It Literally Takes a Village

THE WIT LITERARY FESTIVAL’S COMMUNITY CONNECTION CONTINUES TO STRENGTHEN AND DEEPEN

By Michael Borden

Photos By Olivia Douhan

Everybody in Lenox knows Matt Tannenbaum. For nearly 50 years, the local celebrity has been the owner and soul behind Lenox’s venerable The Bookstore, a beloved community institution where every turned page sparks connection, conversation, and sometimes a little magic. Over the decades, it has blossomed into more than just a place to buy books; it’s a literary sanctuary where dusty classics abut the latest bestsellers, and on weekend nights, the adjacent “Get Lit” Wine Bar hums with conversation, laughter, and the clink of glasses. Walk in, and Matt is liable to hand you a DVD of his widely shown Hello, Bookstore or a copy of My Years at the Gotham Book Mart, offering a personal glimpse into a world where books are treated like cherished friends.

Matt Tannenbaum and daughter Shawnee are the logistical engine behind the WIT Literary Festival.

That world is the beating heart behind The Authors Guild Foundation’s WIT (Words, Ideas, and Thinkers) Literary Festival, now rolling into its fourth year. This September, the Berkshires will once again pulse with intellectual electricity as The WIT festival brings together a lineup of authors and thinkers under the theme “The Power of Words: Authors & Activism.” From the storied rooms of Shakespeare & Company in Lenox to the elegant Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, the festival promises four days of conversations that inform, inspire, and matter. 

The Bookstore in Lenox has been a Berkshire community resource for nearly 50 years.

The festival kicks off Thursday, September 25, with powerhouse voices Masha Gessen and Michael S. Roth, joined by Alia Malek, diving deep into the perils of authoritarianism and the fight for free expression. Friday heats up with a double dose of intrigue: at 2:30 p.m., investigative journalist Tim Weiner teams up with former CIA officer turned novelist James Lawler and Garrett M. Graff to pull back the curtain on intelligence and secrecy. That evening, Pulitzer-winning playwrights Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and Sanaz Toossi join New Yorker critic Vinson Cunningham to explore theater’s role in shaping identity and confronting displacement. 

Saturday, September 26, starts with a jolt of climate talk as Catherine Coleman Flowers and vaccine scientist Peter Hotez, moderated by Dr. Jeremy Faust, dissect environmental justice and its impact on vulnerable communities. The afternoon offers a historic first: Torrey Peters, acclaimed author, and Chase Strangio, the trailblazing ACLU attorney and first openly trans person to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court, team up with journalist J. Wortham to unpack storytelling’s power in the fight for equality. Later, poet Hanif Abdurraqib and cultural scholar Imani Perry, led by Shana L. Redmond, weave a tapestry of music, memory, and resistance. 

The festival concludes Sunday, September 27, at Great Barrington’s Mahaiwe, where Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde and novelist Marilynne Robinson, in conversation with Paul Elie, reflect on mercy, faith, and democracy’s fragile promise.

The Logistics Behind the Magic

Behind all these literary fireworks, Matt and his daughter, Shawnee, orchestrate a quieter but no less dazzling spectacle. In Hello, Bookstore, Matt’s voice is steady and warm: “A book is a voice that keeps speaking after the author is gone.” That voice is central to The WIT festival’s mission, and Matt and Shawnee turn that mission into action every year.

When The Authors Guild Foundation locks in the author roster, the spreadsheet frenzy begins. Every title—new releases, backlist treasures—is catalogued with obsessive precision. Shepherd Bear, a longtime team member, keeps the wheels turning as Matt and Shawnee place orders in “huge” carton quantities, typically 36 copies per title, arriving in perfect sync with the festival’s September timing.

Nimble as a jazz band, The Bookstore team pivots on last-minute changes, juggle truckloads of books, and stage multiple runs between The Bookstore and Shakespeare & Company, ensuring readers find the exact book that just lit their imagination.

One of the festival’s most legendary helpers was Renzo—Scott Renzoni—a five-day Jeopardy! champion, aspiring actor, and upstairs neighbor to the bookstore. He was the master of book logistics, even hiding crates of inventory in Shakespeare & Company’s liquor closets when space ran thin. His passing last year left a poignant gap. “We miss him terribly,” Shawnee says softly.

A Curator and a Champion of Conversation

Bernard Schwartz, The Authors Guild Foundation’s executive producer for literary programs, sums up The Bookstore’s role perfectly: “We partner with The Bookstore because Matt and Shawnee have the same devotion to authors and their books as we do. Matt’s not just a bookstore owner. He’s a literary curator. And he’s damn good at it.” 

A new generation of readers finds inspiration at The Bookstore. (Bernard Schwartz)

Together, Matt and Shawnee are the keepers of a rare flame, a vital thread in the fabric of the Berkshire’s literary culture. As voices rise on stage this September, ideas ripple through audiences, and books fly off shelves, it’s their labor—quiet, exacting, and loving—that ensures the words continue speaking long after the last page is turned. 

“This is the first year my seven-year-old daughter can read,” says Schwartz. “It was such a pleasure bringing her to The Bookstore’s Bus Stop Corner where she sat and started quietly reading to herself. They say it takes a village to raise a kid. When part of that community is The Bookstore, everything’s in place for connection, inspiration and growth.” 

The WIT festival thrives on partnering with a growing number of entities and individuals in the Berkshires community. We are proud to be a partner, in our ongoing coverage of The Authors Guild Foundation and the festival. The following list of partners, in addition to the ones we’ve already mentioned, is not complete by any means (because it keeps growing!): Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Mezze Catering, Berkshire Community College, Lenox Memorial Middle and High School, Shakespeare & Company, CTSB, Doctor Sax House, the BSO, Berkshire Catering Company, Belvedere Lenox, Savory Harvest, Modern Milk Bar, Upstreet Smoke, Rustic Eats, Cuppa Love, The Constance, and others. 

authorsguild.org/wit