Photo Story: Bay Area Book Festival

The ninth annual Bay Area Book Festival took place over May 6-7, 2023 in downtown Berkeley CA. Free to the public and staffed by a host of volunteers, the festival included interviews, panels, read­ings, and events for adults, teens, and children on a range of topics across the literary spectrum. Over 300 writers participated, with authors of genre interest including Cory Doctorow, Dave Eggers, Marie Lu, Mary Robinette Kowal, Annalee Newitz, Patrick Ness, and many others. Notable events included panels on space travel in fiction, AI technology, and more. Youth-focused panels were moderated by teen members of Cinnamongirls program, and included conversations on YA horror and thrillers and middle-grade fantasy. There was also a celebration of the 30th anniversary of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower, featuring poets Camille Dungy and Ashia Ajani and novelist Aya de Leon. Staged events were scheduled over both days of the festival, while the second day also featured an out­door stage, vendor booths, and a “youth expo” in Berkeley’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center Park. For more information, see their website.

–Chloe Smith

This report and more like it in the June 2023 issue of Locus.

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