A Book Festival to Inspire Book Lovers
"My hope for the whole festival is to help people feel more connected to books. I want people to be inspired to read more. It’s as simple as that."
— Udi Urman
January 12, 2023
Over the past week, the JCC lobby has been buzzing with book lovers of all ages, in celebration of the first annual Books That Changed My Life Festival. The festival kicked off on Thursday with the opening of a new gallery exhibit and pop-up library, and throughout the evening guests snapped pictures of the cover art on display or took a seat on one of the bean bag chairs to dig into a newly discovered book. Some visited the Poet on the Spot at her typewriter, and many discussed the topic of conversation for the next two months: What is a book that changed your life?
That question, which inspired the festival taking over the JCC this winter, came to The Lambert Center Arts + Ideas Director Udi Urman’s mind months ago, and he thought “it might be very interesting to hear other people’s opinions or thoughts about the books that changed their life. But also I wanted to hear from authors, and celebrities, and politicians, and athletes, as well.”
The festival was created with Arts + Ideas Program Director Jason Blitman, who describes it as “a true celebration of powerful storytelling and the lasting impact of words. With books, you experience perspectives, and stories, and voices that are diverse, with limitless possibilities; whether you read or not, whatever your age, you can find something in this festival for you.”
Books That Changed My Life is a new initiative, hosted by the JCC’s Lambert Center for Arts + Ideas, that celebrates the transformational role books play in our lives. The two-month celebration of literature and culture, happening through February 28, features events inspired by or adapted from beloved literary works, including author conversations, weekly storytime, a gallery exhibit, musical, theatrical and film events, new 76West podcast episodes, and much more.
Urman shares that the idea behind the pop-up library and gallery is “how can we make books not just accessible for kids and community members, but also to have an artistic view of it. How can we make books into art? That’s why this pop-up library has two parts. One of them is the library itself, which is a warm and happy place for the community to sit and enjoy the books, and the other part is the exhibit of the book covers. We curated a group of book covers that changed people's lives throughout the history of books—with new covers and old covers, and all together tell a story.” The cover art installation, a patchwork of book covers inspired by the canon of literature, is curated by Studio Special Edition, and features more than 25 artists, including Manuja Waldia, Jessica Hische, and Noma Bar.
The shelves of the pop-up library, which in their construction spell out the word “life,” are filled with books that changed the lives of JCC staff members and festival artists and panelists. All of the books are available for guests to take home, read, and bring back to the pop-up library shelves. On the shelves are picture books and board books, cookbooks, biographies, titles featured in festival-related events such as author discussions, and beloved novels, including Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue and Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad. Many books were donated to the pop-up library through festival partners, including PJ Library and Penguin Random House, and others were purchased from local Upper West Side bookstores. After the festival, any books remaining in the library and on hand from in-person author events will be donated to the community.
The two-month festival will welcome over 50 authors and artists at 30 events, including esteemed authors for live conversations surrounding their latest book releases. Festival guests include Chelsea Clinton, Abigail Pogrebin, A.J. Jacobs, Stephen J. Dubner, Cynthia Nixon, Felicia Kornbluh, Emma Straub, Vanessa Kroll Bennett, Allegra Goodman, Julie Barer, Jai Chakrabarti, Becca Kantor, and chef Claudia Fleming, the executive culinary director for Daily Provisions, in conversation about her latest book Delectable: Sweet & Savory Baking.
The multidisciplinary festival will also feature:
— Musical concerts of the classic Israeli children’s story The Sixteenth Sheep and a live album recreation by Michael Winograd of the great klezmer record Tanz
— A screening of the documentary Butterfly in the Sky, an official selection of the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, which tells the story of the beloved PBS children’s series Reading Rainbow and its iconic host, LeVar Burton, followed by a Q&A with Steve Horelick, composer of the “Butterfly in the Sky” theme song
—Two family-friendly theater productions, in partnership with TheaterWorksUSA: a preview of the new musical Dot Dot Dot, adapted from the children’s books The Dot, Ish, and Sky Color by Peter H. Reynolds; and Warriors Don’t Cry, inspired by Melba Pattillo Beals’s Little Rock Nine memoir
— Weekly storytime in the JCC lobby every Tuesday afternoon, with guest readers including drag queens Yuhua Hamasaki (RuPaul’s Drag Race, Season 10)
— A Banned Books Panel with PEN America, with prolific YA author David Levithan (Boy Meets Boy, Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist, Dash & Lily) as a panelist
— New, biweekly episodes of the 76West podcast episodes released bi-weekly starting this week
The JCC is partnering with Jewish Book Council on the festival, which will include the announcement of the 72nd National Jewish Book Awards. This first-ever live stream announcement of the awards will take place from the pop-up library in the JCC lobby on Wednesday, January 18 at 8:45 am. The Jewish Book Council partnership will also include events centered on past and upcoming National Jewish Book Award (NJBA) winners, including a conversation with 2021 winner Jai Chakrabarti (A Play for the End of the World); lobby storytime with the to-be-announced NJBA-winning picture book; and a February book club with a 2022 to-be-announced NJBA-winning book.
The Books That Changed My Life Festival offers events and opportunities for every age, at many accessibility levels, and for avid readers and those who wish to read more. Urman’s hope for the whole festival is "to help people feel more connected to books. I want people to be inspired to read more. It's as simple as that."
To learn more about the festival, and to share a book that changed your life, visit book-festival.mmjccm.org.
Story Editor: Lauren Magy. Lauren is the Director of Public Relations + Community Engagement at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. She has worked at theater and cultural institutions in DC and NY for the past decade.