FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 9, 2025
Media Contact: Gina Hyams, PR Consultant (713) 930-7554 ginahyams@gmail.com
Spencertown Academy Arts Center 20th Annual Festival of Books
August 29 through September 1
Distinguished Authors, Children’s Programming, and Giant Book Sale
Spencertown, New York—Spencertown Academy Arts Center’s 20th annual Festival of Books takes place over Labor Day weekend, August 29 through September 1. 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 Chloé Caldwell, Peter S. Canellos, Elizabeth Dias, David Hajdu, Lisa Lerer, Mayukh Sen, and Bonnie Yochelson. 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. Wayne Greene and David Highfill are co-chairs of the Festival. “We have a stellar line-up of authors and books this year, and I’m anticipating some lively conversations under the big tent,” says David Highfill. “As we mark the 20th year of the Festival of Books, we once again strive to make this beloved event one that the entire community, and beyond, can look forward to and enjoy. 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,” adds Greene.
Authors’ books will be available for purchase and signing. Coffee and snacks will also be for sale on Saturday and Sunday.
FESTIVAL MAIN STAGE
Saturday, August 30
The authors’ program kicks off at 12:30pm with Peter S. Canellos discussing his book, The Great Dissenter: The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America’s Judicial Hero (Simon & Shuster) with writer and television producer Dalton Delan. A sweeping biography of an American hero who stood against all the forces of Gilded Age America to fight for civil rights and economic freedom, it’s a profound tale of how a former slave owner—with the help of a once-enslaved man who grew up alongside him and was believed to be his half-brother—changed American law. Canellos is a current editor at POLITICO, former editorial page editor of The Boston Globe, and editor of the New York Times bestseller Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy.
At 2:00pm, art historian Bonnie Yochelson will talk about her biography, Too Good to Get Married: The Life and Photographs of Miss Alice Austen (Fordham University Press) with curator Diane Shewchuk. Austen (1866-1952) was a prolific amateur photographer from a well-to-do family whose Victorian cottage, called Clear Comfort, overlooks New York harbor and is a National Historic Landmark and LGBTQ Historic Site. The book describes how a woman who grew up in the Gilded Age, when the term “lesbian” did not yet exist, challenged and conformed to the conservative ideals of Staten Island high society, and it deciphers the role photography played in her journey of self-discovery. Yochelson’s notable works include Jacob A. Riis: Revealing New York’s Other Half, Alfred Stieglitz New York, and Berenice Abbott: Changing New York.
At 3:30pm, top journalists Lisa Lerer and Elizabeth Dias will discuss their national bestseller, The Fall of Roe: The Rise of a New America (Flatiron Books), with Rebecca Hart Holder, executive director of Reproductive Equity Now. This groundbreaking book charts the shocking political and religious campaign to take down abortion rights and remake American families, womanhood, and the nation itself. Dias, national religion correspondent for The New York Times, has covered American religion and politics for more than a decade, with a focus on the surging power of conservative Christianity that drives the Trump movement. Lerer, national political correspondent for The New York Times, has covered American politics, power, and elections for nearly two decades. She has covered five presidential campaigns, the White House, and Congress.
FESTIVAL MAIN STAGE
Sunday, August 31
At 11:30am, author Chloé Caldwell will talk about Trying: A Memoir (Graywolf Press) with novelist Jen Beagin. Known for writing with candor, irreverence, and heart, her latest book is about infertility, betrayal, and rebirth. It intimately captures a self in a continuous process of becoming—and the mysterious ways that writing informs that process. Caldwell is the author of national bestseller Women, the memoir The Red Zone, and the essay collections I’ll Tell You in Person and Legs Get Led Astray. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, Bon Appétit, The Cut, Autostraddle, Longreads, and Nylon.
At 1:00pm, author Mayukh Sen will discuss Love, Queenie: Merle Oberon, Hollywood’s First South Asian Star (W.W. Norton & Company). In the first major biography of Oberon in over four decades, Sen draws on family interviews and heretofore untapped archival material to animate the Wuthering Heights star’s hard-won journey from poverty to fame. He is a Class of 2025 Fellow at New America, and he teaches film and television journalism at New York University.
Sunday’s final program at 2:30pm will feature author David Hajdu in conversation with music journalist Seth Rogovoy about his book, The Uncanny Muse: Music, Art and Machines from Automata to AI (W.W. Norton & Company). In it, he tells the story of art’s relation to machines—from the Baroque period to the age of AI. Hajdu is the author of seven books, including Adrianne Geffel: A Fiction, and he is a three-time National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. A musician and composer, he is also the music critic for the Nation and a journalism professor at Columbia University.
CHILDREN’S PROGRAM
The Festival of Books children’s program on Saturday, August 30 from 10:00am to 12:00pm will feature a meet and greet with The Rainbow Fish, the title character of Marcus Pfister’s beloved children’s picture book, which has sold 30 million copies and counting worldwide in more than 50 languages. Kids will be able to have their photos taken with the costumed character, get crafty with art activities, and listen to the classic story about a beautiful fish who finds friendship and happiness when he learns to share read by Rae Gilson.
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 30 from 10:00am to 5:00pm; Sunday, August 31 from 10:00am to 4:00pm; and on Monday, September 1 (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 29 from 3:00pm to 7:00pm. “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. There’s a Kids’ Corner for young readers and a media section full of vinyl LPs, DVDs, CDs, and audio books.
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.