Kendra Samuel
Journal Staff
Festival-goers clung to their Starbucks cups with all their strength, plowing through the stinging and biting winds that plagued Copley Square as the second annual Boston Book Festival commenced on Saturday, October 16. The arctic gusts went nearly unnoticed, as the fair stretched out across the square, offering something enjoyable for everyone.
Avid readers felt at home as several well known booksellers, and some local to the Boston area, made an appearance. Their booths were armed with stacks of bestsellers and gently used classics to tame the masses. Barnes and Noble, as well as the Brattle Book Shop, found over on West Street across from the 10 West Residence Hall, tended to be the busiest booksellers featured at the fair.
“The great thing about this festival is that all the people that go know us, but also a lot don’t so it’s great exposure,” said Ken Gloss, the current owner of the Brattle Book Shop. The staff of the Brattle had an early start at 7:30 a.m. with a constant flow of customers through out the day. “There were some points during the day when even I couldn’t get into the stand,” said Gloss, “I love to see how the festival grows bigger and bigger each year.” Though the staff was there packing up well past the end of the festival, finishing around 8p.m. the day was more than worth it. “It was work, but it was work we enjoyed.”
Smaller stores and publishing companies, such as Bascom Hill Books and Harper Perennial, were also featured, holding their own small crowds. Among the bustling booths were several colorful, fun layouts and tents made strictly for the little ones, promoting reading for all ages.
Writing was also a key theme, with a few stops along the festival’s trail that aimed to shape creativity. The One Story booth was a crowd favorite. As attendees sifted through the mass of story fragments left from those before, people could add one line to create an ongoing story that would be published on the Internet as a finished product. With this came booths promoting writing communities and schools that specialized in creative writing.
At the heart of the festival sat the Google booth in all its glory, fully equipped with some level of heating, Internet and computer access and of course bestselling books on display for sale, as well as plenty of Google memorabilia.
Throughout the day there were two keynote speakers present for adults and kids, doing things from Q&A sessions to readings from their newest releases. Jeff Kinney, the bestselling child’s author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2007, Amulet Books), was one, while the other was New York Best Selling author Joyce Carol Oates, who read from her newest release Sourland: Stories (2010, Ecco). Events centering around novels and writing practice, poetry, and open discussions also ran during the festival.
The day was a success, with Oates wrapping the festival with a final reading. The Boston Book Festival generated quite a crowed and as people dispersed the excitement from the day only heightened as they anticipated the outcome of next year.
