| MEDIA CONTACT Millicent Ansah & Marc Polite Co-Founders Jersey City Book Fair bookfairjc@gmail.com |
Jersey City’s First Book Fair to Celebrate Readers, Literacy, and the Power of Diverse Voices
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 21, 2026
This FREE October 3 Community Event Will Bring Together Readers, Parents, Children, Poets, and Authors at Jersey City’s Mary McLeod Bethune Life Center
JERSEY CITY, NJ — September 2026 — Those who love books already know books have the power to preserve culture, expand imagination, improve expression, and bring communities together. On Saturday, October 3, 2026, Jersey City will launch the inaugural Jersey City Book Fair, a free community-centered READING celebration from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM at the Mary McLeod Bethune Life Center, 140 Martin Luther King Drive, Jersey City, NJ 07305.
Produced and co-founded by Marc Polite and Millicent Ansah, the Jersey City Book Fair connects children, families, and educators with diverse literary voices and authors who look like them.
Admission is FREE and open to the entire community. Literary organizations and those seeking opportunities to connect with writers, educators, artists, publishers, readers and fellow book lovers are encouraged to attend.
“Our goal is to create more than an event where people buy books,” said co-founders Millicent Ansah and Marc Polite. “We are creating a space where children can grow to love reading, because they can see themselves in stories. Families can meet authors face-to-face, educators can share resources, and our community can discover voices and characters they might not encounter anywhere else.”
A NEW JERSEY CELEBRATION OF READERS AND THE BOOK WORLD
The Jersey City Book Fair is founded on a simple but powerful belief: literacy changes lives, stories preserve culture, representation matters, and communities become stronger when people read about extraordinary characters that look like them.
The inaugural event will literature and literacy programming more accessible to Jersey City residents, while providing a platform for published authors and local independent authors.
Attendees will have an opportunity to attend book signings, hear live poetry performances, participate in children’s and family literacy activities, meet local authors and literary vendors, and access community resources.
A featured adult author panel, “Every Book Has a Journey: From Inspiration to Publication,” will take audiences behind the scenes of the writing and publishing process, from inspiration to placing a finished book into a reader’s hands.
Young readers and families will also be at the center of the conversation during the children’s literature panel, “The Importance of Diverse Characters in Children’s Literature.”
The discussion will explores the impact of allowing young readers to encounter characters, families, communities and experiences that reflect both their own lives and the larger world around them.
BUILDING A LITERARY TRADITION IN JERSEY CITY
The event is designed not only to promote reading but also to recognize the writers, poets, educators, publishers, artists, organizations and community advocates whose work keeps literary culture thriving.
For children, that can mean discovering a book in which they finally recognize themselves. And for the larger community, the Jersey City Book Fair creates a gathering place where stories become bridges between generations, neighborhoods and cultures.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Students and families; teachers and school administrators; librarians and library patrons; public, charter, private and parochial school communities; afterschool and youth programs; homeschool families; parent and PTA/PTO groups; college and university students; book clubs; bookstores and booksellers; literacy advocates; aspiring writers; educators; authors; poets; publishers; and readers of all ages.
MEDIA AND INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES
Media representatives interested in the inaugural Jersey City Book Fair event coverage, interviews, photography, filming or sponsorship opportunities are encouraged to contact the organizers in advance to coordinate press access. Media will have opportunities to interview co-founders Marc Polite and Millicent Ansah, participating authors, panelist, poets, educators, creatives, literary vendors and community organizations. The event also provides opportunities for broader coverage examining literacy, representation in publishing, independent authorship, access to books, children’s literature and the importance of locally based literary programming.
Slice of Culture is invited to participate as a media partner and sponsor, with opportunities to attend the Book Fair, interview its founders and participating authors, and help document the launch of what organizers hope will become a lasting Jersey City literary tradition. Organizers invite all community and local media organizations that recognize the importance of documenting the people, ideas, artists, educators and organizations shaping Jersey City.
EVENT INFORMATION
WHAT: Inaugural Jersey City Book Fair
WHEN: Saturday, October 3, 2026
TIME: 12:00 PM–5:00 PM
WHERE: Mary McLeod Bethune Life Center
140 Martin Luther King Drive
Jersey City, NJ 07305
ADMISSION: FREE and open to the community
ABOUT THE JERSEY CITY BOOK FAIR
The Jersey City Book Fair is a free, community-centered celebration dedicated to books, literacy, storytelling and uplifting diverse literary voices. Founded by Millicent Ansah and Marc Polite, its mission is to inspire a love of reading, support authors and educators, increase access to literary programming, and create meaningful opportunities for children, families and communities to connect through literature.
IG: @bookfairjc
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