As we are fast approaching the end of spring and the genesis of summer, this is normally the time of year where the publishing industry and book world celebrate all that is hot in reading and upcoming works as well. From BookExpo America to BookCon, these events serve as the Comic Cons for literature; complete with booths, author panels, book signings, and so on.
A lot of these events tend to take place in New York City, which is understandable given the large publishing houses that have established themselves there. However, as a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, I’ve always found it odd that we didn’t have anything like that out here. Long before the emergence of the tech industry that the world knows the Bay Area for now, this region of the country has also thrived in the literary scene, in more ways than one. The historic City Lights Bookstore is based in San Francisco, NaNoWriMo was founded here, the Beat Generation had some of its more impacting moments here as they dwelled in on the counterculture movement that was emerging during their time, and more.
As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one wondering the lack of such a celebration for literature here, which was why I was ecstatic to learn a few days ago that this weekend is the inaugural Bay Area Book Festival… and that’s exactly where I got back from a few hours ago.
Continue reading “In the Hemisphere of Books on the Streets of Berkeley”
Lola By The Bay 