Brooklyn's biggest literary gathering is coming back for its 21st year, and organizers are promising nine days of readings, panels and book signings that stretch across all five boroughs. The Brooklyn Book Festival will feature hundreds of authors, booksellers and literary organizations, with Festival Day itself packing more than 250 publishers into outdoor tents at Columbus Park and Borough Hall Plaza.
According to Brooklyn Paper, the festival will include a Virtual Festival Day, Children's Day, Festival Day, the Literary Marketplace and more than 70 Bookend events scattered throughout the borough and beyond. Festival Day runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on September 27 at locations including Brooklyn Borough Hall, Brooklyn Law School, the Center for Brooklyn History, St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church, Columbus Park and Korean War Veterans Park. Eight indoor and outdoor stages will host conversations covering fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, graphic novels and young adult literature.
A Lineup Stacked With Literary Heavyweights
This year's roster includes Marlon James, Joyce Carol Oates, Colson Whitehead, Douglas Stuart, Rachel Aviv, Jelani Cobb, Tina Chang, Naomi Shihab Nye, Emma Straub, Deesha Philyaw and Namwali Serpell, per the outlet's reporting. The festival's co-founder, Liz Koch, welcomed all of New York City to celebrate the festival's authors, saying the event brings readers into conversation with writers.
The Brooklyn Book Festival traces back to September 2006, when it was launched by then-Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz alongside Akashic Books publisher Johnny Temple and co-producers Carolyn Greer and Koch, according to THIRTEEN — New York Public Media. What began as a single-day event under the Borough President's Office transitioned into an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit in 2014, as Largehearted Boy reported at the time. Two decades later, it has grown into an event that draws an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 attendees annually, making it New York City's largest free literary event, per Bklyner.
Amitav Ghosh Named Best of Brooklyn Honoree
The festival will honor Brooklyn resident Amitav Ghosh with its Best of Brooklyn (BoBi) Award, an honor established to recognize authors whose work exemplifies or speaks to the spirit of Brooklyn. Ghosh, who lives in the borough, is known for the Ibis Trilogy, The Great Derangement and The Nutmeg's Curse, according to Brooklyn Paper's coverage of the announcement.
The award has a notable roll call of past winners, having previously gone to Marlon James in 2025, Roz Chast in 2024, Hilton Als in 2023, Mo Willems in 2019 and Colson Whitehead in 2017, as noted by Kirkus Reviews. The 2026 poster, created by Mexican author-illustrator Jaque Jours and featuring the marble steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall, will serve as the visual centerpiece of this year's event.
Kids Get Their Own Day, Global Readers Get a Virtual One
Children's Day will take place September 26 at Brooklyn Borough Hall and Plaza, featuring readings, workshops, performances, art projects and book signings for younger readers. Authors scheduled to appear include R.J. Palacio, Bess Kalb, Mahogany L. Browne, Jorge Aguirre and Adam Gidwitz.
Virtual Festival Day, set for September 20, will allow readers around the world to participate and will feature Maggie Haberman, Chloe Benjamin and Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida. The online format began in 2020 as a pandemic-era accommodation but was retained as a permanent fixture to reach international authors and remote audiences, according to the same account from BKReader.
From Canoe Poetry to a Global Guest List
The festival's programming ranges from hyper-local traditions to international headliners. Among its most unusual Bookend events is the Gowanus Dawn Reading, an annual tradition dating to 2017 in which poets perform from canoes on the Gowanus Canal at 7:45 a.m. for onlookers gathered on the 9th Street Bridge, organized with the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club, per Bklyner's earlier reporting. This year's international lineup includes 2024 U.S. National Book Award winner Yang Shuang-zi of Taiwan, who will appear on a panel about historical fiction tied to her novel Taiwan Travelogue, with her appearance supported by Taiwan's Ministry of Culture as part of a U.S. tour.
Rather than relying on a single artistic director, the festival curates its panels through volunteer committees under the Brooklyn Literary Council, a structure meant to keep programming diverse and community-driven, according to a report from Brooklyn Magazine. On Festival Day, the event also hosts the annual Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize panel, bringing together winning fiction, non-fiction and poetry authors chosen by local librarians and staff, according to the Brooklyn Book Festival's own event listings.
With more than 250 publishers expected to line the tents of Columbus Park and Borough Hall Plaza, the Literary Marketplace has become the largest outdoor book market in the Northeast, giving independent presses a direct line to readers. As in past years, admission to the Brooklyn Book Festival remains free for all across New York City, keeping the nine-day celebration accessible to anyone willing to show up with a tote bag and an open afternoon.
