Literary festival to celebrate 'books for everyone'

The Long Island Book Festival International, a first-of-its-kind event that was established by the Haitian American Foundation for Educational and Cultural Exchange, in collaboration with public and private institutions, will take place at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow Sept. 30 to Oct. 2.

The impetus behind the event’s creation? Ensuring that “books are for everyone.” According to the HAFECE, the goal of the festival is to unite local residents and authors from throughout the world in order to raise money for books, get more books in the hands of children who need them, and promote worldwide literacy.

On Friday, a Fundraising Gala will be held from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Long Island Marriott Hotel in Uniondale. On Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the first day of the festival will be held at Eisenhower Park, including a book fair and book-signings, book-readings and panel discussions about literary works by various published authors, illustrators and poets. Following the event, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., will be a Poetry & Music Night at the Marriott Hotel.

The second day of the festival will take place on Sunday, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. A literary brunch will be held from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Jean Refusé, HAFECE’s president, said that currently, about 40 authors — from the United States and Haiti — are planned to participate at the festival. However, authors are permitted to sign up for the event until Sept. 30.

Refusé said that hundreds of books — children’s, adult, fiction and nonfiction books, and several genres such as mysteries, westerns, biographies, memoirs, romance, history and religion — will be available at the event, supplied by authors and independent booksellers.

Founded in 1998, HAFECE is a New York-based, nonprofit organization that is focused on fostering mutual understanding and cooperation between American and Haitians through education, information, volunteerism and development assistance programs.

For more information about the festival, visit www.libfi.org or call Refusé at (347) 733-0448.