Before I post any photos from the 2012 Harlem Book Fair, let me first express my horror and sorrow at the massacre that occurred early Friday morning in Aurora, Colorado, at the midnight showing of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. The most recent reports I've read say that 12 people have died, and over 50 were injured to varying degrees. I send my condolences to those who have died and wishes for a swift recovery to those who were injured. The police thankfully did immediately capture the murderer, a 24-year-old domestic terrorist named James Eagan Holmes, who had been a graduate student in neuroscience at the University of Colorado, Denver, and who apparently not only slaughtered people in the movie theater, but booby-trapped his apartment to maim authorities who planned to search it. Holmes, had also apparently dressed himself in SWAT-type gear, and set off a smoke bomb to create confusion before he began shooting. I won't use this brief note to pontificate, but I have long believed and will continue to believe that the easy availability of dangerous arms and protective gear of the sort that Holmes easily acquired, the lack of adequate, comprehensive mental health services across the country, and the socially stressed environment, particularly because of economic conditions and political divisions, that so many Americans live under, all help to foster such horrific incidents. What doesn't help is a normalized attitude toward social oppression, and psychic and physical violence, dating back to the country's origins and celebrated in many aspects of our society, that diminishes the seriousness of harming oneself and others, and of death. What motivated or sparked Holmes's terrible acts I cannot say. That they have happened before I and every American can affirm. That they may happen again, without any serious measures being taken to lessen their likelihood, I must also sadly affirm.
***
Yesterday I dropped by the 2012 Harlem Book Fair, which took place on several blocks alongside the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a research branch of the New York Public Library, located at 135th St. and Lenox Avenue in Harlem. I have attended and even participated in the Book Fair in past years, trying as best I can not to miss it in order to support the fair organizers, the authors and publishers, and Harlemworld itself, and to see what new books and book trends it has on display, since many bookstores are not featuring many of these books in the ways they're being presented at the fair.
What struck me this year was that the venue and the time-span of the fair both seemed to be truncated compared to previous years, but at least to my unscientific appraisal, the number of fair-goers looked higher and the booksellers appeared more enthusiastic. One reason for the added liveliness of this year compared to last might have been the milder temperatures. After a very Hades-like stretch this past week and two days of rain, this weekend brought the sun out, but in moderation and cooling breezes. One of the things I love about this book fair compared to others is how enthusiastic many of the authors and publishers, many tiny or self-publishing outfits, are; in my experience rarely do they complain about having a conversation, signing books, meeting readers or even people just browsing the materials on their tables, or having their photos taken. Some even specifically ask for you to do so. There's also a level of showpersonship that I don't often see at other book fairs. My favorite display was the simplest; it's the final picture I've posted below.
One thing I did not see this year, and also missed last year was any sign that many of the authors were providing their works in the steadily increasing e-book format. As easy as it is to publish a paperback book these days, it's as easy, at least in Amazon's format, to put out an e-book as well. (The Nook and especially the Apple formats are more complicated.) I also didn't see that much emphasis on social media, even though both establishment media and scholars have written about the higher level of engagement among black people, especially black young people, with these sites and platforms. That led me to think that both in terms of the panels, which I didn't attend this time, and among the booksellers and authors, e-books, and related technologies, will be a greater focus in years to come. I also was surprised at the paucity of LGBTIQ authors this year; last year and in previous years, at least by my reckoning, more have been out and about.
One last point: I continue to be surprised, given the longstanding and increasing diversity of New York City's black population, which the Schomburg's affiliated scholars, librarians and archivists have documented, that there are not even more publishers and authors presenting works in languages other than English. Certainly Anglophone writers from North America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa are present, but what about Hispanophone authors and books? Books in Portuguese? In Swahili? In Amharic? In Arabic? I did in fact see some books in Arabic, and in previous years I've seen some books in Spanish, but I'm surprised yet again that there aren't more.
Here are photos I snapped at the event. All are captionless they tell their own stories. Enjoy.
***
Yesterday I dropped by the 2012 Harlem Book Fair, which took place on several blocks alongside the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a research branch of the New York Public Library, located at 135th St. and Lenox Avenue in Harlem. I have attended and even participated in the Book Fair in past years, trying as best I can not to miss it in order to support the fair organizers, the authors and publishers, and Harlemworld itself, and to see what new books and book trends it has on display, since many bookstores are not featuring many of these books in the ways they're being presented at the fair.
What struck me this year was that the venue and the time-span of the fair both seemed to be truncated compared to previous years, but at least to my unscientific appraisal, the number of fair-goers looked higher and the booksellers appeared more enthusiastic. One reason for the added liveliness of this year compared to last might have been the milder temperatures. After a very Hades-like stretch this past week and two days of rain, this weekend brought the sun out, but in moderation and cooling breezes. One of the things I love about this book fair compared to others is how enthusiastic many of the authors and publishers, many tiny or self-publishing outfits, are; in my experience rarely do they complain about having a conversation, signing books, meeting readers or even people just browsing the materials on their tables, or having their photos taken. Some even specifically ask for you to do so. There's also a level of showpersonship that I don't often see at other book fairs. My favorite display was the simplest; it's the final picture I've posted below.
One thing I did not see this year, and also missed last year was any sign that many of the authors were providing their works in the steadily increasing e-book format. As easy as it is to publish a paperback book these days, it's as easy, at least in Amazon's format, to put out an e-book as well. (The Nook and especially the Apple formats are more complicated.) I also didn't see that much emphasis on social media, even though both establishment media and scholars have written about the higher level of engagement among black people, especially black young people, with these sites and platforms. That led me to think that both in terms of the panels, which I didn't attend this time, and among the booksellers and authors, e-books, and related technologies, will be a greater focus in years to come. I also was surprised at the paucity of LGBTIQ authors this year; last year and in previous years, at least by my reckoning, more have been out and about.
One last point: I continue to be surprised, given the longstanding and increasing diversity of New York City's black population, which the Schomburg's affiliated scholars, librarians and archivists have documented, that there are not even more publishers and authors presenting works in languages other than English. Certainly Anglophone writers from North America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa are present, but what about Hispanophone authors and books? Books in Portuguese? In Swahili? In Amharic? In Arabic? I did in fact see some books in Arabic, and in previous years I've seen some books in Spanish, but I'm surprised yet again that there aren't more.
Here are photos I snapped at the event. All are captionless they tell their own stories. Enjoy.
No comments:
Post a Comment