We’re Back!

Hi Boston! 👋 It’s been a while. How are you doing?

Jessica here, announcing that after two years away, the Boston Book Blog is back (with a rebrand)!

We are now Literary Boston and will pick up where we left off on our mission to elevate the local literary community, bringing you features on local authors and literary organizations, local author new releases, Boston literary news, local readings and events, Boston literary history, and more. We also have a new website: LiteraryBoston.com.

You may be asking:

Why the new name Literary Boston?

I founded the Boston Book Blog in 2012 as just that: a blog, on Blogspot, I think. But that blog grew into a pretty big website with multiple sections and features, including a readings and events calendar, articles, literary history, resources, and more. Yet it was still called a “blog” and people I spoke to still saw it as a blog or assumed it was just a blog — not anything more.

My vision was always to turn this project into Literary Boston (I’ve owned the URLs for a long time! and you may have noticed “Boston Book Blog — a project of Literary Boston” in my website footer for years). Literary Boston captures, beyond just books, the expansiveness of the local literary community and ecosystem that includes authors, booksellers, literary organizers, literary agents, media, book clubs, festivals, writing centers, and more — as well as our rich literary past.

Why now?

Honestly? I’ve missed you! When I put the Boston Book Blog on pause in January 2022, it was to focus more of my time on my own creative writing (no novel published yet, but I did get a short story published in the North American Review). Then I had the opportunity to be on the planning committee for Lit Crawl 2022, as well as serve as the interim Deputy Director of the Boston Book Festival in 2022 — so, can’t keep me away from local literary things! (I also traveled around the country in March 2023, but that’s a different story for a different day.)

But for the past year, I’ve been somewhat disconnected from the local literary community, missing out on events I wanted to go to, new initiatives and projects to support, and just the general connection and conversation with other writers, especially after a few years in lockdown.

Two reasons were key in my decision to restart.

First, a few of my friends came out with books in 2023, and I kept saying, “If I still had the BBB running, I would promote the heck out of your books!” I built the platform and the following — why not use it?

Second, I kept finding out about author events I wanted to go to after the fact, which I always kept up on when I was maintaining the author calendar. It’s a bummer to read a novel you like, only to find out a week later the author was down the street and you missed them.

Well, there’s also a third reason. We find ourselves in a strange time where books are being challenged and banned, where voices (especially marginalized ones) are being silenced, and where a select few are attempting to restrict us from reading books that can quite literally change the direction of our lives for the better. Literary works — books, short stories, poems, plays — inspire. They show us we’re not alone in this world. They articulate the deep things of humanity. Or they keep us entertained for an afternoon. Authors and the literary community today can always use a bit more promotion, and I can help with that.

What now?

Look for new content to ramp up soon, including more local author new releases and interviews, as well as other resources and fun things I’m thinking through. In the meantime, check out the upcoming readings and events calendar (at the bottom of the home page or in a list). Stay up-to-date on local literary news, read some past features, find a new favorite read, browse the resources, or learn some literary history. Follow on social media (Instagram, Threads, Twitter/X). Be sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter, too!

And if you’ve been a long-time follower, thank you for sticking around. We have a lot to do and look forward to.

For books and Boston (feels good to say that again!), 

Jessica A. Kent

Founder, Literary Boston