National Book Festival to Feature Over 100 Authors

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This year's National Book Festival featuring 112 authors, poets and illustrators will be held on the National Mall September 24 and 25th.

Sponsored by the Library of Congress, President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, the first lady, will be the honorary chairs of this annual event in Washington, D.C. David M. Rubenstein is the distinguished benefactor of the festival. Rubenstein co-chairs the National Book Festival Board with Dr. James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress.

"Following on the great success of the 2010 National Book Festival, our 10th anniversary, the National Book Festival Board decided last January to make this a two-day event," Billington said. "We expect book-lovers to be delighted with the number of poets, authors and illustrators we've assembled this year, including several winners of major literary awards.

"The authors' talks will be a bit longer, and we believe festival-goers' access to authors in the book-signing area will be made a bit easier."

Authors from various genres will visit with their readers, including History & Biography, Fiction & Mystery, Poetry & Prose and Contemporary Life, along with a pavilion aimed at Teens and another for Children.

A "Family Storytelling Stage" pavilion is being sponsored by Target, the distinguished benefactor of the National Book Festival. This arena will offer brief presentations by more than 20 authors and musicians whose books and performances are devoted to very young readers. The sponsorship is part of Target's commitment to helping more children read proficiently by the end of grade 3.

"We are delighted that Target has helped us take our already very family-friendly event to a whole new, very young audience of book-lovers," said Deanna Marcum, associate librarian for Library Services at the Library of Congress and executive director of the National Book Festival. "The Family Storytelling Stage will carry the banner for this year's National Book Festival theme, 'Celebrate the Joy of Reading Aloud.'"

Barnes & Noble is the official bookseller for the 2011 National Book Festival.

Author lineups in all pavilions include:

Children: Mary Brigid Barrett, Harry Bliss, Calef Brown, Susan Cooper, Carmen Agra Deedy and John McCutcheon, Tomie dePaola, Jack Gantos, Joe Hayes, William Joyce, John Bemelmans Marciano, Patricia McKissack, Dorie McCullough Lawson, Sam McBratney, Julianne Moore, Jon J Muth and Chris Van Dusen

Family Storytelling Stage: Wally Amos, Tom Angleberger, Mac Barnett, Michael Buckley, Angela Farris, Daniel Kirk, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Josh Lewis, Tom Lichtenheld, Loren Long, Cedelia Marley, Julianne Moore, Lauren Myracle, Jane O'Connor, Matthew Reinhart, John Rocco, Mark Pett and Gary Rubenstein, Ellen Sabin, Bob Shea and Lisa Yee

Teens: Cassandra Clare, Susan Cooper, Sarah Dessen, Jack Gantos, Gordon Korman, Uma Krishaswami, Patricia McKissack, Shelia P. Moses, Kadir Nelson, Katherine Paterson, Gary D. Schmidt, Brian Selznick and Rita Williams-Garcia

Fiction & Mystery: Sherman Alexie, Russell Banks, Louis Bayard, Steve Berry, Jennifer Egan, Margaret George, Laura Lippman, Gregory Maguire, Terry McMillan, Toni Morrison, Sara Paretsky, Esmeralda Santiago and Neal Stephenson

Poetry & Prose: Michael Cunningham, Rita Dove, Dave Eggers, Claudia Emerson, Mary Gordon, Kimiko Hahn, Terrance Hayes, Garrison Keillor, Yusef Komunyakaa, Linda Pastan, John Milliken Thompson, Poetry Out Loud and Jonathan Yardley

History & Biography: Eric Foner, Adam Goodheart, Maya Jasanoff, David McCullough, Justin Martin, Candice Millard, Kristie Miller, Edmund Morris, Carla L. Peterson, Eugene Robinson, James Swanson, Douglas Waller and Isabel Wilkerson

Contemporary Life: Joel Achenbach, Amy Chua, Bob Edwards, Leon Fleisher (with Anne Midgette), Joshua Foer, Jessica Harris, Marc Kaufman, Hoda Kotb, Jim Lehrer, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Sylvia Nasar and Sarah Vowell State Poets Laureate (Sunday only): Dolores Kendrick (District of Columbia), Kelly Cherry (Virginia), Stanley Plumly (Maryland), Wes McNair (Maine) and Carol Muske-Dukes (California)

Graphic Novels: Kazu Kibuishi, Rachel Renee Russell, Richard Thompson, Allen Say and Eric Wight

"The Cutting Edge": Eric Dezenhall, Eric Jerome Dickey, Kia DuPree, Amanda Houck and Kimberla Lawson Roby

Source: Library of Congress

Published September 13, 2011