The lineup for the sixth annual Brooklyn Book Festival is out — and it carries some prestige, with a capital P.
Among the more than 100 authors at this year’s literary extravaganza will be several of Brooklyn’s recent Pulitzer Prize winners.
Out of the six writers who can claim such a distinction, three are confirmed to appear at a panel on Sept. 18: Jennifer Egan, who won the fiction prize for “A Visit from the Goon Squad,” and Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein, who both won the Pulitzer for National Reporting for a ProPublica series examining Wall Street’s role in the financial crisis.
Such a panel shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, given Brooklyn’s literary cache -— epitomized in this free festival.
“The Brooklyn Book Festival is, without question, one of the premier literary destinations in the world,” said Johnny Temple, chair of the Brooklyn Literary Council. “From our award-winning authors to our publishers big and small, from musicians and comedians to humorists and graphic novelists, the Brooklyn Book Festival represents our growing literary universe.”
Stars in that universe include Larry McMurtry, Terry McMillan, Colson Whitehead, of course, Joyce Carol Oates, Pete Hamill and the greatest writer of his generation, Jonathan Safran Foer, all of whom are among the headlining “acts” at this year’s festival, held in and around Borough Hall.
In addition to panels and readings on Sept. 18, the festival will also feature “bookend” literary-themed events at clubs, parks, bookstores, theaters and libraries across the borough from Sept. 15 to 18, making for the biggest Book Festival yet.
“Whether you’re a voracious reader or someone who just likes to pick up the occasional ‘good read,’ make sure you ‘book it’ for our Brooklyn Book Festival this fall,” said Borough President Markowitz. “As the ‘Creative Capital of New York City,’ Brooklyn is the perfect host for one of the world’s most prestigious free literary festivals.”
For more on the Brooklyn Book Festival, go to http://www.brooklynbookfestival.com.