On Sunday, September 14, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, the Brooklyn Literary Council and Brooklyn Tourism hosted the annual Brooklyn Book Festival, a huge, free event presenting more than 140 literary stars and emerging authors who represent the exciting world of literature today. Well over 20,000 literary fans packed Borough Hall, Borough Hall Plaza/Columbus Park, St. Francis College and the Brooklyn Historical Society.

The Brooklyn Book Festival is one of America’s premier literary and literacy events—a hip, smart, diverse gathering attracting thousands of book lovers of all ages. The Festival is organized around themed readings and devoted to timely and lively panel discussions. The inclusion of top national and international authors and new partners has expanded the Festival’s reach while continuing to celebrate and enhance Brooklyn’s contemporary and historic literary reputation.

Participating authors included Joan Didion, Richard Price, Jonathan Lethem, Dorothy Allison, Russell Banks, A.M. Homes, George Pelecanos, Terry McMillan, Jonathan Franzen, Susan Choi, Esmeralda Santiago, Thurston Moore, Paul Beatty, Jacqueline Woodson, Chuck Klosterman, Jimmy Breslin, Pete Hamill, Ed Park, Pico Iyer, Gail Carson Levine, Cecily von Ziegesar, Chris Myers, Jane O’Connor, Jon Scieszka, Mo Willems and many more.

The 2008 Brooklyn Book Festival Best of Brooklyn Inc. (BoBi) award recipient was Brooklynite Walter Mosley, one of the most versatile and admired writers in America today. Widely recognized for his crime and detective fiction, he is the author of more than 29 books, including his bestselling series featuring the hard-boiled detective, Easy Rawlins. His work has been translated into 21 languages and includes literary fiction, science fiction, political monographs, and a young adult novel.

“These days, Brooklyn is indeed the Creative Capital of America. We’re home to many of the world’s renowned writers and a thriving reading audience—as well as a destination for culture-seeking tourists worldwide,” says BP Markowitz. “The Brooklyn Book Festival is as diverse as our borough itself, and it’s only fitting that it’s now become a must on the national and international literary circuit. How sweet it is!”

The Festival boasted five outdoor stages in Borough Hall Plaza and Columbus Park, as well as “Reading Rooms” inside beautiful, historic Borough Hall and nearby at the Brooklyn Historical Society and St. Francis College auditorium. An outdoor literary marketplace included more than 150 booksellers, publishers and literary organizations.

Young adults and young adults at heart were in for a special treat. The Brooklyn Book Festival catered to the facebook set with hip panels on topics from graphic novels to fantasy and wildly popular teen “glamour fiction” at the “Youth Stoop” stage. Children of all ages were also entertained at the Target “Children’s Area,” where kingpins of children’s lit, such as Mo Willems and Jane O’Connor, read from their work.

Again this year, beautiful, collectable Brooklyn Book Festival bookmarks were available at all branches of the Brooklyn Public Library and most independent bookstores.

The 2008 Brooklyn Book Festival is an initiative of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz presented by Brooklyn Tourism and the Brooklyn Literary Council. Target was a major sponsor of this year’s Festival, and Time Out New York once again served as the event’s media sponsor, and WNYC was the radio sponsor.

Cultural partners included BAM, Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn Public Library, Housing Works Bookstore Café, PEN American Center, National Book Foundation, and Words Without Borders. Programming partners are The Nation and The New York Review of Books.