Schedule
The 2022 Library of Congress National Book Festival will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Sept. 3, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (doors open at 8:30 a.m.). A selection of programs will be livestreamed online and videos of all programs will be available shortly after the Festival. View and download the Festival program; note that any last-minute schedule adjustments will only be updated on the website and will not be reflected in the Festival program PDF.
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Monday August 29, 2022
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Event | lectures and symposia Library of Congress National Book Festival Author Talk: Rachel Aviv
- Monday, August 29, 2022 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm EDT
- Online Only
PBS Books, in collaboration with Washington, D.C.'s WETA, is hosting a conversation celebrating the Library of Congress National Book Festival with Rachel Aviv, author of “Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us,” to discuss her work and involvement in the Festival.- Stage: Society & Culture
- Interests: Book Launch, Debut, Health and Wellness, Inspiring and Educational, Nonfiction, Partner Events
Tuesday August 30, 2022
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Event | lectures and symposia Library of Congress National Book Festival Author Talk: Katie Gutierrez
- Tuesday, August 30, 2022 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm EDT
- Online Only
PBS Books, in collaboration with GBH in Boston, is hosting a conversation celebrating the Library of Congress National Book Festival with Katie Gutierrez, author of “More Than You'll Ever Know: A Novel,” to discuss her work and involvement in the Festival.- Stage: Pop Lit
- Interests: Debut, Family, Fiction, Hispanic Interest, Mystery, Partner Events, Romance, Thriller
Saturday September 3, 2022
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Event | lectures and symposia How Racism Happens with Robert Samuels and Linda Villarosa
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 9:30 am - 10:15 am EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Ballroom B (Level 3, South Building)
What is systemic racism? In “Under the Skin,” Linda Villarosa exposes forces in our healthcare system that cause Black people to "live sicker and die quicker." In “His Name is George Floyd,” Robert Samuels draws upon hundreds of interviews to illustrate how inequalities in housing, education, health care, criminal justice, and policing affected Floyd’s life and legacy. Moderated by Eric Deggans. -
Event | lectures and symposia Truer Than True Crime: Novels About Swindlers and Murderers with Kirstin Chen, Katie Gutierrez and Amanda Eyre Ward
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 9:45 am - 10:45 am EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Ballroom A (Level 3, South Building)
What’s with America’s fascination with true crime? These novelists have a few thoughts. Kirstin Chen’s “Counterfeit,” Katie Gutierrez’s “More Than You’ll Ever Know” and Amanda Eyre Ward’s “The Lifeguards” are novels that are thrilling and suspenseful but also reflect on what our intrigue with true crime says about us. Moderated by Marion Winik.- Stage: Pop Lit
- Interests: Asian and Pacific Islander Interest, BIPOC Authors, Debut, Family, Fiction, Hispanic Interest, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
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Event | lectures and symposia Black Girls Sew with Hekima Hapa and Lesley Ware
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 10:00 am - 10:45 am EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Room 146 (Street Level, North Building)
Black and brown girls and boys need a space where they do not have to encounter misrepresentation of their culture. “Black Girls Sew” offers the tools, knowledge and vocabulary to help young people take back their fashion narrative. In this program, writers and fashion designers Hekima Hapa and Lesley Ware will discuss their new book with Desiree Woodard.- Stage: Life/Style
- Interests: BIPOC Authors, Black and African American Interest, Debut, Inspiring and Educational, Nonfiction
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Event | lectures and symposia Memories, Maladies, Mysteries and Murders with Rob Hart and Victor Manibo
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 10:00 am - 11:00 am EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, West Salon GHI (Street Level, South Building)
What do you do when you can’t trust your memories and people are dying? Keep looking for answers! In Rob Hart’s “The Paradox Hotel,” January Cole, security director at a time traveler hotel, finds a body no one can see, and in Victor Manibo’s debut, “The Sleepless,” journalist Jamie Vega is the main suspect for a suspicious suicide he’s investigating. Moderated by Miwa Messer.- Stage: Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Interests: BIPOC Authors, Debut, Fiction, LGBTQ+, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller
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Event | lectures and symposia Jumping for Joy! with Brittany J. Thurman
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 10:10 am - 10:35 am EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Hall A (Lower Level)
Come take flight with us in this program with Brittney J. Thurman as she discusses her latest book, “Fly,” which follows Africa, a young Black girl, as she tries to follow in her grandmother's footsteps and become a double Dutch champion. With perseverance, confidence and the support of her friends, Africa just might succeed! Moderated by Monica Valentine.- Stage: Please Read Me a Story
- Interests: BIPOC Authors, Black and African American Interest, Debut, Family, Fiction, Inspiring and Educational, Sports
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Event | lectures and symposia Heal Thyself?: Mental Illness and Me with Rachel Aviv and Daniel Bergner
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 10:35 am - 11:20 am EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Ballroom B (Level 3, South Building)
Despite recent efforts to destigmatize mental illness, it’s still not something everyone feels free to discuss. Why is that? And what effect does America’s health care system have on how mental health is treated? Rachel Aviv, author of “Strangers to Ourselves,” and Daniel Bergner, author of “The Mind and the Moon,” have been thinking about these questions. Moderated by Bethanne Patrick.- Stage: Society & Culture
- Interests: Book Launch, Debut, Health and Wellness, Inspiring and Educational, Memoir, Nonfiction
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Event | lectures and symposia Past Pain, Future Hope: Perseverance in Literature with Tomás Q. Morín and Morgan Talty
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 10:50 am - 11:50 am EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, East Salon ABC (Street Level, South Building)
Tomás Q. Morín and Morgan Talty’s new books feature characters who contend with life’s challenges—sometimes well, sometimes not so well. Morgan Talty’s “Night of the Living Rez” is a collection of stories set in a Native community in Maine, while Morín’s “Let Me Count the Ways” is a memoir about his OCD as a mechanism to survive childhood. Moderated by Tope Folarin.- Stage: Writers Studio
- Interests: BIPOC Authors, Debut, Family, Fiction, Hispanic Interest, Literary Collections, Memoir, Native American Interest, Nonfiction
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Event | lectures and symposia From Mind to Mindfulness: How to Rethink Anxiety with Tracy Dennis-Tiwary and Ellen Vora
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 11:05 am - 11:50 am EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Room 146 (Street Level, North Building)
Anxiety affects more than 40 million Americans—a number that continues to climb following the pandemic. In “The Anatomy of Anxiety,” psychiatrist Dr. Ellen Vora offers a shift in our understanding of anxiety: that it’s not a brain disorder but a whole-body condition. And in “Future Tense,” psychologist Tracy Dennis-Tiwary reveals how the anxiety-as-disease story is false—and it's harming us. Moderated by Tara Parker-Pope.- Stage: Life/Style
- Interests: Debut, Health and Wellness, Inspiring and Educational, Nonfiction
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Event | lectures and symposia Thieves and Their Petty Little Secrets with Chelsea Abdullah and M.J. Kuhn
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 11:20 am - 12:20 pm EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, West Salon GHI (Street Level, South Building)
Thieves: We love to hate them! And Chelsea Abdullah and M.J. Kuhn love to write them. Abdullah’s “The Stardust Thief” creates a universe where story is reality and illusion is truth. And in Kuhn’s “Among Thieves,” Ryia Cautella has already earned herself a reputation as the quickest, deadliest blade. But Ryia Cautella is not her real name. Moderated by Ashley Dickerson.- Stage: Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Genre(s): Adventure
- Interests: Adventure, Asian and Pacific Islander Interest, BIPOC Authors, Book Series, Debut, Fantasy, Fiction, LGBTQ+, Thriller
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Event | lectures and symposia Janelle Monáe Talks About "The Memory Librarian" with Yohanca Delgado and Alaya Dawn Johnson
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 11:30 am - 12:30 pm EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Hall D (Level 2, North Building)
In “The Memory Librarian,” singer-songwriter, writer and actor Janelle Monáe brings to the written page the Afrofuturistic world of one of her critically acclaimed albums, exploring how different threads of liberation become tangled with future possibilities of memory and time. Contributors to “The Memory Librarian” Yohanca Delgado and Alaya Dawn Johnson will join Monáe onstage; Kyle Dargan moderates.This event will be livestreamed on loc.gov.- Stage: Main Stage
- Interests: BIPOC Authors, Black and African American Interest, Debut, Fiction, LGBTQ+, Literary Collections, Science Fiction
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Event | lectures and symposia You'll Be Okay: Graphic Novels About Kids Who Keep Going with Johnnie Christmas and Kat Fajardo
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 12:10 pm - 12:45 pm EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Hall B (Lower Level)
Will kids ever be allowed to be in charge of their own lives? Johnie Christmas and Kat Fajardo talk about their new graphic novels that try to find the answer. “Swim Team” features Bree, a girl starting middle school forced to take a dreaded elective. “Miss Quinces” follows Sue, a girl whose summer is now heavy with her family's expectations. Moderated by Megan Halsband.- Stage: KidLit
- Interests: BIPOC Authors, Black and African American Interest, Debut, Fiction, Hispanic Interest, Sports
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Event | lectures and symposia Citizens Unite: Creating Community in America with Gal Beckerman and Kathryn Judge
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 12:45 pm - 1:30 pm EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Ballroom B (Level 3, South Building)
These writers want to create tangible community in our rapidly changing public sphere. In “The Quiet Before,” Gal Beckerman traces the origins of radical thought, arguing that today’s social movements, often mobilized online, wither and burn out. In “Direct,” Kathryn Judge investigates surprising ways that middlemen control our economy and argues for what she calls a return to “direct exchange.” Moderated by Sewell Chan.- Stage: Society & Culture
- Interests: Debut, History, Inspiring and Educational, Nonfiction, Social Justice
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Event | lectures and symposia Jason Reynolds Presents with Candice Iloh and Ebony LaDelle
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Hall D (Level 2, North Building)
At the Library of Congress, we know that in addition to being a beloved writer, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jason Reynolds is also an excellent mentor to other writers, so we asked him to moderate this program to spotlight two talented writers he’d like you to know more about: Candice Iloh’s new novel is “Break This House;” Ebony LaDelle’s is “Love Radio.”- Stage: Main Stage
- Interests: BIPOC Authors, Black and African American Interest, Debut, Family, Fiction, LGBTQ+, Romance, Young Adult
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Event | lectures and symposia Who Do You Trust?: Conspiracies in America with Brendan McConville and Elizabeth Williamson
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 1:50 pm - 2:35 pm EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Ballroom B (Level 3, South Building)
Explore two conspiracy theories in American history 200 years apart. In “The Brethren,” Brendan McConville tells the story of a group of Revolutionary-era farmers fearing for their religious freedom, and in “Sandy Hook,” Elizabeth Williamson tells the story of deniers who attempted to change the story of one of the nation’s most shocking mass shootings. Moderated by Roswell Encina.- Stage: Society & Culture
- Interests: Debut, History, Nonfiction
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Event | lectures and symposia Little Pieces of Hope with Todd Doughty
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 2:20 pm - 3:05 pm EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Room 146 (Street Level, North Building)
Need something to brighten your day? In “Little Pieces of Hope,” Todd Doughty does just that. As a collection of quotes, short essays, prompts, playlists and more, this book is composed of the small joys in life, allowing the reader to take a thoughtful break in the middle of any day. Hear more from Doughty himself in this presentation. Moderated by Jummy Olabanji.- Stage: Life/Style
- Interests: Debut, Fun and Funny, Health and Wellness, Inspiring and Educational, Nonfiction
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Event | lectures and symposia Deaf Utopia with Nyle DiMarco
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Hall D (Level 2, North Building)
Before becoming the actor, producer, advocate, and model that people know today, Nyle DiMarco was half of a pair of Deaf twins born to a multi-generational Deaf family in Queens, New York. In his new memoir “Deaf Utopia,” DiMarco shares stories, both heartbreaking and humorous, of what it means to navigate a world built for hearing people. Moderated by Jonathan Capehart.- Stage: Main Stage
- Interests: Debut, LGBTQ+, Memoir, Nonfiction
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Event | lectures and symposia The Power of Laughter with Nuar Alsadir
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 2:35 pm - 3:20 pm EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, East Salon ABC (Street Level, South Building)
Taking laughter’s revelatory capacity as a starting point, and rooted in Nuar Alsadir’s experience as a poet and psychoanalyst, “Animal Joy” seeks to recover the sensation of being present. A bold and insatiably curious prose debut, “Animal Joy“ is an ode to spontaneity and feeling alive. Moderated by Steven Leyva.- Stage: Writers Studio
- Interests: BIPOC Authors, Debut, Inspiring and Educational, Nonfiction, Poetry
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Event | lectures and symposia The Magic of Music and Movies with Alex Jennings and Nghi Vo
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 3:05 pm - 4:05 pm EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, West Salon GHI (Street Level, South Building)
Songs, sirens and spells! In Alex Jennings’ debut novel, “The Ballad of Perilous Graves,” Perry knows the rhythm of New Orleans like his own heartbeat and can tell trouble is brewing. And in Nghi Vo’s “Siren Queen,” Luli Wei wants to be a movie star but knows the worst monsters in Hollywood are not the ones she plays on screen. Moderated by Lupita Aquino. -
Event | lectures and symposia Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides with Geoffrey L. Cohen
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 3:25 pm - 4:10 pm EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Room 146 (Street Level, North Building)
Everyone desires to feel a sense of community. In “Belonging,” Geoffrey L. Cohen uses his research in psychology to explain how individuals can overcome differences and forge lasting connections, leading to decreased polarization and allowing for individuals to flourish in their workplace. This presentation is essential for anyone who wants those around them to thrive. Moderated by Crosby Kemper.- Stage: Life/Style
- Interests: Book Launch, Debut, Health and Wellness, Inspiring and Educational, Nonfiction
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Event | lectures and symposia Is Anything Funnier Than Politics? with Susan Coll, Grant Ginder and Xochitl Gonzalez
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 3:25 pm - 4:25 pm EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Ballroom A (Level 3, South Building)
Politics are hilarious–when they’re fiction, of course! No one knows better than these three novelists. Susan Coll's "Bookish People," Grant Ginder's "Let's Not Do That Again" and Xochitl Gonzalez's "Olga Dies Dreaming" are comedies centered around the chaos that happens when politics and families collide. Join us for a laugh in this program moderated by Roswell Encina.- Stage: Pop Lit
- Interests: BIPOC Authors, Debut, Family, Fiction, Fun and Funny, Hispanic Interest, Nature, Romance
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Event | lectures and symposia Love Me Like a Love Song: Fresh Takes on Romance with Ebony LaDelle and David Valdes
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 3:45 pm - 4:30 pm EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Room 202 (Level 2, South Building)
“Boy, you played through my mind like a symphony,” a wise woman has sung. We continue the wisdom by making music-romance connections. Ebony La Delle’s “Love Radio” gives a teen DJ love doctor three dates to connect with an ambitious author-to-be, and David Valdes’ “Spin Me Right Round” sends a gay teen back in time to save a closeted classmate’s life. Celia Roskin moderates.- Stage: Young Adult
- Interests: BIPOC Authors, Debut, Fiction, Fun and Funny, Hispanic Interest, LGBTQ+, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
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Event | lectures and symposia Altered Americas with B.L. Blanchard and Lucinda Roy
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 4:25 pm - 5:25 pm EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, West Salon GHI (Street Level, South Building)
If you’ve ever asked what America would be like if things happened differently, then you’re in good company. In B.L. Blanchard’s “The Peacekeeper,” North America was never colonized and the U.S. and Canada don’t exist. The second in Lucinda Roy’s Dreambird Chronicle series, “Flying the Coop,” takes place in a near-future America where slavery is the norm. Moderated by Derrick Young. -
Event | lectures and symposia How Many Times Do Kids Have to Save the World?: Deep Adventure Stories with Lev Grossman and Julian Randall
- Saturday, September 03, 2022 4:30 pm - 5:05 pm EDT
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Hall B (Lower Level)
Isn’t it great when kids are left to solve the world’s hardest problems?! Lev Grossman’s “The Golden Swift,” a sequel to “The Silver Arrow,” follows Kate as she breaks the rules trying to restore balance to nature. Julian Randall’s “Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa” follows Pilar as she unravels her cousin’s mysterious disappearance during Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship. Moderated by Sasha Dowdy.- Stage: KidLit
- Interests: Adventure, BIPOC Authors, Book Series, Debut, Fantasy, Fiction, Hispanic Interest, LGBTQ+