B y
L a u r a
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A New Chapter
THE AUTHORS GUILD FOUNDATION WELCOMES TWO NEW LEADERS
AGF Executive Director Deborah Wilson and Executive Producer of Literary Programs Bernard Schwartz .
The Authors Guild Foundation ( AGF )
›› was founded in 1912 and is the nation ’ s oldest and largest professional organization for published writers . It advocates on behalf of working writers to protect free speech , freedom of expression , and authors ’ copyrights , and fights for fair contracts and authors ’ ability to earn a livable wage . AGF also offers free programming for working writers , and organizes public events like the annual WIT ( Word , Ideas , and Thinkers ) Festival in Lenox in the fall , bringing together a diverse group of authors to speak about their work , critical issues , and to further nourish the Berkshires ’ literary community .
Two seasoned literary leaders are now at the helm of the AGF : Deborah Wilson as executive director and Bernard Schwartz as executive producer of literary programs . They replace Lynn Boulger , who retired in January .
“ The roles were split because it ’ s a lot for one person : major fundraising and building out literary programs ,” says Wilson , who was at PEN America for five and a half years . “ AGF is growing . We have chapters in 16 cities , and we want to expand in Texas , which is the state with the highest number of banned books , just surpassing Florida . Many on our staff are lawyers who take the cause to Congress , from book bans to AI to copyright issues .”
Schwartz led the 92nd Street Y ’ s Unterberg Poetry Center for 18 years . “ I am really excited to be inheriting the WIT festival ,” he says . “ The vision that predates me of making a literary festival , or a festival of ideas , in the Berkshires that convenes many different sorts of
writers is an inspired one .”
He is working on the collaborations and partnerships that are so important to the success of a festival like WIT , not only with Shakespeare & Company , where the festival has been held since its start in 2022 , but with The Bookstore in Lenox , The Red Lion Inn , and elsewhere . Schwartz hopes to expand sessions into schools this year , allowing greater access to WIT ’ s programs .
This year ’ s festival goers can expect a series of thought-provoking conversations , presentations , panels , and speeches by a wide range of social and societal innovators including authors , journalists , historians , educators , and business leaders . Attendees will have the opportunity to interact with speakers in Q & A sessions , book signings , and receptions . The lineup will be announced in mid-June , although we do know that award-winning Afro-Carribean writer and essayist Jamaica Kincaid will be coming to Lenox to talk about her newest book , An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children . ( See page 108 .) Another event that is locked in will take place on Sunday , September 29 , at the Stockbridge library for children and families with Mary Pope Osborne , author of The Magic Treehouse children ’ s book series .
Schwartz also announced a new online literary seminar by AGF starting this summer . It is inspired by Rachel Cohen ’ s A Chance Meeting , which is a group biography that chronicles the links and serendipitous meetings between giants of American culture . Newly released as a New York Review Classic , Cohen ’ s book travels from the
Civil War to the Vietnam War . Seminar sessions feature writers presenting talks on classics of American literature , with Cohen hosting the first session on May 22 , and the last session on December 11 .
The lineup of online seminar sessions includes :
June 10 : Colm Toibin on Henry James ’ “ The Jolly Corner ."
July 10 : Brenda Wineapple on Walt Whitman ’ s “ Song of Myself .”
August 8 : Merve Emre on Willa Cather ’ s The Professor ’ s House .
September 5 : Saidiya Hartman on W . E . B . Du Bois ’ s Blackwater .
October 17 : Daphne Brooks on Zora Neale Hurston ’ s You Don ’ t Know Us Negroes and Other Essays .
November 13 : Langdon Hammer on Elizabeth Bishop ’ s North & South .
Save the date !
The Authors Guild Foundation ’ s 3rd Annual WIT ( Words , Ideas , and Thinkers ) Festival will be held on the grounds of Shakespeare & Company in Lenox from September 27 – 29 , 2024 .
authorsguild . org / foundation for updates !
THE AUTHORS GUILD FOUNDATION
110 // BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE Holiday May / June 2023 2024