There was the year of Dr. Ruth.
There was the time when Carl Bernstein and Barry Scheck were on the same bill, and of course there was the year Leonard Nimoy of “Star Trek” fame showed up.
But then their was the year keynote speaker Alan Dershowitz got snowed in in Boston at the very last minute and couldn’t make it. That won’t soon be forgotten. All the festival volunteers had to hand out show-canceled flyers to annoyed people in the community center parking lot.
But this year, for the 20th edition of the Book Festival of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta (MJCCA), which runs from Saturday through Nov. 20, things, so far, are looking pretty good.
Former PBS NewsHour host Jim Lehrer, MSNBC “Hardball” host Chris Matthews, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), actress Dyan Cannon and the ubiquitous talk show host Regis Philbin, are among the 46 authors scheduled to appear at the festival in Dunwoody. At roughly 10,000 attendees, it’s a fraction of the metro area’s largest book festival, the Decatur Book Festival, which pulled in close to 80,000 people over Labor Day weekend. Yet, the MJCCA event has become one of the girders that have helped lift Atlanta’s literary scene to national prominence.
For years Atlanta had (and, some would argue still has) a reputation in publishing circles as a town that didn’t love books.
“I remember when we went to New York City in 2005 to gain traction for our festival, publishers thought we were crazy,” said Daren Wang, executive director of the Decatur Book Festival. “They said, ‘Atlanta doesn’t read.’
“But the MJCCA has been putting a lie to that for years. They have a heck of a schedule and they always do. But because MJCCA focuses on a certain audience and type of writer, New York publishers didn’t think that translated into a general audience.”
Through the years, organizers have been very deliberate in their attempt to build an event that brings in big names. Readings for lesser known authors, however, round out the schedule. If those events aren’t well attended, it bolsters the old opinion about Atlanta not being much of a book town.
“We don’t want events where just 20 people show up,” said Ann Rawn, former festival co-chair. “We want it to be worth the author flying into Atlanta for it.”
While the festival has stayed true to its focus on books about some aspect of the Jewish experience or that are written by Jewish authors, it has evolved in other ways over the past 20 years.
Things began with just four authors over four days and not many more volunteers, Rawn said. About 500 people showed up. Back then nobody worried about an author spoiling the plot because every attendee had already read the book.
Slowly the scope widened, keeping the focus on the written word but finding ways to make the series more entertaining, such as the addition of a “chic-lit” night and children’s programming. This year there will be a Chinese buffet to accompany readings by authors Michael Levy and Alan Paul who’ve written about their experiences in China.
Doesn’t a gimmick like that play into the notion that Atlantans need to be enticed by something other than the written word to attend a book event?
“The quality of the authors we get is a testament to the idea that the perception is changing of Atlanta not being much of a book town,” said Sherie Gumer, co-chair of this year’s festival.
But the way they arrive at such an eclectic lineup, which this year includes novelist Erica Jong and Sandy Springs Mayor Eva Galambos, is a bit different from the way most book festivals operate.
Historically, the month before Hanukkah is designated as Jewish Book Month.
During that time, 115 Judaic bookfests are held from San Diego to Miami. This presents a unique problem for organizers vying for the same headliners.
So, each spring MJCCA representatives join other Jewish book festival directors from around the country at the Jewish Book Council’s annual Book Network event in New York City. What ensues is a three-day affair some have called literary speed dating.
Festival representatives gather in a synagogue and one-by-one, authors give two-minute presentations about their book. In that way, the event is as much a huge casting call as a speed date.
“Actually, it was a little like going to temple,” said Sam Wasson, author of the best-seller “Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.” The book examines the life of Audrey Hepburn up to her turn in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” while giving a behind the scenes look at the complicated production of the iconic film.
“Each of us, we approached the bimah [reading platform] like good little bar mitzvah boys,” said Wasson, who will read at the Atlanta festival on Nov. 6. “You put your best foot forward and sell. I’d prefer having three minutes to two minutes, but I understand. You have to keep it snappy because you literally have hundreds of people there.”
Afterward authors and festival chairs mingle and the auditions continue at a reception.
“We have authors, I can’t tell you how many, who come up to us in New York and say, ‘I’d love to come to Atlanta,’ ” said Ina Enoch, festival co-chair.
Desire to sell their book isn’t enough.
“We’re looking not just at the book, but the author too to get a sense of how comfortable they are in front of a crowd, how they talk about their work,” Gumer said.
Upon returning to Atlanta, Gumer, Enoch and festival program director Allison Feldman invited 50 people from across the community to further winnow the finalists’ list. The pared down list, along with the names of alternates, was sent back to the Jewish Book Council in New York. The council then played matchmaker, looking at the requests from all the festivals and assigning authors to each.
“It’s kind of like pledging a sorority,” said Feldman.
Other writers, such as Philbin and Matthews, are booked through their publishers or agents. And a few authors, many of them local and published through smaller presses, go through an online application process directly with the MJCCA.
There have been lessons learned over two decades in putting on the center’s largest community event.
Cookbook authors don’t do as well. Non-fiction tends to do better than fiction. This year the sound system was upgraded in the hall where most readings are held, because in years past people complained they couldn’t hear. And what was a solely volunteer effort, now has three staff members dedicated full-time, year round to producing the series.
Wang, of the Decatur Book Festival, will be introducing an author this year at the MJCCA event. In some ways it has served as a model for his, he said, and he looks at it as a literary ally.
Except when they snare a big name like author Thomas Friedman.
“I was like ‘Holy cow! I wish I had gotten him,’ ” Wang said. “They make me very jealous.”
--------------------------
Event preview
20th Edition of the Book Festival of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta: 40 authors in two weeks
Saturday through Nov. 20
Headlining authors include Jim Lehrer, Regis Philbin, Sen. Joe Lieberman, Dyan Cannon and Chris Matthews
Where: Most events will be held at the MJCCA in Zaban Park, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. Check www.atlantajcc.org for detailed book synopses.
Highlights:
Nov. 6: 10:15 a.m. Sam Wasson, “Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.” $13 non-MJCCA members, $8 members.
Nov. 7: 8 p.m. Erica Jong, “Sugar in My Bowl: Real Women Write About Real Sex.” $16 for non-MJCCA members, $11 for members.
Nov. 8: 8 p.m. Former PBS Newshour host Jim Lehrer, “Tension City: Inside the Presidential Debates, from Kennedy Nixon to Obama-McCain.” $16 non-MJCCA members, $11 for members.
Nov. 10: 11 a.m. Lisa Baron, “Life of the Party: A Political Press Tart Bares All.” Free to the community. Noon, Sandy Springs Mayor Eva Galambos, “A Dream Come True.” $13 non-MJCCA members, $8 for members.
Nov. 12: 8 p.m. MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews, “Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero.” $22 non-members, $15 members.
Nov. 13: 7 p.m. Sen. Joe Lieberman, “The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath.” non-MJCCA members $16, members $11.
Nov. 16: 7:30 p.m., Former New York Times reporter Jane Gross, “A Bittersweet Season: Caring for our Aging Parents—and Ourselves.” In conversation with CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. non-MJCCA members, $13, members $8.
Nov. 19: 7:30 p.m., actress Dyan Cannon, “Dear Cary: My Life with Cary Grant.” non-MJCCA members $22, members $15.
Nov. 20: 3 p.m., talk and game show host Regis Philbin, “How I Got This Way.” Non-MJCCA members $22, members $15.
Tickets can be purchased through the MJCCA box office at 678-812-4002 or at www.atlantajcc.org. Tickets purchased the day of the event are subject to an additional fee of $3. For more information 678-812-4005 or www.atlantajcc.org/bookfestival.
About the Author
