BookCon is back
BookCon returned this weekend after a six‑year hiatus, running April 18–19 with authors billed including Rachel Reid, Andy Weir, Casey McQuiston and R.F. Kuang (mashable.com). At the same time, the International Booker Prize released shortlist films featuring actors such as Toby Jones, Indira Varma and Toheeb Jimoh to spotlight this year’s translated fiction contenders for the £50,000 prize (thebookerprizes.substack.com).
BookCon opened in New York on Saturday, bringing the fan convention back to the Javits Center for the first time since 2019. (bookcon.com) The two-day event runs April 18 and 19 at the Javits Center, and BookCon’s ticket page lists Saturday, Sunday, weekend, VIP and Premium VIP passes as sold out. (bookcon.com) The guest list includes Rachel Reid, Andy Weir, Casey McQuiston and R.F. Kuang, with programming built around panels, signings, workshops, exhibitors and an “After Dark” slate that runs Saturday night. (mashable.com) (bookcon.com) One Saturday main-stage panel centers on Reid’s *Heated Rivalry* adaptation, while other sessions spotlight Kuang, Tomi Adeyemi and a queer-escapism panel with McQuiston, Aiden Thomas and Kate Bornstein. (bookriot.com) ReedPop retired BookCon in 2020 after the pandemic disrupted live events, then announced a 2026 return as TikTok’s BookTok community, book-to-screen adaptations and romance and fantasy publishing pulled more readers into in-person fandom spaces. (variety.com) (publishersweekly.com) Six major publishers — Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster and Sourcebooks — signed on as exhibitors, and Publishers Weekly reported about 400 exhibitors overall for the relaunched show. (publishersweekly.com) The return has also drawn criticism. Variety reported that some authors and ticket holders backed a boycott after raising concerns about ReedPop parent company RELX and its subsidiary LexisNexis, which has had a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (variety.com) (bookriot.com) Across the Atlantic, the International Booker Prize used the same weekend to push translated fiction into a wider pop-culture lane, releasing six short films for its 2026 shortlist on April 16. (thebookerprizes.com) The films feature Toby Jones, Indira Varma, Toheeb Jimoh, Kae Alexander, Jehnny Beth and Xelia Mendes-Jones performing extracts from the shortlisted books, and the Booker Prize Foundation said they will be screened again at a 10th-anniversary event at London’s Southbank Centre on May 8. (thebookerprizes.com) This year’s International Booker shortlist was announced on March 31, with six books chosen from 128 submissions, and the £50,000 prize will be split equally between the winning author and translator when the winner is named at Tate Modern on May 19. (thebookerprizes.com) For one weekend, the book world is doing two versions of the same job: filling Javits with readers in person while sending polished Booker videos online to pull more people toward new fiction in translation. (bookcon.com) (thebookerprizes.com)
