NYIABF Presents
NYIABF Presents is an annual event series that uncovers the rare book industry and amplifies novel ideas about literature, print, and material culture. Events are curated by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA).
This year's series will run on Saturday, April 5. All events are free with fair admission and will be held in the Armory's Colonel's Room. Please note that admission to NYIABF Presents will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Schedule: Saturday, April 5
1 p.m.
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Old Books, New Reads: Recommending the Books Jane Austen Loved
Who are your favorite authors' favorite authors? Book collecting can help readers find more books like the classics they love, as Rebecca Romney discovered when building a collection of works by Jane Austen's favorite women writers. In this talk, Romney will discuss her most recommended reads among books she collected while researching her latest book, Jane Austen's Bookshelf, called a "gem of passionate criticism" by The New York Times and "a perfect project, a perfect book" by Lit Hub. If you love Austen's novels and wish she had written more, Romney is ready to introduce you to once-acclaimed books that Austen loved and used as models for her own.​
Speaker: Rebecca Romney
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Rebecca Romney is the co-founder of Type Punch Matrix (booth E3), a rare book firm based in the Washington, D.C. area, and the co-founder of the Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize. She is on the Board of the ABAA, the Council of the Bibliographical Society of America (BSA), and the Board and faculty of CABS-Minnesota.
3 p.m.
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Pages and Pirouettes: Literature, Dance, and Feminist Perspectives
Join author and art historian, Sarah Hoover, in conversation with Ballerina Book Club co-host and former American Ballet Theatre dancer, Connor Holloway, for a conversation covering a multitude of intersections. From books and reading to dance and feminist art history, this dialogue will feature collectibles from iconic women writers like Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf — perhaps even a lock of one’s hair.​
Speaker: Connor Holloway​​
Connor Holloway (they/them) born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, is a dancer, reader, writer, producer and content creator. Connor moved to NYC in 2013 to dance with American Ballet Theatre where they met Isabella Boylston and later launched the Webby-nominated, Ballerina Book Club, in partnership with ALL ARTS in 2020. ​
​​Speaker: Sarah Hoover
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Sarah Hoover holds a master’s degree in cultural theory from Columbia University and a BA in art history from NYU. Her writing has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Harper’s Bazaar, Psychology Today, Mother Tongue, The Strategist, and Vogue. Her debut memoir, The Motherload, is a national best seller and Belletrist Book Club’s January 2025 pick​.
Guest: Sunday Steinkirchner
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Sunday Steinkirchner is the owner of B&B Rare Books in Manhattan, and the Chair of the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair. She specializes in English Literature, with a special focus on Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group. Her favorite book is Mrs. Dalloway.
5 p.m.
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Collecting the Global Middle Ages
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In recent decades, the field of medieval studies has experienced a “global turn.” As a growing contingent of scholars examine the Middle Ages across geographies, cultures, and linguistic communities, the scope of medieval collections within libraries has also expanded beyond the traditional center of Europe. Join curators Agnieszka Rec and Michelle Al-Ferzly as they discuss the impact of the global for collecting at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale, where the collection of Early Books and Manuscripts is being re-shaped to not only expand geographically, but also to consider the dynamic connections of book histories and intellectual traditions across the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia.​​​
Speaker: Michelle Al-Ferzly​
Michelle Al-Ferzly is a curator at the Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library at Yale University, working with Islamic and Asian collections. She received her Ph.D. in the History of Art from the University of Michigan, where she completed a dissertation on the art of dining in the medieval Islamic world. Prior to joining the Beinecke, Michelle was a Research Associate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she worked on the Africa & Byzantium exhibition and contributed to the show’s catalog. ​
​​Speaker: Agnieszka Rec
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Agnieszka Rec is a curator at the Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library at Yale University, working with early European manuscripts. She earned her doctorate in medieval history from Yale and her B.S., also from Yale, in mathematics and humanities. Rec has pursued a consciously cross-disciplinary path through cultural heritage collections exploring the scientific materials at the Chemical Heritage Foundation, the Indigenous manuscripts recovered at the Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS), and the wide-ranging scholarship published by the Medieval Academy of America and “Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies.”