FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 10, 2024
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Spencertown Academy Arts Center 19th Annual Festival of Books
August 30 through September 2
Distinguished authors, children’s programming, and giant book sale
Spencertown, New York—Spencertown Academy Arts Center’s 19th annual Festival of Books takes place over Labor Day weekend, August 30 through September 2. The Festival features a giant used book sale, two days of discussions with and readings by esteemed authors, and a children’s program. Featured authors include Martin Baron, Andrew Leland, Stephen McCauley, Paul Muldoon, Ruth Reichl, and Anna Shechtman. Admission is free to all of the events, save for the Members Only Preview early book-buying opportunity detailed below.
The Festival, which began in 2006 as a book sale to raise funds for the Academy’s community arts programs, has grown into one of the biggest and most eagerly anticipated cultural events of the season. Carl Atkins, Wayne Greene, and David Highfill are co-chairs of the Festival. “We are very fortunate this year to have a stellar lineup of authors, including a Pulitzer Prize winner in poetry, a finalist for this year’s Pulitzer Prize in memoir, and this year’s James Beard Award winner for Lifetime Achievement,” says Atkins. “Our talented volunteers are waiting in the wings, ready to sort, tidy up, and catalog the thousands of used books we’ll be receiving for the always-epic book sale.”
Authors’ books will be available for purchase and signing. Coffee and delicious snacks will also be for sale on Saturday and Sunday.
FESTIVAL MAIN STAGE
Saturday, August 31
The authors’ program kicks off at 12:00pm with bestselling author Ruth Reichl discussing her new book, The Paris Novel, with writer and producer Paige Orloff. Deemed “mouthwatering” by The New York Times, the novel is a testament to living deliciously, taking chances, and finding your true home. Reichl has published five memoirs, a cookbook, and two works of fiction. She was editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine and previously served as restaurant critic for The New York Times, as well as food editor and restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times. She has been honored with six James Beard Awards, including the 2024 Honorable James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award.
At 1:30pm, Andrew Leland will talk about his first book, The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight, which was a finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in memoir. It is a sweeping exploration of not only the physical experience of blindness, but also its language, politics and customs. Leland has written for The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s Quarterly, and The San Francisco Chronicle, among other outlets. From 2013 to 2019, he hosted and produced The Organist, an arts and culture podcast, for KCRW in Los Angeles; he has also produced pieces for Radiolab and 99 Percent Invisible. Joining the author in conversation will be Alex Kitnick, assistant professor of art history and visual culture at Bard College.
At 3:00pm, veteran journalist and newspaper editor Martin Baron will discuss Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and the Washington Post, which was named a 2023 Best Book of the Year by Amazon. Baron took charge of The Washington Post newsroom in 2013. Just seven months into his new job, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bought the Post, ending a venerated family’s 80 years of ownership. Just over two years later, Donald Trump became president. Now, the capital’s newspaper, owned by one of the world’s richest men, was tasked not only with meeting the demands of their new owner but also contending with a White House that waged a war of unprecedented vitriol against the media. Joining Baron in conversation will be Barry Meier, author of Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic.
FESTIVAL MAIN STAGE
Sunday, September 1
At 11:30am, Anna Shechtman will discuss The Riddles of the Sphinx: Inheriting the Feminist History of the Crossword Puzzle, which is both a memoir about her experience as one of the few female puzzle makers and a history of the crossword puzzle. She profiles the overlooked women central to the crossword’s creation and evolution—from the “Crossword Craze” of the 1920s to the role of digital technology today. Shechtman published her first New York Times puzzle at age 19, and later, helped to spearhead the The New Yorker’s popular crossword section. She has also written for a number of outlets, including ArtForum, The New Inquiry, The New Yorker, the New York Review of Books, Slate, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, where she is an editor-at-large. Joining her in conversation will be Sam Huber, critic and editor of The Yale Review.
At 1:00pm, author Stephen McCauley will talk about his eighth novel, You Only Call When You’re in Trouble, which was an Indie Next Pick for January 2024 and named one of Electric Literature’s “42 Queer Books You Need to Read in 2024.” McCauley’s previous works include national bestsellers My Ex-Life, The Object of My Affection, and Alternatives to Sex. Three of his books have been made into feature films. The New York Times Book Review dubbed him “the secret love child of Edith Wharton and Woody Allen,” and the French Ministry of Culture named him a Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters. He currently co-directs the Creative Writing program at Brandeis University.
Sunday’s final program at 2:30pm will feature Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon, whose latest book, Joy in Service on Rue Tagore: Poems, is his 15th full-length collection of poetry. In it, he writes with the same verve and distinction that have won him the highest accolades. From artichokes to zinc, he navigates an alphabet of image and history, through barleymen and Irish slavers to the last running wolf in Ulster. The journey involves the accumulated bric-a-brac of a life, and a reckoning along the way of gains against loss. Muldoon’s poetry has been translated into 20 languages.
CHILDREN’S PROGRAM
The Festival of Books children’s program on Saturday, August 31 from 10:00am to 11:30am will feature a meet and greet with The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the title character of children’s author and illustrator Eric Carle’s beloved picture book. Kids will be able to have their photos taken with the costumed character, get crafty with art activities, and listen to the classic story of a butterfly’s life cycle read by Chatham High School drama students Kaylee Couitt and Paxton Brownell.
GIANT USED BOOK SALE
At the heart of the Festival is a giant book sale, one of the biggest in the region, featuring more than 15,000 gently used books, including fiction and non-fiction, hard and soft covers—all offered at affordable prices. Friends of the Academy donate books and a dedicated band of volunteers, led by Wayne Greene, spend countless hours throughout the summer carefully sorting and organizing the books in preparation for the sale.
The book sale is open to the public on Saturday, August 31 from 10:00am to 5:00pm; Sunday, September 1 from 10:00am to 4:00pm; and on Monday, September 2 (bargain day) from 10:00am to 2:00pm. Admission is free. Teachers with ID receive a 20% discount on their purchases (except in the Special Book Room and guest author books).
In addition, Spencertown Academy members will have first crack at the books during the Members Only Preview on Friday, August 30 from 3:00pm to 8:00pm. “Browse and buy at your leisure—shoppers will enjoy early access even more this year as the use of scanning devices will be prohibited on Friday,” says Greene. “No commotion, just a pleasant shopping experience.” Free for members, $10 for member’s guests, and memberships will be available online or at the door.
The Special Book Room features an array of curated books, including art, photography, architecture, design, cookbooks, graphic novels, collectible first editions, signed books, esoterica, and more. Some highlights from early donations include an extraordinary selection of graphic novels and books of illustration and cartoon art, including several volumes featuring the art of R. Crumb and Mad Magazine. Signed books include Herman Leonard’s Jazz Memories, a coffee table book of his iconic jazz photography, signed by Leonard; a seminal photography book, The Sweet Flypaper of Life, featuring Roy DeCarava’s photographs of Harlem in the fifties, signed by DeCarava; and a history of the cartoon series, The Flintstones, signed by co-creators Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera.
There’s a Kids’ Corner for young readers and a media section full of vinyl LPs, DVDs, CDs, and audio books. This year, there will be a special section devoted to Miles Davis featuring classic albums on vinyl, as well as boxed CD sets of his music.
Founded in 1972, Spencertown Academy Arts Center is a cultural center and community resource serving Columbia County, the Berkshires, and the Capital region. Housed in a landmark 1847 Greek Revival schoolhouse, the Academy is located at 790 State Route 203 in Spencertown, New York. For more information, please see www.spencertownacademy.org.