Highlights for Adults

Amiri Baraka | Transbluesency 
Saturday, April 18, Independence Foundation Poetry Corner

Poet, playwright, and political activist, Amiri Baraka is the recipient of Guggenheim Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, the PEN/Faulkner Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, and the Rockefeller Foundation Award for Drama. His controversial poem, "Somebody Blew Up America," led the governor of New Jersey to call for Baraka's resignation as the state's Poet Laureate. Transbluesency collects many of Baraka's poems into a single volume, combining "the personal and political in highly charged ways" (Publishers Weekly).

Nation Beat 
Sunday, April 19, Target Children's Stage

National Public Radio's All Things Considered music writer Banning Eyre calls Nation Beat "the most original and alluring fusion group I have heard in years." A unique combination of thunderous Brazilian beats and backwoods Appalachian bluegrass twang, Nation Beat draws a diverse crowd to their dynamic, Carnival-style stage shows. The New Jersey Star-Ledger named Nation Beat's latest release Legends of the Preacher the #1 world music album of the year.

Making stops at the Free Library Festival...
There is so much to see and do at the Free Library Festival's Street Fair & Literary Marketplace! This year, we're excited to host the C-SPAN Civics Bus, the Eagles Book Mobile, and the PSPCA's Mobile Adoption Unit--look for the big buses on Vine Street!

C-SPAN's Civics Bus (Saturday only)

Book TV on C-SPAN 2

Stop by the C-SPAN Civics Bus to learn more about Book TV on C-SPAN 2. Every weekend Book TV covers top nonfiction books and authors all weekend long. Visitors to the bus can tour the mobile production studio, learn how a television show is produced, and view highlights of events featuring some of their favorite authors.

Enjoy fun, interactive readings with the Eagles Storybook Man

Too many Philadelphia kids face 4th and long odds. About 45% of children in the city's public schools are not reading at grade level by 4th grade, diminishing chances for future school success. The Eagles Book Mobile tackles reading to give children a better field position in their lives, traveling to hundreds of Philadelphia area community centers, where the Storybook Man reads aloud to children and families.

Are you ready to adopt a furry friend to snuggle on your lap while you read? On Sunday, April 19 from 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM, the Pennsylvania SPCA's Mobile Adoption Unit will be parked at the 19th and Vine Streets with plenty of orange kitties that need loving homes in honor of the event with Vicki Myron, author of Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World at 4:00 PM that day on the Bank of America Main Stage. The Pennsylvania SPCA helps thousands of homeless animals each year with its six busy shelters.

Exhibitor Spotlight
The Free Library Festival's Street Fair & Literary Marketplace is the place for readers to discover new writers and explore what's new in the literary world!

Bindlestiff Books

High quality discounted books for kids and adults

A cozy neighborhood gem in West Philadelphia, Bindlestiff Books specializes in high-quality books for children and adults, including a wide variety of radical and political literature. Exhibiting for the third year in a row at the Free Library Festival, Bindlestiff Books is heavily involved in the West Philadelphia arts community. They frequently host in-store readings and discussion groups.

with Mary Frances Baugh | The Brewer's Women (Sunday only)

A Ph.D. student at the University of Pennsylvania, focusing on gender issues in Islamic law, Carolyn Baugh spent a year living and studying in Cairo, Egypt, and is a contributor to the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Rich with the sights and sounds of modern Egypt, her debut novel, The View from Garden City, reveals a world of secret romances, arranged marriages, and the bonds between four generations of Arab mothers and daughters.

Published poet Mary Frances Baugh has taught at every grade level, including college, and she is a member of the Philadelphia Granny Peace Brigade and the International Women's Writing Guild. The Eagle Brewery, founded in 1847, becomes a beer barrel out of which the Koehler family´s story is poured in Baugh's fictional family narrative, The Brewer's Women.

Each week, we will share some of the fantastic authors, performers, and literary exhibitors scheduled to appear at this year's fest!

John Quiñones  | Heroes Among Us: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Choices 
Saturday, April 18, Bank of America Main Stage
John Quiñones is a co-anchor of the ABC newsmagazine Primetime, a correspondent for 20/20, and the sole anchor of the popular Primetime limited series What Would You Do?, which uses hidden cameras to capture people's unscripted reactions to compelling ethical dilemmas. In a career spanning more than two decades, Quiñones has earned seven national Emmy Awards and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award's Grand Prize for International Reporting, among many other distinctions. In Heroes Among Us, which grew out of his work on What Would You Do?, Quiñones captures the courage and dignity of average American heroes.

Baby Loves Salsa 
Sunday, April 19, Target Children's Stage

Featuring some of the brightest stars in contemporary salsa music--including singer Jose Conde and Grammy-winning producer Aaron "Luis" Levinson--Baby Loves Salsa is a group of kittens and puppies (gattitos y perritos) from New York City who become the best salsa band in the land! Part of the Baby Loves Music family, which includes Baby Loves Jazz, Baby Loves Hip Hop, and Baby Loves Disco, Baby Loves Salsa--called "the best musical value of the season" by the Parents Music Council--helps kids learn about salsa music and Spanish in a way in which parents and children can enjoy together.

Tim Goughis an artist living and working in Philadelphia. He has created imagery for publications ranging from the New York Times to Bust magazine, from PC magazine to Swindle. Before striking out on his own, he worked for several agencies and design firms as a designer and art director. In between hitting deadlines, he can be found in the screen printing studio and working on his own zine called cut and paste. Alongside his current editorial work and the posters he designs for concerts, he shows his prints and drawings in galleries nationwide.

Later this month, watch Free Library Festival posters and banners pop up across town--and at the fest, get your own a one-of-a-kind 2009 Festival t-shirt!

Exhibitor Spotlight
The Free Library Festival's Street Fair & Literary Marketplace is the place for readers to discover new writers and explore what's new in the literary world. We're also excited to say that exhibitor booths sold-out for the third straight year! Welcome 2009 Festival Exhibitors, including... 

McSweeney's Publishing 

Founded by bestselling author Dave Eggers, McSweeney's Publishing produces the literary journal Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, monthly magazine The Believer--featuring columns by Amy Sedaris, Nick Hornby, and new work by Festival artist Tim Gough--and the quarterly DVD magazine Wholphin, in addition to a daily-updated website. Its ever-growing book list features authors like Michael Chabon, Joyce Carol Oates, and Philipp Meyer.

n+1 Magazine 
POLITICS, LITERATURE, CULTURE -- Imprinted.

Containing "pointed, closely argued and often brilliantly original critiques of contemporary life and letters," n+1 Magazineis "a generational struggle against laziness and cynicism, to raise once again the banners of creative enthusiasm and intellectual engagement," writes A.O. Scott in the New York Times Magazine. n+1  is a twice-yearly print journal of politics, literature, and culture that publishes new content weekly online.

Wooden Shoe Books & Records
An All Volunteer Radical Collective

A collectively-run anarchist bookstore, Wooden Shoe Books and Records carries thousands of book titles as well as music, 'zines, t-shirts, and more. The bookstore derives its name from the early period of the Industrial Revolution, when French workers who were forced to work for agonizingly long hours began jamming their wooden shoes, or sabots--the root of the word sabotage--into the gears of machines to stop production.

Highlights for Adults

Dara Torres | Age Is Just a Number: Achieve Your Dreams at Any Stage in Your Life 
Sunday, April 19, Bank of America Main Stage

The first American swimmer to compete in five Olympic Games, Dara Torres has set three world records and won 12 Olympic medals, including four gold medals. Returning to the Games for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Torres--at age 41--brought home three silver medals. In Age is Just a Number, Torres speaks frankly about diving in for her comeback as an older athlete in a younger athlete's game, working through pain, seizing the moment, and never giving up.

Father Goose 
Saturday, April 18, Target Children's Stage

Blending folktale, reggae, rap, and calypso pop, Jamaican-born Father Goose sings music suited for a lively, all-ages dance party inspired by his childhood in Jamaica. Before going solo, he was featured on several of Dan Zanes and Friends Grammy Award-winning children's albums. School Library Journal describes his album, It's a Bam Bam Diddly!, as "seven joyful songs from several West Indies islands [that] are performed with enthusiasm and terrific musicianship."

Exhibitor Spotlight
The Free Library Festival's Street Fair & Literary Marketplace is the place for readers to discover new writers and explore what's new in the literary world! Exhibitors! The deadline to register is TODAY! For more information and the application, click here.

Camino Books, Inc. -Regional Books without Borders

Founded in 1987 for the purpose of publishing quality nonfiction books of regional interest to people in the Middle Atlantic states, Camino Books has a variety of titles about cooking, travel, gardening, and history, but they also publish biographies, local reference books, and books concerning parenting and health issues. New titles include Mobfiles by George Anastasia, Fightin' Phils by Rich Westcott, and Champions!, a look back at the Phillies' 2008 winning season by the staff of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News.

Walk a Crooked Mile Books - Voted Best Bookstore of the Northwest 2006, 2007, 2008

Walk a Crooked Mile Books, located in the 1882 Mount Airy Train Station on the R7 Line, at Devon and Gowen Streets in Mt. Airy, has 80,000 used books from $1, kids paperbacks to rare and collectible books in all subject areas. The largest used book store in the area, Walk a Crooked Mile Books has been voted Best of the Northwest the last three years running. They have exhibited at the Festival for the last three years and love the chance to show off stock and meet new customers. To take a virtual tour of the store, visit youtube.com/walkacrookedmilebook.

Beatrice Chiccarine & Jan Whittaker - WolfWillBuildforFood.com, Everyone is Different (Saturday only)

How easily can a child connect to a dangerous predator online? A modern retelling of the story of the three little pigs, WolfWillBuildForFood.com is a colorful picture book with a familiar storyline that provides a cautionary lesson for children ages 6-10 on posting private information online. Co-authors Beatrice Chiccarine and Jan Whittaker are both elementary level teachers, each with more than 20 years of experience in classrooms.

Each week, we will share some of the fantastic authors, performers, and literary exhibitors scheduled to appear at this year's fest!

Highlights for Adults

Molly O'Neill | American Food Writing: An Anthology: With Classic Recipes 
Saturday, April 18, Skyline Salon

Molly O'Neill was the food columnist for the New York Times Magazine for a decade and host of the PBS series Great Food. Her work has appeared in many national magazines, and she is the author of three cookbooks, including the award-winning New York Cookbook. From Henry David Thoreau to Anthony Bourdain, American Food Writing, which O'Neill edited, collects of the best food writing from over 250 years of American culinary history.

Fun for the Family

Peter Yarrow | The Peter Yarrow Songbook: Favorite Folk Songs
Saturday, April 18, Target Children's Stage

One-third of the five-time Grammy Award-winning folk group Peter, Paul, and Mary, social activist Peter Yarrow wrote some of the most iconic songs that the group recorded, including "Puff, The Magic Dragon," "Day is Done," and "Light One Candle." In collaboration with his daughter Bethany, Yarrow continues to bring the joy of folk music to a new generation in his collection of songbooks for children, which include Sleepytime Songs, Favorite Folk Songs, and the forthcoming Songs to Sing Together.

Win your spot to represent Philadlephia at the First Person StorySlam: Philly vs. Chicago!
Tuesday, March 3 at 6:30 PM, World Café Live ($10)

Is spinning yarns your hidden talent? In cooperation with the Free Library's One Book One Philadelphia and One Film programs, First Person Arts hosts a StorySlam at World Café Live, the theme is "Hidden Talents." The winner will earn a spot to compete at the Philly vs. Chicago StorySlam at the Free Library Festival on Saturday, April 18! Visit firstpersonarts.org for more details.

The Free Library Festival's Street Fair & Literary Marketplace is the place for readers to discover new writers and explore what's new in the literary world!

Academy of Natural Sciences Connecting People to Nature Since 1812
Founded in 1812, The Academy of Natural Sciences is the nation's oldest natural history museum. The excitement and wonder of the natural world come to life every day through hands-on exhibits including the Academy's famous Dinosaur Hall, live tropical butterfly garden, stunning dioramas with animals from around the world, and live animals visitors can touch and learn about conservation. Dynamic speakers, daily videos and Science Live shows make science fun, naturally.

Painted Bride Quarterly/Drexel University
A unique amalgam of poetry, essays, stories, and images, Drexel University's literary magazine Painted Bride Quarterly has published Pulitzer Prize-winning poets like Stephen Dunn and Yusef Komunyakaa, and was one of the first magazines to publish new talent like Nick Flynn and Major Jackson. On Saturday, April 18, from noon until 2 p.m. the editorial staff will offer five-minute "speed editing" sessions, so bring your work and see what they have to say! All weekend, participate in physical and intellectual challenges in conjunction with PBQ's special themed issues on "Food" and "Punishment"--with prizes!

Jessie Crawford, Jr. (Saturday only)
The Greatest Commandment, Leroy's New Bike
A Navy veteran with more than 28 years of civil service as a maintenance general foreman, Jessie Crawford, Jr. is the author of four children's picture books, including The Christmas Prayer, The Miraculous Teacakes, The Greatest Commandment, and Leroy's New Bike. Committed to working with children, he often shares his stories with students and teachers at schools, educational facilities, and churches.

Attention Exhibitors! The deadline to register is Friday, March 6, 2009. For more information and the application, click here.