At 5 p.m. on Monday, October 12, the first evening crowd of the 8th Annual Easton Book Festival won't be gathering at Centre Square. It will be at Plants + Coffee at 1458 Northampton Street in the West Ward, for an open mic called Words in the Ward. It's the same cafe where a barista opened a small bookshop this summer, and the same cafe that announced this week it's expanding into the space next door.
The festival runs October 12 through 18. Every program is free, and Lafayette College and Northampton County are the lead sponsors. The printed schedule is laid out in a telling way. From Monday through Thursday, events are scattered across the library on Church Street, a maker space on South 2nd Street, a West Ward cafe and a lecture room on College Hill. On Saturday and Sunday, most of the program moves onto a few downtown blocks. If you live here, the weeknights are the part built around your own neighborhood, and they're the part most visitors will miss.
Monday runs across four addresses
The first day shows how spread out the week is. In order:
- Easton Area Public Library, 515 Church Street. A morning of children's programs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., including three short Meet Clifford visits, the Remember When Storytime with a heritage craft, a Daisy Helps With the Dress read-aloud and the Operation Hug storytime.
- The community arts maker space at 52 South 2nd Street. The Creative Power of Journaling, a workshop from 3 to 4:30 p.m. that's pitched even to people who think of themselves as "not creative."
- Plants + Coffee, 1458 Northampton Street. Words in the Ward, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., hosted by E. Lynn Alexander.
- Book and Puppet Company, 161 Northampton Street. An opening reception from 7 to 8:30 p.m. for a Museum of Money exhibition of Greek and British coins and the figures behind the Greek War of Independence.
A Lehigh Valley Poetry virtual open mic runs from 7:30 to 9 p.m. for anyone who would rather stay home. The day starts near Church Street, moves out to the West Ward in the late afternoon and ends back at the east end of Northampton Street. You could follow it on foot, and it passes through more of the city than any single festival weekend does.
Words in the Ward was here first
The West Ward stop didn't come from the festival. The festival's own listing gives the history:
"Words in the Ward has been a local, grassroots West Ward neighborhood event for over ten years, starting with open mic gatherings on sidewalks and pocket parks."
During the pandemic, the series moved online as videos of local poets. This year it's back in person, partnered with the festival again, and hosted in a West Ward business. The listing promises open mic, poetry, books, activities and giveaways, and invites people to "find out why Easton's West Ward neighborhoods are home to so many poets and artists."
Plants + Coffee has become a natural host over the past few months. Jojo's Book Nook opened inside the cafe this summer, with a grand opening announced for June 26. It was opened by barista Jocelyn "Jojo" Schienholz and sells romance, mystery, thriller, fantasy and young-adult titles and books by LGBTQ+ authors, plus merchandise. According to The Morning Call, the cafe's hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. The 5 p.m. open mic starts after the cafe's usual weekday closing time.
The shelf space is about to grow. Mystery Box Games, the board game cafe next door, planned its final day for August 30. On September 22, co-owner Jenny DeLorenzo told The Morning Call that Plants + Coffee is taking over that space and hopes to finish the expansion by the end of the year. She owns the cafe with her husband, Brandt. The plans include more seating, a new test kitchen, more plants and a larger Jojo's Book Nook selection. DeLorenzo also plans to cook more, which means more pizza bagels and soups and salads served beyond the fall season. The expansion is still in progress, so on October 12 the open mic will be in the current room. By the next festival, the West Ward's festival venue should have more seats and more books.
Midweek goes up College Hill and back down
On Wednesday the festival moves to College Hill for its biggest single-author event. Alexander Chee, Lafayette College's 2026 Closs Visiting Writer and a Dartmouth professor, will read from recent work, take audience questions and sign books from 5 to 7 p.m. in Room 104 of the Kirby Hall of Civil Rights at 716 High Street. For anyone living around the campus, that's a walk. For everyone else, it's early enough to leave College Hill in time for the evening's downtown sessions.
Those downtown weeknight sessions are held at Book and Puppet Company, and they're closer to working sessions than lectures. On Tuesday, Breaking the Mold, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., is a writing workshop on building stories and memoir without the usual three-act structure. It's followed by The Poets' Cauldron from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., a Halloween-themed writing workshop that also introduces prompts for the group's next anthology. On Wednesday, the store hosts Show Me the Money, a writing workshop on coins and bills that ties in with Monday's exhibition, from 6 to 7 p.m., then a session on adapting a book for film and television from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Thursday night moves a few doors west to Connexions Gallery at 213 Northampton Street for Wicked Brew, a Lehigh Valley Poetry open mic from 7 to 9 p.m. Connexions describes itself as a gallery and cultural venue that hosts music, poetry, theater and workshops, so the festival night fits its usual calendar.
These midweek rooms are small and the events are hands-on. They're scheduled for people who get home from work and can walk over.
The weekend moves to a few downtown blocks
On Friday the schedule starts to concentrate. Book and Puppet Company hosts Voices from the Margin at 4 p.m. and A Conversation with Lee Upton at 8 p.m. In between, Lehigh Valley Poetry and Noble Quills hold an outdoor open mic in Centre Square from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Here's how Saturday and Sunday break down by location:
| Location | Saturday, Oct. 17 | Sunday, Oct. 18 |
|---|---|---|
| Easton Farmers' Market, 128 Larry Holmes Drive | Vendor Expo, Lehigh Valley Zine Exchange and a pride-button table, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Storytime for Dogs with Clifford at Scott Park, 11 to 11:30 a.m. | None |
| Book and Puppet Company, 161 Northampton Street | Five panels from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. | Sessions from 11 a.m. into the evening, including Women in Romance at 3:30 p.m. |
| Easton Public Market Kidzone, 325 Northampton Street | Children's readings from noon to 4 p.m. | None |
| Sigal Museum, 342 Northampton Street | None | Small Press Vendor Expo, noon to 4 p.m., plus three talks |
| Quadrant Book Mart, 20 North 3rd Street | None | Pink Trees Press & Friends reading, 4 to 5:30 p.m., with an open mic after |
| International Fusionism Museum, 107 North 4th Street | Unbearables Poetry Collective, 6 to 8 p.m., with an open mic after | None |
The two expos are where the weekend crowds will be. The Farmers' Market expo lists dozens of participating authors and publishers, and the Sigal Museum's Small Press Vendor Expo lists dozens more. Outside downtown, the weekend has two main stops. The maker space on South 2nd Street runs sessions on both days, including How to Start a Book Club That Actually Lasts on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Boys and Girls Club of Easton at 210 Jones Houston Way hosts storytelling and a young-entrepreneur session from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Splitting the week from home
Since the weekday events are closer to home and the weekend brings the crowds, a resident might plan the week like this:
- Monday, October 12. Go to Words in the Ward at Plants + Coffee from 5 to 6:30 p.m. You'll get to see Jojo's Book Nook before the expansion changes the room.
- Wednesday, October 14. Hear Alexander Chee at Kirby Hall from 5 to 7 p.m. If you have energy left, walk down to Book and Puppet Company for the 7:30 p.m. film-adaptation session.
- Thursday, October 15. Catch the Wicked Brew open mic at Connexions Gallery, 7 to 9 p.m.
- Saturday, October 17. Get to the Farmers' Market Vendor Expo close to its 9 a.m. start, before the panels at Book and Puppet Company begin at 11:30 a.m.
- Sunday, October 18. End the week at the Pink Trees Press reading at Quadrant Book Mart at 4 p.m. Quadrant's regular hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, and it's closed Monday and Tuesday, so this reading is a chance to see the store in the evening.
The full schedule, with individual event pages and calendar links, is on the Easton Book Festival website. Some listings may still change before October 12. For example, the Saturday journal-writing workshop with Eileen Snyder currently shows a 10 a.m. start and an 11 p.m. end, so check that page before you plan around it.
At The Cliff Lewis Experience, we follow Easton week to week, from the West Ward cafes to College Hill and the blocks around Centre Square, because that's where our clients and neighbors spend their time. When a question about your home or your next move comes up, we're glad to talk it through calmly and clearly. Contact Us.
