August 15, 2014 "Great Books to Great Movies" Among New Evening Events at 2014 Library of Congress National Book Festival

Doris Kearns Goodwin, Alan Greenspan Join Lineup of 110 Authors

Contact: Jennifer Gavin (202) 707-1940

Four literary stars will discuss how books they wrote were presented on the silver screen in a special evening session capping the 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. 2014 Library of Congress National Book Festival, titled “Great Books to Great Movies.”

E.L. Doctorow (recipient of the 2014 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction), Paul Auster, Alice McDermott and Lisa See will discuss the movie versions of their novels in a session from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the festival, which will take place over 12 hours at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Aug. 30. The National Book Festival is free and open to the public.

In addition, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and economist and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan have been added to the festival’s stellar lineup of 110 authors for readers of all ages and tastes. Both will be interviewed onstage by National Book Festival Co-Chairman David M. Rubenstein – Greenspan at 10:50 a.m. in the Special Programs pavilion and Goodwin at 5:20 p.m. in the History & Biography pavilion.

“Great Books to Great Movies” will be moderated by Ann Hornaday, film critic for The Washington Post.

Several of Doctorow’s novels have been made into movies. The much-honored writer’s novels include “Ragtime,” “Billy Bathgate,” “Welcome to Hard Times,” “Loon Lake,” “The Book of Daniel,” “The March” and “City of God”; his latest book is “Andrew’s Brain” (Random House).

McDermott’s novella “That Night,” which was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Pen/Faulkner Award and the Pulitzer Prize, was made into a movie in 1992. McDermott won the National Book Award for her 1998 novel “Charming Billy.” Her 2006 novel “After This” was a Pulitzer-Prize finalist; her latest novel is “Someone” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux/Macmillan).

Auster, whose much-acclaimed work includes “The Invention of Solitude,” “The New York Trilogy” and “The Book of Illusions,” was co-producer and scriptwriter for the 1995 movie “Smoke.” His latest book is “Report from the Interior” (Picador).

See’s books include “On Gold Mountain: The One Hundred Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family” and “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan,” which was made into a motion picture. Her latest book is “China Dolls” (Random House).

The Walter E. Washington Convention Center is accessible via Metro on the Red Line (Gallery Place) and the Green and Yellow Lines (Mount Vernon Square/7th Street/Convention Center).

In addition to the evening session on “Great Books to Great Movies,” events at this year’s festival after 6 p.m. include a “Graphic Novels Super-Session,” presented with the assistance of the Small Press Expo; a poetry slam in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts and Split This Rock; and a dialogue on the work of three towering writers in the Mexican literary canon, Octavio Paz, Efraín Huerta and José Revueltas, all of whom were born a century ago.

The festival’s new location also allows for an expanded selection of genre pavilions. In addition to the longtime pavilions History & Biography, Fiction & Mystery, Poetry & Prose, Children’s, Contemporary Life, Teens and Special Programs, this year’s festival also will offer new pavilions focused on Science, the Culinary Arts, and for young readers, Picture Books. Four chefs will offer live cooking demonstrations during the festival’s daytime sessions.

Other authors who have accepted the Library’s invitation to speak and sign books at the 2014 Library of Congress National Book Festival include photographer Bob Adelman, Jonathan Allen, Derek Anderson, chef Cathal Armstrong, Andrew Aydin, Patrik Henry Bass, Kyle Baker, Peter Baker, Ishmael Beah, Andrea Beaty, Kai Bird, Eula Biss, Kendare Blake, Paul Bogard, Peter Brown, U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, Eric H. Cline, Bryan Collier, Billy Collins, Raúl Colón, James Conaway, Ilene Cooper, Jerry Craft, H. Alan Day, Liza Donnelly, Kate DiCamillo, Margaret Engel, Jules Feiffer, Jack Gantos, David Theodore George, Francisco Goldman, chef Carla Hall, Tanuja Desai Hidier, Anne Hillerman, Henry Hodges, Sara Sue Hoklotubbe, Siri Hustvedt, Molly Idle, Peniel E. Joseph, Cynthia Kadohata, Michio Kaku, chef Sheila Kaufman, Nina Khrushcheva, Nick Kotz, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, Brian Lies, Louisa Lim, Eric Litwin and Adrienne Mayor.

Also, Francesco Marciuliano, Elizabeth McCracken, Meg Medina, Claire Messud, Valerie Miles, Adrian Miller, Anchee Min, Elizabeth Mitchell, Richard Moe, chef John Moeller, Ian Morris, Sandra Day O’Connor, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Alicia Ostriker, Laura Overdeck, Amie Parnes, Dav Pilkey, Paisley Rekdal, chef Amy Riolo, Alberto Rios, Amanda Ripley, Clay Risen, Cokie Roberts, Richard Rodriguez, Sally Satel, Ilyasah Shabazz, Lynn Sherr, David Sibley, Mona Simpson, Brando Skyhorse, Jeff Smith, Lynn Wiese Sneyd, Susan Stockdale, Theodore Taylor, Raina Telgemeier, chef Daniel W. Thomas, Tim Tingle, Vivek Tiwary , David Treuer, Ann Ursu, Maria Venegas, Judith Viorst, Rita Williams-Garcia, Natasha Wimmer, Jacqueline Woodson, Gene Luen Yang, Tiphanie Yanique and chefs Laura and Peter Zeranski.

Details about the Library of Congress National Book Festival can be found on its website at www.loc.gov/bookfest/. This year’s festival poster, by popular artist and illustrator Bob Staake—who will appear at the festival—can be downloaded from the website.

The festival’s new setting will offer many familiar and popular activities. Representatives from across the United States and its territories will celebrate their unique literary offerings in the Pavilion of the States. The Let’s Read America area will offer reading-related activities that are fun for the whole family. The Library of Congress Pavilion will showcase treasures in the Library’s vast online collections and offer information about Library programs.

The 2014 National Book Festival is made possible through the generous support of National Book Festival Board Co-Chairman David M. Rubenstein; Charter Sponsors the Institute of Museum and Library Services, The Washington Post and Wells Fargo; Patron the National Endowment for the Arts; Contributors Erika Jayne, Scholastic Inc. and WAMU 88.5 FM and—in the Friends category—the Marshall B. Coyne Foundation, Inc., the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, The Hay-Adams, the National Endowment for the Humanities, PBS KIDS and the Small Press Expo. Thanks to C-SPAN2’s Book TV, The Junior League of Washington, the Mensa Education and Research Foundation and Split This Rock.

The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution, is the world’s preeminent reservoir of knowledge. Many of the Library’s rich resources and treasures may be accessed through its website, www.loc.gov.

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PR 14-147
2014-08-15
ISSN 0731-3527