Ten Brooklyn Book Festival Events for People Who Don't Like Books

It's the literary event of the season: The Brooklyn Book Festival is taking place around Borough Hall this Sunday, September 23, and everyone will be there.

But what if the aching excitement of your ultra-literary Brooklyn friends eludes you? What if you can't name a single author you'd like to meet? Or a single book you'd like to buy?

Don't fear. You don't actually have to read books to enjoy the Book Festival. Here are ten events featuring witty conversations between devilishly clever people, talented artists showcasing their work and even a musical concert -- no reading required.

1: The Nation Presents: Election 2012

10 a.m., Brooklyn Historical Society Library
It's almost election time -- want to learn what's at stake? Sit in on a conversation featuring three experts who are passionate about politics: Katrina vanden Heuvel, Tom Frank and Eric Alterman. Moderated by Touré.

2: Bon Appetite

10 a.m. North Satge, Borough Hall Plaza/ Columbus Park
Like the French Chef? Bob Spitz, expert on Julia Child, celebrates the centennial of the beloved chef in a conversation with author Luke Barr, who also knows a lot about Child.

3: Artisanal Everything

11 a.m. on the Main Stage in Borough Hall Plaza
David Rees, the world's only artisanal pencil sharpener, has a conversation with Sam Anderson, New York Times Magazine critic. You would think putting these two people close together would cause an explosion, but it seems they have a lot to talk about: Rees' pencil business (he hand-sharpens pencils for mail order customers) and the artisanalization of everything in Brooklyn, from mayonnaise to soda.

4: Brooklyn Book Festival presents Pete Hamill

12 p.m. St. Francis Auditorium
Brooklyn's remarkable man-of-the-world journalist Pete Hamill, in what will be a thoroughly interesting conversation with Bill Goldstein of WNBC-TV.

5: I’d Like To Apologize To Every Teacher I Ever Had

1 p.m. in Borough Hall Plaza
Actor Tony Danza was inspired by a documentary made by Teach for America to take time out to teach high school. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz talks with him about how that all worked out.

6: The Nation Presents the Twilight of the Elites

1 p.m. St. Francis McArdle
Over the past decade, Americans watched in bafflement as one institution after another — from Wall Street to Congress, from the Catholic Church to Major League Baseball — fell apart from corruption. How did we get here? A conversation with MSNBC host Chris Hayes and author Michelle Goldberg, moderated by Richard Kim.

7: Make Believe: Genre Comics for the Next Generation

1 p.m., St. Francis Screening Room
Cartoonists Derek Kirk Kim (Tune: Vanishing Point), Becky Cloonan (Dracula) and Mark Siegel (Sailor Twain) project their new work on the screen and talk about what makes "genre" comics so fun to write, draw, and read. Moderated by Ellen Kushner.

8: (Adults Only) The Sex Panel: Taboo in Pictures

3 p.m. at St. Francis Auditorium
Gilbert Hernandez, Leela Corman, Molly Crabapple and Bob Fingerman talk about sex and taboo in comics. From obscenity to art, and "the delicious in-between." Featuring screen projection, with viewer discretion advised! Moderated by Heidi MacDonald.

9: (Adults Only) Marriage and Monogamy

5 p.m. St. Francis McArdle
Why marriage? Why monogamy? Syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage has advocated “monogam-ish” relationships; anthropologist Christopher Ryan, Ph.D. argues that monogamy isn't inherent to humans; Kristin Davis aka “The Manhattan Madam” will provide her insights into the tangled web of sex and commitment; and Eric Klinenberg looks at how society is changing. Moderated by Kate Bolick.

10: Phillip Lopate: Living in Brooklyn

6 - 7:30 p.m., Granite Prospect on Pier 1 of Brooklyn Bridge Park
Author Phillip Lopate joins Brooklyn Philharmonic Concertmaster Deborah Buck and pianist Molly Morkoski for a concert exploring Brooklyn’s development over the past 200 years. Music by great Brooklyn composers like Gershwin and Copland, as well as contemporary composers.

- 2011 Book Festival here.
- 2010 festival;
- 2009; 2008; 2007

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