Time & Date
The ticketed conversations will be held at the Back Bay Events Center at 180 Berkeley St. in Boston
Event Location
Copley Square560 Boylston StreetBoston, MA 02116Open in Google Maps
WBUR is proud to be a media partner of The Boston Book Festival, which kicks off with ticketed conversations with romance keynote Julia Quinn on Thursday, October 23 and kickoff keynote Andrew Ross Sorkin on Friday, October 24. The free festival happens in Copley Square all day on Saturday, October 25, culminating in a ticketed evening with Shonda Rhimes.
Join fiction, nonfiction, YA, and kids authors for a day of readings and discussions, book signings, workshops and other lively literary events. The BBF will also feature kids activities, walking tours, the Copley Square Street Fair, live music, food trucks and more.
A list of WBUR-moderated sessions is below. Be sure to stop by the WBUR booth that day to take home some awesome WBUR swag!
October 25
10:45 a.m. | The Transformative Power of Going Deep: Tubas, Fungi, Beauty
What could tubas, mushrooms and painting possibly have in common? This session! These three authors explore the affirming ways that music, nature and art offer space for connection, creativity and community. The oft-overlooked tuba takes a star turn in Sam Quinones's "The Perfect Tuba: Forging Fulfillment from the Bass Horn, Band, and Hard Work." After nearly a decade covering the front lines of the drug addiction crisis, Quinones turned to the tuba and the determined people who play it – revealing the transformative power of shared joy with moving portraits of tuba enthusiasts of all ages. In "Fearless, Sleepless, Deathless: What Fungi Taught Me about Nourishment, Poison, Ecology, Hidden Histories, Zombies, and Black Survival," naturalist and forager Maria Pinto offers a gorgeous exploration of fungal connections, bringing a singular voice to the remarkable ways in which fungi have been used for survival, revelation and revolution. In "Art Is: A Journey into the Light," visual artist Makoto Fujimura illuminates his "slow art" practice and his belief that art is a journey towards beauty, abundance and peace. Join WBUR senior correspondent and host Deborah Becker for an enlightening conversation about finding fulfillment.
11:00 a.m. | Women and Revolution: Stories from Iran and Russia
Epic and intimate, the two acclaimed journalists in this session share incisive looks at the role of women in modern Russia, and the impact of the 2022 women-led protests in Iran. A powerful blend of memoir, reportage and history, Julia Ioffe's "Motherland: A Feminist HIstory of Modern Russian, from Revolution to Autocracy," examines how Russia failed its women and paved the way for Putin's rule. From Bolshevik feminists to the Soviet girls who fought fiercely in World War II, Ioffe's physician great-grandmothers to Pussy Riot, Ioffe compellingly explores the history of Russia through the stories of its women. In "For the Sun After Long Nights: The Story of Iran's Women-Led Uprising," co-author Fatemeh Jamalpour takes us into the streets where she – despite pressing threats to her safety – joined the protestors who rose up after the death of Mahsa Jîna Amini, who died after being beaten and arrested for not adhering to the Islamic Republic's dress code. Searing and revelatory, Jamalpour chronicles the spirit of the movement and documents the history that led to this galvanizing stand against the regime. Join WBUR senior reporter Ally Jarmanning for an eye-opening conversation with these two remarkable authors, whose books are each longlisted for the 2025 National Book Award.