This year’s Brooklyn Book Festival brought more than three hundred writers to the literary borough.
Brooklyn Borough president and event founder Marty Markowitz boasted that it is now the third largest literary festival in the country.
Each year, the festival recognizes a literary figure whose work embodies the Brooklyn spirit with the Best of Brooklyn, Inc. award (BoBi). Two-time Newbery medalist Lois Lowry won the award this year.
Past recipients include journalist Pete Hamill, Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri, and poet John Ashbery.
According to the press release, Lowry’s win marks the first time the award was given to an author who specializes in children’s literature.
Lowry (pictured, via) spent part of her childhood in Brooklyn. She was present during several panels at the festival along with graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang, poet Sapphire, essayist Chuck Klosterman, and many more.