Now in its 10th year, the Bay Area Book Festival, June 1-2, in Downtown Berkeley features, as usual, top-tier speakers but has some new attractions as well, including a day devoted just to writers and a Native California stage. Almost everything at the festival is free.
This year’s speakers include Joan Baez, cultural commentator Naomi Klein, and a trio of book-to-screen superstars (Viet Thanh Nguyen, Piper Kerman and Alka Joshi). Free programming features Jonathan Lethem, Amy Tan and Forrest Gander, and rising stars like Tommy Orange, R.O. Kwon and poet Brontez Purnell.
The festival’s outdoor fair on June 2, held once again in MLK Jr. Civic Center Park in Berkeley, will feature a free literary marketplace with emerging authors, book artists, literary organizations, independent booksellers and more — plus outdoor literary programming on four stages, offering flexible seating and the opportunity to listen to favorite authors up close and personal.
This year’s outdoor fair features more programming than ever for adults, as well as the festival’s popular family activity area. It is anchored by Oakland publishing house Collective Book Studio, in addition to the Out & About LGBTQIA Book Mobile; interactive fun with Oakland youth writing center Chapter 510; and a free book giveaway sponsored by Half Price Books.
Writers’ Day
There’s a whole day for writers on Saturday, June 1. A first for the fest, Writers’ Day offers free writing workshops for both emerging and published writers, at the central branch of the Berkeley Public Library. These are led by creative writing faculty from several local universities. Topics include haiku writing, writing across genres, historical fiction, creative nonfiction, and how to tap into your creative unconscious. RSVP online.
New Native California stage
Native literature has long been a festival mainstay, but 2024’s event shines an even brighter spotlight on Indigenous voices, with a full stage made possible in partnership with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. This year’s Native American-focused programming includes award-winning author Greg Sarris and There, There novelist Tommy Orange in conversation; cookbook author Sara Calvosa Olson on decolonizing your diet; Indigenous horror with Rebecca Roanhorse and Dani Trujillo; and the inspiring young essayists of the annual Graton Writing Project.
(Almost) everything is free
This is the second year the festival has largely done away with ticketing, minus three headliner events.
“We decided in 2023 to make the festival more accessible for everyone,” said Brooke Warner, the festival’s board chair and publisher of She Writes Press. “For a nonprofit that had just weathered COVID — a catastrophe for so many event-based organizations — it was a big leap of faith, one that has made the festival even more inclusive.”
A key factor in making access possible for all has been Friends of the Festival, the fest’s giving circle. Supporters get special perks, including headliner tickets and priority seating for the free events.
2024 headliners
This year’s ticketed programs, too, are a mix of festival faves with new faces.
Joan Baez and Greg Sarris: Sat., June 1, 5:30-7 p.m. at Freight & Salvage
This is Joan Baez’s second consecutive year as headliner, once again in conversation with The Forgetters author Greg Sarris. Last year, their conversation sold out its 500-seat venue.
Baez’s new book (When You See My Mother, Ask Her to Dance) is in a genre she’s never shared before: poetry. Why poetry, and why now? Said Baez, “The poetry comes from a period in my life when I had been — to make this short & sweet — diagnosed with multiple personalities. [The poetry] is me — actually, the folks within me — wanting to have their moment in the sun.”
Naomi Klein, in conversation with Brooke Warner: Sat., June 1, 7:30-9 p.m, Freight & Salvage
Award-winning author and journalist Naomi Klein (The Shock Doctrine) says she has for years been misidentified as author Naomi Wolf, with whom she disagrees profoundly on many issues. Her New York Times bestselling book, Doppelganger, uses this experience to examine a “mirror world” of conspiracy theories and paranoia. On the cusp of the 2024 election, Klein’s voice is a note of guidance and insight in the wilderness.
Viet Thanh Nguyen, Piper Kerman, and Alka Joshi: Sun., June 2, 5:30-7 p.m, Freight & Salvage
Imagine your book not only becomes a bestseller, but graces the screen. Three authors who experienced this — Viet Thanh Nguyen (whose Pultizer-winning The Sympathizer is now an HBO series), Piper Kerman (Orange is the New Black, which helped put Netflix on the map), and Alka Joshi (The Henna Artist, in development with Netflix) — will share their stories.
Kerman, a Berkeley resident and festival board member, said, “When your story takes on a life of its own in a different medium, it raises questions about artistic license, ownership and the creative process. We’ll dive into the truth of what it’s like.”
Election insight
Author Aya de León — who is the current Berkeley poet laureate and also a festival board member — urges attendees to check out the festival’s free “daytime headliner.” We the People: Building a Resilient Multiracial Democracy in 2024 and Beyond features political columnist and podcaster Steve Phillips (How We Win the Civil War), with Working Families Party director Maurice Mitchell, as well as Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, who does political organizing in the South.
“On the brink of another momentous election, Steve Phillips has a real plan of action to save America,” said de León. “It’s not about fear-mongering. It’s about keeping an eye on what’s possible, and how to achieve it.”
Speaking of timely issues, 2024’s lineup turns a multi-genre lens on one of the world’s most pressing topics: climate. This year includes three climate-related events, in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, featuring New York Times bestsellers, Pulitzer winners and scientific experts. Each carries a message composed of equal parts urgency and hope.
The festival has always been about what’s possible, through the power of words and community. Its 10th anniversary lineup is rich in both, harnessing creativity of all kinds — artistic, political, scientific — to manifest change, individually and collectively.
