On Saturday night, at the Brooklyn Book Festival’s Gala Mingle, literary stars from Francine Prose to Colson Whitehead sipped white wine and chatted politely with one another about each other’s work, under the harsh glare of flourescent lights.

Indeed, where past years’ galas have been held in elegant digs at the historic Dime Savings Bank and the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, Saturday’s festivities took place in a large hall and an adjacent cafeteria downstairs at St. Francis College, a block away from Borough Hall. The venue’s very thorough lighting made certain that most things were illuminated. More>