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Photo Flash: BP Markowitz and Tony Danza at the 7th Annual Brooklyn Book Festival

Today, Sunday, September 23, 2012, the seventh annual Brooklyn Book Festival, one of the nation's top free literary events, attracted tens of thousands of booklovers to Downtown Brooklyn along with a record 280+ top national and international authors, literary organizations and booksellers on 14 stages at Brooklyn Borough Hall and Plaza, Columbus Park, St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights Public Library, Brooklyn Law School, the Brooklyn Historical Society and St. Ann & The Holy Trinity Church. Younger readers found their favorite books and authors at the Target Children's Area and the Youth Stoop, and for the first time ever, the Festival expanded to a full week of Bookend events. The 2012 Brooklyn Book Festival is supported by AT&T, which also provided bibliophiles with a free smartphone and tablet "app" to help them navigate the Festival.

Check out a couple of photos from the event below, featuring Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Tony Danza!

The Brooklyn Book Festival, one of the premier literary events in the country, is an initiative of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz presented by Brooklyn Tourism and the Brooklyn Literary Council. This hip, smart, diverse-and free-gathering attracts thousands of book lovers of all ages to enjoy authors and the Festival's lively literary marketplace, and presents a dazzling array of national and international literary stars, emerging authors and programming-from lowbrow to highbrow!

According to Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, "Brooklyn, or 'Book-lyn' as I like to call it, has more writers per square inch than almost anywhere else in the country, all contributing to our growing reputation as the epicenter of the literary universe-where authors from across the globe gather each fall for the Brooklyn Book Festival, one of the world's most prestigious free literary festivals. This year, the Festival expanded to an entire week of exciting and diverse literary offerings, and we were thrilled to have the Festival supported by AT&T. No 'seven year itch' here-the seventh annual Brooklyn Book Festival proved to be our most popular yet."

"With an entire week of literary events celebrating the written and spoken word, the seventh annual Brooklyn Book Festival was bigger and better than ever," said Johnny Temple, chair of the Brooklyn Literary Council. "The Festival has matured into one of the world's premier literary destinations, attracting renowned authors, publishers of all sizes, musicians, humorists, graphic novelists, and all of the creative forces that make up our eclectic and constantly evolving literary universe."

A full week of more than 50 Bookends events at clubs, bookstores, theaters, libraries and other venues throughout Brooklyn included literary-themed happenings at Public Assembly, The Bell House, BAM, powerHouse Arena, Galapagos Art Space, Union Hall, 3rd Ward, The Rock Shop, Greenlight Bookstore, MoCADA, Brooklyn Bridge Park and DUMBO Arts Center.

On Saturday, September 22, the Brooklyn Book Festival BoBi Award for outstanding contributions to literature that reflect the spirit of Brooklyn was awarded to author, journalist and essayist Pete Hamill. The eldest son of Irish immigrant parents, Hamill was born in Park Slope, Brooklyn. He left school at age 16 to work in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and attend night classes at the Cartoonists and Illustrators School with the intent of becoming a comic book artist. After service in the U.S. Navy, he began his career as a journalist, and over the ensuing decades covered both domestic and international wars and conflicts. Hamill is the author of 18 books, including the best-selling A Drinking Life, the novels Snow in August, Tabloid City and Forever, and a collection of short stories, The Christmas Kid, to be released in October. He also served as editor-in-chief of the New York Post and the New York Daily News.

The Festival established the BoBi Award in its second year, when it was awarded to Paul Auster (2007). Subsequent honorees include Walter Mosley (2008), Edwidge Danticat (2009), John Ashbery (2010) and Jhumpa Lahiri (2011).

Photo Credit: Kathryn Kirk