Bay Area Book Festival, Berkeley

The Bay Area Book Festival returns to downtown Berkeley, Calif., the weekend of June 4-5. The two-day, free festival will welcome 280 local, national, and international authors and speakers in 120 literary sessions (panels, interviews, keynotes and performances) throughout a 10-block radius of downtown Berkeley. Organizers expect to top last year’s attendance of 50,000 visitors.

Big names include Sherman Alexie, Richard Russo, Dana Spiotta, Colm Tóibín and Jacqueline Winspear. Colm Tóibín will be joined by Irish writers Sara Baume and Belinda McKeon. more