Book Riot Live 2015
Speakers
Alexander Chee
Alisha Rai
Alvina Ling
Andrew Cunningham
Angela Flournoy
Ariel Bissett
Beverly Jenkins
Brendan Kiely
Craig Getting
Cristin Stickles
Daniel José Older
Ellia Bisker
Erica Perl
Gregory Henry
Grek Pak
Ingrid Abrams
Jackson Bird
January LaVoy
Jason Reynolds
Jessamyn Hope
Jill McDonough
Jonathan Davis
Laurie Halse Anderson
Lucy Knisley
Lynn Melnick
Marc Thompson
Margaret Atwood
Mark Oshiro
Maurice Decaul
Myke Cole
NK Jemisin
Peter Mendelsund
Ryan Berg
Sally Slater
Sara Novic
Sarah MacLean
Sarah McCarry
Sarah Wendell
Shana Knizhnik
Shelley Diaz
Sona Charaipotra
Stacy Whitman
Vincent Toro
Wendy Xu
William Johnson
Photo Gallery
Young poets from Urban Word joined author Jason Reynolds (second from right) and poet Vincent Toro (right) for a panel on spoken word.
Left to right: Nerd Jeopardy host Ryan Chapman and contestants Sona Charaipotra, Mark Oshiro, and Brendan Kiely
Attendees enjoyed presenting sponsor Bookwitty’s interactive booth.
An attendee presents bestselling author Margaret Atwood with her choice of candy.
Voice actors Jonathan Davis and January LaVoy ham it up during Alas, Naughty Droid: a reading from Shakespeare’s Star Wars.
The team from Call Me Ishmael demonstrates their Kickstarted phones.
Attendees browsed Litographs’ fully stocked booth.
Author Danielle Henderson and librarian/Rioter Rita Meade recorded a live edition of the Dear Book Nerd podcast.
Left to right: moderator Jenn Northington, NK Jemisin, and Margaret Atwood had a lively discussion about world-building in fiction.
Reviews
“Two best friends who attended [the Writing What You Don’t Know] panel, Joanna and Amber, had come from Pennsylvania to enjoy New York for the weekend. Both were reading when I rudely interrupted them to find out what had brought them there, and they seemed emblematic of the crowd at large.”
Publishing Perspectives wrote up Book Riot Live, and if your names are Joanna and Amber, you’re in it.
“Jemisin likes the freedom that world building allows, letting her set up unique un-Earthly axioms, as in her latest book The Fifth Season. On the other hand, Atwood was quick to add that she doesn’t make anything up, per se.”
The Guardian wrote up our Writing What You Don’t Know panel with N.K. Jemisin and Margaret Atwood.
“It was a weekend characterized by dynamic conversations: on the various stages, there were live podcast recordings, panels on bookish topics ranging from specific craft-related challenges to issues of inclusion and diversity in publishing at large, and authors like Margaret Atwood and Laurie Halse Anderson to get the crowds riled up (they were talking about sexism and censorship, respectively).”
The Millions reviews Book Riot Live, and contemplates the interactions of readers and conventions.