Bay Area Book Festival Podcast

Look around. How much of our infrastructure — from roads and bridges to factories and food supplies — was built on the backs of American slaves? Three writer-researchers examine how the brutal history of slavery laid the foundation of American capitalism and shaped today’s racial and economic inequality. Blight just won the the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Frederick Douglass. Sponsored by the Stephen M. Silberstein Foundation.

Terry Tempest Williams, a woman whose writings are as lyrical and formidable as her name, has been heralded as an “activist laureate.” She’s best known for her classic Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place, an astonishing meditation on grief and the landscape of the West, and she joined Women Lit in Berkeley on October 17 to discuss her newest book of essays, Erosion.

What do mega-bestselling crime writers talk about around the family dinner table? Perhaps they plot their next juicy thrillers. After all, they do some great work together: Jonathan and Jesse have a new book that Stephen King calls “brilliant, page-turning fiction,” and Faye and Jonathan co-wrote the New York Times bestseller “Double Homicide.” Meet this family of mystery masters.

If we let them, natural spaces and creatures can help us slow down, notice and reflect on modern life. These authors come to us from England, Oakland and France to explore the wonders that acts of attention can bring. With the support of Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States.

Ann Beattie is known for casting a gimlet eye on her generation’s ambivalence and ambition. “A Wonderful Stroke of Luck,” her 21st book, explores the complicated relationship between a charismatic teacher and his students and the secrets people keep from those they love. She’ll talk with her friend Carol Edgarian, author, publisher and cofounder of Narrative. With the support of Women Lit Members.

This roundtable includes the New York Times Ethicist columnist, the former National Book Critics Circle president, the Freeman’s literary journal editor, a Washington Post book critic, the German secretary of culture and The Paris Review’s editor. With support from “Wunderbar Together,” initiated by the German Federal Foreign Office and the Goethe-Institut, and supported by the Federation of German Industries (BDI).

Storytelling brings humanity to the headlines. Journalist Atia Abawi depicts a young boy who must escape from war-torn Syria. Aaron Bobrow-Strain follows an undocumented teen mom at a militarized border. Eliot Pattison concludes his mystery series set in Tibet, which he writes so readers can “understand what it feels like to witness an armed policeman assault a praying monk.” Moderated by Human Rights Watch researcher Clara Long.

Four distinct voices from Germany and Switzerland explore these questions in their work, all bestsellers in Europe. Discover these new voices in translation, one of the most exciting areas in literature today. With the support of the initiative "Wunderbar Together,“ initiated by the German Federal Foreign Office and the Goethe Institut, and supported by the Federation of German Industries (BDI); the Goethe-Institut San Francisco; Goethe-Institut’s translation support program "Books First"; also supported by the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco and Pro Helvetia.

From the little island with the big reach: Hear from Mike McCormack with his acclaimed third novel “Solar Bones,” Catherine Ryan Howard and her debut propulsive thriller “Distress Signals” and Emilie Pine with her searching “Notes to Self.” With the support of Culture Ireland.

The 20th century brought us “1984” and “Brave New World” as harbingers of terrifying social and technological change. In the 21st century, we have bold and urgent climate literature. Hear from the talented authors bringing us these stories, moderated by the former deputy editor of The Paris Review.