The Bristol BookFest (BBF) steering committee is already hard at work on its seventh season. They’ve picked the dates, April 2 to 3, 2027. They’ve picked the writer, William Shakespeare. And they’ve picked the play, “The Tempest.”

“Shakespeare has been on BBF’s short list before, but interest was trending upward,” said BBF Co-chair Beverly Larson. “Our audience told us it was time for the Bard and we listened.”

“So many of the authors BookFest has featured — from Herman Melville to Virginia Woolf — refer back to Shakespeare’s work,” said Co-chair Kim Petta. “This 17th century selection brings together a lot of what we have done.”

Bristol BookFest is an annual humanities program designed to inspire readers, deepen understanding of significant works of literature and enrich community life. BBF offers wintertime programming that culminates in a two-day weekend event with leading scholars in early April.

“The Tempest,” one of Shakespeare’s shortest plays, is a rich comedy-drama rife with themes of colonialism, art and illusion, power, forgiveness, freedom and control.

“The themes are eternal, but the meaning of the play is still open to interpretation,” says Steve Calvert, the BBF winter seminar leader. “That makes it a perfect time to reassess what Shakespeare meant by ‘The Tempest.’”

Calvert will again lead five weekly, 90-minute free sessions on the play at Rogers Free Library, beginning Tuesday, January 12.

Bristol BookFest’s April events have drawn leading scholars and experts from across the country. Over the next several weeks, the BBF program subcommittee will begin the work of recruiting experts to participate in the April 2027 weekend.

The events are offered in the heart of downtown Bristol, Rhode Island, in collaboration with the Friends of the Rogers Free Library, the Rogers Free Library, Roger Williams University, Linden Place, the Bristol Art Museum and the Bristol Warren Regional School District.

Programming details will become available on the BBF website (www.bristolbookfest.com) and via social media (https://linktr.ee/BristolBookFest).