Provincetown Library to host first book festival

Provincetown Public Library’s lead librarian Nan Cinnater and library trustee Stephen Borkowski will see their longtime dream come to life this weekend as the library hosts its first book festival.

”(That interest) kicked into high gear after an inspiring trip to the Nantucket Book Festival on June 18,” writes Matt Clark, the library’s executive director. “After having the chance to participate in that program, Nan returned to Provincetown determined to roll up her sleeves and become the driving force behind our very own festival.”

Clark says the library hopes to make the festival an annual event, coinciding with the Rose Dorothea Award Ceremony (which this year will honor Provincetown author and activist Josephine Del Deo, who died last month.) Tickets to the Friday night award reception, with wine and hors d’oeuvres, are $75 and available online or at the library’s circulation desk.

In addition to coordinating the festival with the annual award, Clark says, organizers found September to be the perfect month.

“How do you beat September on Cape Cod? The weather is gorgeous, the crowds have started to dissipate, and in Provincetown, the party crowd and theme weeks really give way to an excellent fall season of events that focus on literature, art, and theater: three disciplines that are the lifeblood of this town,” Clark writes.

Here’s a peek at what to expect:

When to show up: 11 a.m. Friday, 10 a.m. Saturday

When poets meet: Elizabeth Bradfield, Kelle Groom and Jill McDonough will kick off the festival at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 16, with “A Common Language: Three Poets.”

When fiction meets nonfiction: At 4 p.m. Friday, Paul Lisicky, author of the memoir “Narrow Rooms,” and Tim Murphy, author of the novel “Christodora” will speak about “Remembrance: Fiction and Nonfiction.”

When cultures meet: 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, Portuguese-American writer Katherine Vaz, author of “Fado & Other Stories” and “Our Lady of the Artichokes,” talks heritage and culture with Jamaican-born novelist Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of “Here Comes the Sun.”

When eras meet: At 1 p.m. Saturday, novelists Alexander Chee (“Queen of the Night”) and Cape Cod’s own Sally Cabot Gunning (“Monticello: A Daughter and Her Father”) will speak on “Daughters and Divas: Writing Historical Fiction.”

Lighting the way: At 3 p.m. Saturday, Eric Jay Dolin will conclude the festival with an illustrated talk on “Brilliant Beacons: America’s Lighthouses.” Dolin is the author of “Brilliant Beacons: A History of the American Lighthouse,” and 11 other books on American history, maritime history, wildlife and the environment.

Find your favorite author: From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, dozens of local authors will be signing their books on the library from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.In addition, local writers will read from their works outside the Library lawn.

Hear your favorite author: From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, readers will include local favorites A.C. Burch, Jeanette de Beauvoir, John Ives and Phoebe Otis.

Where it’s at: Provincetown Public Library, 356 Commercial Street.

What it costs: Free for daytime events.

More info: www.provincetownlibrary.org

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Provincetown Library to host first book festival