Bay Area Book Festival Podcast

An early proponent of intersectionality, Adrienne Rich's ideas have profoundly shaped feminism. In celebration of "Essential Essays," a new collection of Rich's work edited by poet-scholar Sandra Gilbert, join Rich's friends, colleagues, literary and scholarly descendants and longtime editor as they pay homage to Rich's legacy. Sponsored by Reed Schmidt.

One of the most important fiction writers comes to Berkeley from England to celebrate the paperback release of "Kudos," the final installation of her acclaimed "Outline" series.

The widow of Paul Kalanithi, author of the bestselling "When Breath Becomes Air," is joined by Rebecca Soffer, editor of the new anthology "Modern Loss," and contributor Elizabeth Percer to discuss grief and meaning. Sponsored by SACHI - Society for Art & Cultural Heritage of India.

A must-see for anyone who believes they have a book in them: National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) Executive Director Grant Faulkner appears in person with coach and publisher Brooke Warner to discuss turning inspiration into a tangible product.

In a time when truth is ever more embattled, one of its greatest creative and intellectual practitioners releases his new book at the festival.

Ehrenreich has taken on the minimum wage, abortion rights, women's lives, marijuana laws, and now, in her new book, death itself. She examines diet culture, disease screenings and all of the other practices humans engage in to ensure a long life. Sponsored by Mother Jones.

These titans of storytelling discuss the power stories have to galvanize the world, create cultures and bind us all together. Sponsored by UC Berkeley Arts + Design and the Simpson Family Literary Project.

World-renowned Buddhist teacher Frank Ostaseski discusses the tenets of a life well lived and share simple suggestions everyone can practice. Sponsored by North Berkeley Investment Partners.

These esteemed reviewers take us inside the process: Lydia Kiesling, editor of The Millions; Paul Laity, non-fiction reviewer at The Guardian; Ismail Muhammad, reviewer for The Millions and contributor to Slate and the Paris Review; and Jane Ciabattari, BBC reviewer and former president of the National Book Critics Circle.

Memoir writers have the especially challenging task of confronting their own past and creating themselves as a character. In their memoirs, these writers address the U.S. Border Patrol, the experience of Holocaust survivors and growing up mixed-race in America.

Come hear how writers dream up, and then capture on the page, entirely new people who are exceptionally complicated. With the support of the Norway House Foundation, NORLA - Norwegian Literature Abroad, the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, and the Consulate General of Sweden in San Francisco.

One of the Bay Area's most famous activists talks with a movement insider on the history and future of activism. How have past movements used disruptive tactics to catalyze change? Is there hope in the dark, and how do we act on it? Sponsored by UC Berkeley Arts + Design.

This smart, compassionate woman — who arrived in this country as a near-penniless immigrant student and became one of the founding board members of Salesforce — gives other smart women the tools they need to win. Sponsored by Strong Legacy Planning.

As women across the world make their painful experiences visible, men have begun to grapple with how the masculine identity shapes the power imbalance.

Nina LaCour's characters look a lot like her readers. This awardwinning author has devoted her life to young adults: first as a teacher, then as a writer. Her new novel "We Are Okay" deals with trauma, isolation, coping and change.

Writers shoulder a responsibility as voices for their time. Faculty members from CCA's MFA in Writing program, spanning travel, memoir, fiction and poetry, interrogate the role of creative practice in the 21st century. Sponsored by the California College of Arts MFA in Writing Program.

Greg Sarris's book, "How a Mountain Was Made," mythologizes the Northern California landscape with Native stories — fables with universal resonance and beauty. Sponsored by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria.

What is the role of creative political resistance in a time of ascendant fascism? From the elegy to the love poem, from the individual to the collective, these poets will explore how words give us strength.

A new generation of female authors holds in their hands the future of speculative fiction. With the support of Zoetic Press, the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation and the Consulate General of Sweden in San Francisco.

These authors — an eminent historian, an attorney and critical race scholar and a mixed-race lawyer — explore race and the deep origins and expressions of racism in this country.

The best travel writing is about exploration of "the other" and an embrace of this new terrain into self and one's understanding of the greater world. These writers explore the concept of "place" from very different perspectives.

This festival favorite and former U.S. Poet Laureate will teach you everything he knows about being a poet on the move. While his new book is technically for kids, anyone can learn to jabberwalk! With support from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria.

Disparity in wages and opportunity between the rich and the rest of us has grown rapidly in the U.S.; what are the causes and consequences? With support from the Stephen M. Silberstein Foundation.

Post punk rocker (formerly of the feminist cult band The Slits) comes to us from the UK to confront questions of feminism, family and inevitable death with her trademark raw, intimate, vulnerable style. Legendary rock critic Greil Marcus interviews.