If you're looking for something new to read, then this is the perfect weekend to bee-bop into the City of Buffalo and check out local authors and bookstores.
The Small Press Book Fair, held at Karpeles Manuscript Library Porter Hall on Porter Ave. in Buffalo's West Side, will take place Saturday and Sunday. The fair goes from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. on both days. The annual fair celebrates small press and self-publishing authors as well as crafters who use books as their medium, printers and artists. There will be workshops such as Japanese Stab-Stich Bookbinding and poetry and fiction readings on the second floor of the old church.
On Thursday and Friday, poetry readings will take place at the WNY Book Arts Center at 468 Washington St. in downtown Buffalo to kick off the fair. All events are free and open to the public.
Just a 10-minute walk down North Street (Porter becomes North at Symphony Circle) will bring you to Karpeles Manuscript Library North Hall. "The Film Scripts for The Wizard of Oz" are currently on display, according to Karpeles' website. One particularly interesting manuscript details a stabbing attack between a few of the little people acting in the film. Both of the Karpeles Manuscript Libraries are always free and open to the public.
Although Allentowners will be sad to see the local secondhand bookstore Rust Belt Books move closer to the Buff State campus come September, the bookstore is having its annual Backroom Bag Sale. The sale, which began Tuesday, will run until Sunday, coinciding with the Small Press Book Fair. The book sale is touted to be the store's largest ever. For only $5 a bag, you'll be able to get quality used books - from literary criticism, to studies on architecture, to fiction, to works in foreign languages.
As this is the first weekend of April, it is First Friday at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and in Allentown. The Albright-Knox will be open Friday until 9 p.m. and the first floor is free to the public. This month's First Friday in Allentown is opening eight galleries to the public, many until 9 p.m. In addition, the newest pizzeria on Allen Street, Crust, will be hosting live music by Lara Buckley and Gander.
Head to Allentown this weekend for brews, art and books - experience a vibrant and bohemian life.
email: arts@ubspectrum.com
