I Am Books, the Italian-American bookstore in Boston, Mass., is launching a two-day book festival called IDEA Boston this fall. Scheduled to run November 2-3, the Italian-inspired festival will feature 24 events and more than 50 speakers, including Michael Reynolds, editor-in-chief of Europa Editions; Mary Ann Esposito, host of Ciao Italia and children's writer and illustrator Tomie dePaola.
"IDEA Boston represents what we do at the bookstore day in and day out," said Nicola Orichua, a journalist and co-founder of I Am Books. "We offer culture through our books but also organize events on a weekly basis. We thought it was time to create a bigger event where we could highlight some of the best authors and most inspiring topics we came across over the years."
The festival will take place at the Dante Alighieri building in Cambridge, Mass., located near Kendall Square and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
According to Orichuia, the Festival of Italian Literature in London, which will run this year October 27-28, was the inspiration for IDEA Boston. He explained: "Our hope is to create a network of Italian-inspired cultural festivals that will keep growing with time."