Literary Fest Needs to Go Underground
By Stephen Chupaska
New London Times, 2/24/2006
http://www.shorepublishing.com/archive/re.aspx?re=9f9b7058-2e08-4ab4-8d73-48c598ecb6b3
New London –
The once popular, but now financially ruined Boats, Books and Brushes is not happening this year.
According to organizers, the festival, which hosted luminary authors such as Tom Brokaw and Mike Lupica, as well as the now disgraced Rick Bragg, does not have the money to continue.
“Plus, it is too late in the game to book authors,” added Jane Glover, president of Sail New London, which ran the event.
It's truly a pity, as the festival, which in latter years included the Taste of Connecticut culinary confab, allowed authors and readers to connect with one another.
Without sounding too quixotic, Boats, Books and Brushes, with its array of children's activities, may have even encouraged the under-12s to become readers and book lovers.
The tall ships that docked at City and Custom House piers in New London provided a wonderful backdrop for rock bands and dance troupes.
And, with the painters who set up easels around Waterfront Park, the city looked like it had been overrun by Impressionists, sans floppy hats and pointy beards, thank God.
So, yet again, a once great thing for the city is gone. But, in a way, we've been here before.
Although the Kelo case has inextricably linked New London with eminent domain, it shouldn't overshadow the other reputation the city has attained – as a place where underground movements can thrive.
The arts scene – in all its varied manifestations—has proved to be the most resourceful in sustaining vitality in the city.
Artists and musicians have been the city's succor throughout a half century of lost industry, bizarre attempts at urban renewal and tragic spikes in the crime rate.
The preservation of the old Hygienic Restaurant and its subsequent transformation into the region's most diverse and popular gallery has arguably done more than to spark the nascent downtown revival than anything else.
Live music here took a hit two years ago when the El 'n' Gee and Station 58 both shut their doors. But through the efforts of promoters such as Sean Murray and Rich Martin and others, venues were found and rock music in New London is as healthy has it been in 20 years.
If people want it, there is no reason another literary festival can't coalesce. In fact, that's what happened last year when Boats, Books, and Brushes declined to invite several local authors, including Ron Suresha, who has written extensively on gay sexuality. Suresha, along with New London writer Susan Munger, organized a well attended and highly enjoyable Saturday morning reading at Greene's Books and Beans café.
Most of the writers were culled from the local colleges and published academic works, but the presentations and questions were lively and interesting.
If it can sail into the black, Glover said that Boats Books and Brushes may return in 2007.
Meanwhile, maybe local writers could put together a scaled-down book festival at the end of the summer.
This is the opinion of staff writer Stephen Chupaska. He lives in downtown New London.
