BABEL, the author lecture series produced by Just Buffalo Literary Center, has captured the attention of the reading public. The series enjoys the second-highest attendance of any author series in the country.
BABEL welcomes author Dinaw Mengestu to Kleinhans Music Hall Wednesday. Mengestu's book, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, has been widely discussed in recent weeks during a series of events sponsored by Just Buffalo Literary Center and funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts through its Big Read program.
The success of BABEL and the expanding reach of the Just Buffalo Literary Center come as it appears reading and writing are generally on the decline.
"We're finding that there's a lot of hand wringing about the absence of reading and with Smartphones and tablets and that our minds are shifting,' said Barbara Cole, Artistic Director at Just Buffalo.
"I think on the one hand that's absolutely true, on the other hand, it's very clear, at least in Buffalo, the love of reading is really very strong. We have anywhere from a thousand to 1500 people coming to hear an author speak as if it's a rock show."
Now in its 40th year, the efforts of the Just Buffalo Literary Center appear to paying off. Cole hopes more people buy into their mission of expanding the literary arts.
"Once you graduate from school, I think sometimes people imagine they don't have time to read anymore or they can't write and Just Buffalo makes it clear that for the rest of your life, you can still love books, you can still be a writer, desire, dream of being of a writer and you can meet other people who feel the same way."
