Book Passage

Author Events & Video-Archives  

Book Passage is your host for authors from around the world

Over the last few decades, Book Passage has hosted over 10,000 author events. We’ve welcomed world-famous writers, nurtured new and local authors, and provided readers the chance to interact with their favorite writers. In the last few years, we’ve also created an exciting series of online events. In the future the Book Passage events program will be a hybrid of the best of in-store and online programming. Please check the archives of outstanding events on this page.

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Upcoming Events - Book Passage Calendar   

Click here to see upcoming Book Passage events and classes. They’re arranged by date, so as you scroll forward you'll see what's coming in months ahead. It includes events at our Corte Madera store, our SF Ferry Building store, and events on-line. Most author-events are free. But if the event requires a ticket, the ticketing information will be included. We hope to see you there!

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Video-Archives - Book Passage Events

We’ve assembled a big video-archive of past Book Passage events. Many of these were originally on-line events, and they include events produced with the help of our friends at Extended Session. There’s also a big collection of videos from events that BP hosted with Dominican University, stretching back almost 14 years. And there’s also a collection of videos from author events that took place in our two stores over the past decade. In all, there are about 800 videos for readers to enjoy.  

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Archive #1- Book Passage Events On-Line

Over the last three years Book Passage has hosted many events on-line featuring some great writers like George Saunders, Lisa Scottoline, Jacqueline WinspearElizabeth George, Peter Coyote, Linda Greenhouse, Jennifer Rubin, Wade Davis, Kathryn Otoshi, Colin Thubron, and Madeline Levine. They are all here in this archive. Also included are some special events, like the “Juneteenth Panel” of authors (June 2022) and the “Holiday Book talk” for (December 2022).

How to find an event-video: The events are listed in chronological order starting from the present and working back. To search for an author, click on BookPassage Archive and go to the top of any page. In the search-bar labeled “title”, type in the name of the author or the book. When the event-icon appears, click on the “watch now” button. After a few preliminary announcements, the event will begin.

Archive #2- B.P. Events with Extended Session

When the pandemic began in 2020, our friends from Extended Session saved the day. They helped us produce more than 100 on-line events, and in so-doing they set the standard for on-line author events throughout the country. In this part of the Archives you'll find interviews with Isabel Allende, Jill Biden, Michael Connelly, Dave Eggers, Louise Erdrich, Elizabeth George, John Grisham, David Harris, Khaled Hosseini, Pramila Jayapal, Anne Lamott, Erik Larson, James McBride, Ann Patchett, Lisa See, and many others. Click here here for more about the ES archive or to learn about the ES series of classes: "Five Things I've Learned" 

How to find an event-video: The events with Extended Session can be found in the same archive with the other Book Passage events. To search for an author, click on BookPassage Archive and go to the top of any page, In the search-bar labeled “title”, type in the name of the author or the book. When the event-icon appears, click on that icon.

Archive #3- B.P. Events with Dominican University

Book Passage has been collaborating for over a decade with the Leaderhip Lecture Program at Dominican University to present  one  of the finest lecture series in America. Many national leaders have appeared in front of a large, enthusiastic audience. These author events have been arranged by Book Passage and produced by Dominican University, and the results have often been spectacular. You'll find events with Al Gore, Jane Fonda, Barney Frank, Bernie Sanders, Bill McKibben, Cecile Richards, Chris Hayes, Atul Gawande, Gloria Steinem, John Kerry, Michael Beschloss, Salman Rushdie, Elizabeth Warren, Tom Brokaw, and many others. Click here forthe full list of events. Click here for more about the series. 

Archive #4- Events on Bookpassagetv on Youtube

Book Passage has been posting videos of author-events on YouTube for a long time. Most of them were either filmed in our Corte Madera store or in San Francisco store at the Ferry Building. There are lots of events here -- we stopped counting when we got to around 200. You'll find events with  Paul Theroux, Louise Penny, Armistead Maupin, Tommy Orange, Jonathan Franzen, Rick Steves, David Talbot, Peter Coyote, Carol Leonnig, Al Franken, Dennis Lehane, Walter Moseley, Amy Tan, Jennifer Rubin, and mony others.  Click here to see the events in the Bookpassagetv archive.

How to find an event-video: Click on bookpassagetv. Go to the right-hand side of the menu bar (just to the right of the word “about”) and click on the magnifying glass. The search bar will open up, and you can type in the name of the author.

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Book Passage Supporters

The big majority of Book Passage author events are free to viewers. But of course there has been a substantial cost to us in producing them. For that reason we have to rely on the support of readers around the country who enjoy these programs and want to keep them going.  If you want to support these programs, please click here to find out more.

 

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Events with Alta Journal 

We are delighted to work with the team at Alta Journal, a unique magazine that captures the California spirit in a very lively format. The team at Alta also produces a series of online events, focusing mainly on the experience of western America. If you haven't seen their maqazine as yet, you should grab a copy (available at Book Passage). . You'll find it to be a colorful, provocative and timely look at life on the West Coast.  Click here to get a list of their upcoming events andSo register to see them.

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Sonoma Valley Authors Festival

Our friends at the Sonoma Valley Authors Festival  put together a great authors’ festival that ran from August 27-29, 2021, and the have even bigger plans for their festival 2022. The Festival will be in-person and at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa. We are pleased as ever to work with SVAF and the great group of authors that we have helped them assemble. To see some of the great authros they have had in recent years and to get information about upcoming the upcoming festival, click here

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National Kidney Foundation   Author's Luncheon

 One of the gratifying things that we have done a over the last decade has been to arrange for the authors to appear at the National Kidney Foundation's annual Author's Luncheon. This event not only raises a lot of money to help fight kidney disease, but also presents some great authors in a lively, engaging setting. In 2021 the event was conducted on-line and featured Walter Mosley, Mary Roach, Elizabeth Strout, and Amor Towles, along with special guests Michael Krasny and Gail Tsukiyama. Click here to view the entire event!