at home
WHO WILL APPEAR AT THE MONTCLAIR
LITERARY FESTIVAL? KEEP READING
A stellar lineup of authors is expected at the third annual event
WRITTEN BY CINDY SCHWEICH HANDLER
PAGE-TURNERS Some of the headliners for this year’s Montclair Literary Festival include: (from left) Joyce Carol Oates, Sigrid Nunez,
Nathan Englander, Dani Shapiro and Craig Unger.
T
he organizers of the
Montclair Literary
Festival know that in
this town, bestselling
authors are treated
like rock stars. (And
sometimes they actually are rock
stars, as in the case of Patti Smith,
who both read and performed at
the event last spring.) The first two
festivals, which featured celebrated
writers such as Trevor Noah, Paul
Auster, Tom Perrotta, Meg Wolitzer
and Min Jin Lee, drew big crowds
and raised money for the non-profit
Succeed2gether, which provides
tutoring to low-income students
in Essex County.
The third annual festival,
scheduled for Thursday, March
21 – Sunday, March 24, promises
an equally exciting slate of talented
authors in conversation, reading
from their works and hanging out
at the Saturday evening authors’
party. Many local writers will also
be discussing and reading from their
works, among them Laurie Lico
Albanese, Brian Clements, Alice
Elliott Dark, Dionne Ford, Christina
Baker Kline, Benilde Little, Zara
Phillips, Dale Russakoff and Warren
Zanes. Visiting headliners include:
JOYCE CAROL OATES , the longtime
Princeton professor and multi-award
winning author of more than 40
novels as well as novellas, short
stories and nonfiction. She will be
in conversation with author and
artist JONATHAN SANTLOFER about
her body of work, including her lat-
est novel, Hazards of Time Travel,
and the story collection Beautiful
Days. Oates and Santlofer will also
talk about their respective memoirs
of love, loss, and self-discovery, A
Widow’s Story and The Widower’s
Notebook.
SIGRID NUNEZ , winner of the 2018
National Book Award for her book
The Friend, will be in conversation
with Sarah McGrath, the editor in
chief of Riverhead Books.
NATHAN ENGLANDER , the bestselling
short story writer and novelist, will
talk about his new novel, kaddish.
com, a comic story about a son’s
failure to say Kaddish for his father.
DANI SHAPIRO , best-selling author
of four memoirs and five novels, will
also be in conversation about her
new memoir, Inheritance.
Journalist CRAIG UNGER will share
insights into his latest book, House
of Putin, House of Trump. ■
For more information, go to succeed2gether.org/montclair-literary-festival or the Succeed2gether’s Montclair Literary Festival
Facebook page. The 2019 Festival Pass, which gives VIP entry to all ticketed festival events in 2019 (at least four events)
and a chance to meet authors at the festival party, is currently on sale for $195. All funds raised at the festival will support
Succeed2gether’s free tutoring, afterschool and summer enrichment programs for children in need in Essex County.
MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE SPRING 2019
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