authors have confirmed to be on some of the panels, such as Elizabeth Acevedo, Adam Silvera, Danie José Older, Lilliam Rivera and much more.
This festival also comes at the perfect time since it occurs two weeks after the 6th annual Bronx Book Fair at the Bronx Library Center, also in Fordham.
To read more about the Bronx’s literary push, check out the following links below:
Bronx Book Festival Latest in Borough’s Renewed Push for Literary Prowess
BX Resident Raises Money for 1st-Ever Bronx Book Festival
Bronx Book Festival Planned for Fordham Plaza
Bronx Book Festival
Bronx Book Fair
The Lit. Bar
That’s awesome! Excitement and energy about reading books should be everywhere. It’s like fairy magic.