Join Us as One of the Region’s Biggest Literary Events Enters its Third Decade!
Members Only Preview Sale
Academy members have early access to the giant book sale. Free for members, $10 for member’s guests.
Memberships for sale online and at the door. Refreshments served 5:00 – 7:00 pm. Scanning devices prohibited on Friday.Giant Book Sale – Free Admission
Saturday, September 5, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm Sunday, September 6, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm Monday, September 7, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Browse affordable, gently used books, vinyl LPs, CDs, DVDs and audio books. Young readers find books, puzzles and games in the Kids Corner. The Special Book Room holds first-edition, out-of-print and collectible books (no scanning devices here). Teachers with IDs get a 20% discount, excluding Special Book Room and guest author books.
Children’s Program – Free Admission
Saturday, September 5 10:00 am – Noon. Eric Litwin and James Dean, Pete the Cat
Pete the Cat is a beloved children’s fictional series about a cat created by American artist James Dean. The series began with four books illustrated by Dean, with text by Eric Litwin. Kids can have their pictures taken with the costumed character, get crafty with art activities and listen to the stories read by Rae Gilsion.Author Events –Free Admission
Saturday, September 5
Saturday, September 5
12:30 pm: Nicholas Boggs, Baldwin: A Love Story
Nicholas Boggs discusses this first major Baldwin biography in three decades, a book drawn from recently uncovered archival material, original research and interviews. Boggs will talk with Williams College Associate Professor Ricardo A. Wilson II about how profoundly the writer’s personal relationships shaped his life and work. Baldwin was named one of the best books of 2025 by Time, The New York Times and Amazon
2:00 pm: Casey Scieszka, The Fountain, and Jessica Berger Gross, Hazel Says No
These two authors discuss their debut novels with award-winning author and journalist Gayle Forman. The Fountain is about a woman’s search for a fountain of youth and asks what it would be like to live forever. In Hazel Says No, Gross explores the before-and-after of a traumatic event, the cost of speaking out, family dynamics and being an outsider in a new community.
3:30 pm: James Bradley, Martin Van Buren: America’s First Politician
James Bradley talks about his biography of Van Buren that presents the case that he was the architect of the American political party system, essentially founding the Democratic Party in the process. He will discuss Van Buren’s political work in various offices and how he became the first president to use the party system to gain power with playwright and former NYU professor Liz Diggs
Sunday, September 6
11:30 am: Joshua Jelly-Schapiro: Daylight Come: Harry Belafonte and the World He Made
Join Ben Ratcliff of The New York Times as he interviews Joshua Jelly-Schapiro about his biography of the King of Calypso, who broke down formidable racial boundaries across multiple mediums, transforming island folk music into mainstream American pop, becoming America’s first black movie star and playing a critical role in the Civil Rights Movement.
1:00 pm: Melina Hammer, A Year at Catbird Cottage: Recipes for a Nourished Life
Melina Hammer shares insight into her celebrated book of 100 seasonal recipes in a conversation with Academy Board member Cindy Atkins. Hammer’s globally inspired recipes, featured at her bed-and-breakfast in Ulster County, NY, emphasize local sourcing, foraging and preserving.
2:30 pm: Michelle Young, The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WW II Resistance Hero Rose Valland, and Gerri Willis, Lincoln’s Lady Spymaster: The Untold Story of the Abolitionist Southern Belle Who Helped Win the Civil War.
Espionage is at the heart of this discussion of two books, led by interviewer and award-winning writer Emily Arnold McCully. Michelle Young’s The Art Spy is a riveting saga set in Paris during World War II and reveals how Rose Valland penetrated Nazi leadership to save some of the world’s most treasured art pieces. Gerri Willis’s Lincoln’s Lady Spymaster tells the story of Elizabeth Van Lew who, from the most elegant mansion in Richmond, built a secret espionage network of slaves, Unionists and prisoners of war.