“Pretty soon all fiction will be climate fiction.” So begins the description for one of the events at the 2021 Boston Book Festival. Meanwhile, another event, the Kickoff Keynote for the festival, is titled, “Our Pandemic Future.”
In a time when we now know that climate change has already started changing how we live and when we are coming to terms with the fact that we will always have to deal with COVID 19, just as we regularly deal with the Flu and other corona viruses, it is only apt that one of the leading book festivals in the world, highlight these two issues.
And it is partly thanks to COVID 19 that book lovers and writers from around the world will be able to Zoom into about 50 virtual events when The Boston Book Festival launches next week, on October 15. Even as the world starts to open up, organizations are realizing that virtual events, while not ideal, offer new opportunities for connection and accessibility. This has led to the birth of the ‘hybrid event’ and the Boston Book Festival has a number of those this year. If you cannot attend many of the in-person events, you will be able to participate online.
But it not all heavy and overwhelming topics. Festival events will include talks about memoir, an exploration of low-residency MFA programs, and a discussion of how to run a thriving book club.
There are events for members of the public, events for children, and events for writers of fiction, non-fiction, memoir, and poetry.
One of the most anticipated events of the festival will be the session where international bestselling author Bob Woodward and acclaimed reporter Robert Costa discuss their new book, “Peril.” It is the story of the end of Trump’s presidency and transition to Joe Biden’s regime. This event will be moderated by Mindy Marqués, Vice President and Executive Editor at Simon & Schuster and the former Executive Editor of the Miami Herald.
Other highlights include a session with award-winning writer Nnedi Okorafor. She will join Matt Bell for a conversation about her acclaimed novel “Lagoon,” as well as issues of world-building in science fiction and fantasy, African futurism and other genres.
In-Person events include a chalk art event for families hosted by the Boston Public Library as part of the celebrations for the reopening of its Roxbury branch.