CONEY ISLAND BOOK FAIR
Coney Island USA
1208 Surf Ave.
Saturday, May 10, fair free, panels $20, variety show $25, $40 for both
www.coneyislandbookfair.org
Coney Island has been a poignant location in such books as Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s A Coney Island of the Mind, Sol Yurick’s The Warriors, Joseph Heller’s Now and Then: From Coney Island to Here: A Memoir, Billy O’Callaghan’s My Coney Island Baby, and Alice Hoffman’s The Museum of Extraordinary Things.
The Brooklyn home of the Cyclone, the Wonder Wheel, Luna Park, and the New York Aquarium is now taking the next step in its literary history with the inaugural Coney Island Book Fair, done in its usual style, with more than a touch of freaky entertainment. On May 10, there will be four panel discussions, books for sale, art vendors, jewelry, food and drink, and a concluding variety show with special guests. Below is the full schedule.
Buy Books & Oddities!, book fair, Shooting Gallery Annex, free, noon – 6:00
Sip, Search, and Swap Stories!, Freak Bar, noon – last call
Writing the City: New York as Muse, with Eddie McNamara, John Strausbaugh, and Laurie Gwen Shapiro, moderated by Heather Buckley, 1:00
Writing the Creepy: Books That Go Bump in the Night, with Leila Taylor, S. E. Porter, Colin Dickey, Alix Strauss, and Sadie Dingfelder, moderated by Laetitia Barbieri, 2:00
Writing the Shimmy: The Politics of Pasties and Performance, with Jo Weldon, Linda Simpson, and Elyssa Goodman, moderated by Ilise S. Carter, 3:00
Writing the Bally: Sideshow as a Main Character, with James Taylor, Jim Moore, and Dawn Raffel, hosted by Trav S.D., 4:00
Body of Work: A Literal Literary Variety Show, with Jo Weldon, Johnny Porkpie, Fancy Feast, Victoria Vixen, Garth Schilling, and more, hosted by journalist, author, writer, sword swallower, fire-eater and straitjacket escape artist the Lady Aye, $25, 7:00
[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]