“Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf
January to April 2026
Bristol BookFest continued to refine and streamline its slate of January-April events, the weekend programming schedule, and operations and procedures. Our Saturday Spotlight once again featured emerging young scholars, and we extended the Conversation Parlor. We trialed a bookmark contest and an online lecture. The season was rich in local collaborations and support to present humanities offerings ranging from presentations on WWI military service, WWI poets, an ensemble performance with Aurea Ensemble, two film screenings, and wide-ranging, complementary Saturday speakers including young poets and a curator from the New York Public Library.
Keynote: Merve Emre
Saturday Speakers: Carolyn Vega, Anne Fernald, Steven Calvert
Spotlight: Rhode Island Poetry Ambassadors Robin Linden and Julia Yakirevich
“Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury
January to April 2025
Our programs and scholars led us in discussions beyond the initial plot device to the deeper concerns surrounding intellectual freedom, curiosity, community, imagination and the power of individual authority when it comes to accessing knowledge and acting from what is discovered rather than what is merely relayed. We introduced our Conversation Parlor and Spotlight Saturday program segments. Bristol BookFest had become a months-long event, beginning with registration in January and months of inventive programming, like salvaged-journal making and blackout poetry, and Readers’ Theater, culminating in BookFest Weekend in early April.
Keynote: Kelly Link
Saturday Speakers: Rod Smolla, Jason Aukerman
Spotlight: Boston Dynamic Robot Dog “Spot” and handlers Ivy He and Benned Hedegaard
“Moby Dick” by Herman Melville
January to April 2024
The Town of Bristol proclaimed April 5-6 2024 as Bristol BookFest Weekend. Programming addressed the daunting nature of the novel and an eight session reading seminar. Programming began in January and included a lecture by Nathaniel Philbrick at the Herreshoff Marine Museum on his book, “Why Read Moby Dick?,” and a concert at St. Michael’s Church by Aurea Ensemble’s “Herman Melville and the Great White Whale.” A Bristol-based scrimshander curated a showcase of scrimshaws from a family collection in place prior to the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
Keynote: Declan Kiely
Saturday Speakers: Richard Brodhead, Mary K. Bercaw Edwards, Cyrus R. K. Patel, Robert Rocha
“The Odyssey” tr. Emily Wilson
March 31 to April 1, 2023
Bristol BookFest met the challenges of the epic with expanded programming between January and the BookFest weekend in April, including a six week winter seminar. Our collaborative energy with Rogers Free Library and Roger Williams University, extended the reach and breadth of programming, including an all-ages tutorial on the Greek alphabet and our first annual community Readers’ Theater rehearsal and performance, led by university secondary education students. Bristol Art Museum and Rogers Free Library hosted a community exhibition related to “The Odyssey.”
Keynote: Barbara Graziosi
Saturday Speakers: Johanna Hannink, Mary Ebbott, Carol Dougherty, Phoebe Segal, Garrett Dash Nelson
“Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus” by Mary Shelley
Planned for October 2021, moved to April 1-2, 2022
This was our first in-person Bristol BookFest in the heart of downtown Bristol. Originally scheduled for October 2021, the committee rescheduled the event due to COVID-19. The weekend as postponed to early April 2022, putting in place what became our traditional season. Our collaborations with and support from Friends of the Rogers Free Library, Rogers Free Library, Roger Williams University, Linden Place and the Bristol-Warren School District were essential to moving from remote space to community spaces.
Keynote: Jay Baruch
Saturday Speakers: Declan Kiely, Christopher Irmscher, Alexandra Keller
“All the King’s Men” by Robert Penn Warren
Originally March 27-28, moved to October 16-17, 2020
The inaugural Bristol BookFest was scheduled for the spring of 2020, however the COVID-19 pandemic required a pivot to an online event six months later. Like the rest of the world, we sorted out shared remote space and tech. Key collaborators emerged: Arts in Common, the 501(c)(3) that hosts us, and Carrie Chatterson Studio, through their “Design for Good” initiative, continues to support BBF with designing and branding each year’s selection. Though a real challenge, the first Bristol BookFest was a success.
Keynote: George Shipley
Saturday Speakers: John Burt, Ernest Suarez, Charles Calhoun, Alexandra Keller
