July 15, 2013 (REVISED July 19, 2013) Lynda Barry, Christopher Buckley, Hoda Kotb, Linda Ronstadt, William Wegman to Speak at Library of Congress National Book Festival

Graphic novelists Lynda Barry and Fred Chao and authors Linda Ronstadt, Christopher Buckley, Stuart Eizenstat, Hoda Kotb, Thomas Keneally, Giada De Laurentiis, George Weigel and author/photographer William Wegman will be among more than 100 writers, poets and illustrators speaking at the 13th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival, on Saturday, Sept. 21 and Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013, between 9th and 14th streets on the National Mall. The event, free and open to the public, will run from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and from noon to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, rain or shine.

In keeping with the festival’s theme, “Books That Shaped the World,” fans are invited to go to the official website at www.loc.gov/bookfest and, using a survey form, nominate books that they believe meet that description. The Library of Congress National Book Festival is part of a larger Library of Congress “Celebration of the Book.”

Other poets and authors slated to appear at the festival include Katherine Applegate, Marie Arana, Rick Atkinson, Margaret Atwood, Paolo Bacigalupi, Nicholson Baker, Bonnie Benwick, A. Scott Berg, Holly Black, Taylor Branch, Monica Brown, Fred Bowen, Jeff Chu, Susan Cooper, Alfred Corchado, Justin Cronin, Matt de la Peña, Don DeLillo, Daniel DeSimone, Kathryn Erskine, Richard Paul Evans, David Finkel, Brian Floca, Amity Gaige, Eric Gansworth, Cristina Garcia, Albert Goldbarth, Alyson Hagy, Mark Helprin, Kevin Henkes, Jonathan Hennessey, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Juan Felipe Herrera, John Hessler, Jennifer and Matthew Holm, Khaled Hosseini, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Sheila Miyoshi Jager, Oliver Jeffers, Pati Jinich, Adam Johnson, William P. Jones, Cynthia Kadohata, Jamaica Kincaid, Matthew J. Kirby, Jon Klassen, Kirby Larson, Grace Lin, Mario Livio, Rafael López, Kenneth W. Mack, William Martin, Ayana Mathis, D.T. Max, James McBride, D.J. MacHale, Heather McHugh, Lisa McMann, Terry McMillan, Brad Meltzer, Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, Elizabeth Moon, Christopher Myers, David Nasaw, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Kadir Nelson, Patrick Ness, Joyce Carol Oates, Katherine Paterson, Richard Peck, Benjamin Percy, Tamora Pierce, Daniel Pink, Andrea and Brian Pinkney, Matthew Quick, Lesa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome, Vaddey Ratner, Veronica Roth, Christel Schmidt, Jon and Casey Scieszka, Chad “Corntassel” Smith, Andrew Solomon, Sonya Sones, Walter Stahr, Manil Suri, James L. Swanson, Mark Teague, Evan Thomas, U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey, Steve Vogel, Rick Yancey, Dean Young, Charles Whelan and Henry Wiencek.

The 2013 Library of Congress National Book Festival will feature authors, poets and illustrators in several pavilions, including two Sunday-only pavilions: Graphic Novels/Science Fiction and Special Presentations. Festival-goers can meet and hear firsthand from their favorite poets and authors, purchase books and get them signed, have photos taken with PBS storybook characters and participate in a variety of activities. An estimated 210,000 people attended the festival in 2012.

Details about the Library of Congress National Book Festival can be found on its website at www.loc.gov/bookfest. The website offers a variety of features, and new material will be added to the website as the festival approaches.

Lynda Barry won an Eisner Award for her 2009 reality-based graphic novel “What It Is,” in which she shows her readers how to unlock their own creativity. Her comic strip, “Ernie Pook’s Comeek,” was syndicated across North America and brought her widespread acclaim as a unique voice and artist. Barry’s “The Good Times Are Killing Me” was adapted as an off-Broadway play. Her new graphic novel is “The Freddie Stories” (Drawn & Quarterly).

Artist and designer Fred Chao wrote and illustrated the graphic novel “Johnny Hiro,” which was nominated for four Eisner Awards and included in “The Best American Comics 2010.” He has illustrated for HarperCollins Publishers, First Second Books, Soft Skull Books and several Disney magazines. His new graphic novel is “Johnny Hiro: Half Asian, All Hero” (Tor Books).

Satirist and novelist Christopher Buckley also worked as a speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush. After leaving the White House, he wrote “The White House Mess,” a satire. His 1994 novel, “Thank You for Smoking,” made into a movie in 2005, is a comedic look at the life of a tobacco lobbyist. Buckley has also satirized Washington in “Little Green Men,” “No Way to Treat a First Lady” and “Florence of Arabia.” His new novel is “They Eat Puppies, Don’t They?” (Twelve).

Australian writer Thomas Keneally is best known for his book “Schindler’s Ark,” which became the Academy Award-winning film “Schindler’s List,” directed by Steven Spielberg. The book won the Booker Prize – one of the most prestigious literary awards in the English-speaking world. Keneally is also a playwright and writer of nonfiction. His latest novel is “The Daughters of Mars” (Atria/Simon & Schuster).

Giada De Laurentiis, whose latest books are written for young people, grew up in a large Italian family; her passion for food was sparked when she learned as a child to prepare family recipes for their frequent gatherings. She attended the Cordon Bleu Culinary School in Paris. After working in Los Angeles restaurants, including Wolfgang Puck's Spago, she started her own business as a private chef/caterer in Los Angeles and founded GDL Foods. She is the author of the best-seller “Everyday Italian” (Clarkson Potter/Random House, 2005), which is also the name of her show on the Food Network.

Stuart E. Eizenstat heads the international practice at the Washington, D.C. law firm Covington & Burling. He has served in three U.S. administrations, in positions including chief White House domestic policy adviser to President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981); U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade, Undersecretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs, and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton Administration (1993-2001). His most recent book is “The Future of the Jews: How Global Forces are Impacting the Jewish People, Israel, and Its Relationship with the United States” (Rowman & Littlefield).

Emmy-winning Hoda Kotb is a familiar daily presence to watchers of the fourth hour of “Today,” which she co-hosts with Kathie Lee Gifford. Kotb has also been a correspondent for the newsmagazine “Dateline” since 1998. She has reported on stories from around the globe, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the struggle for democracy in Myanmar. Her latest book is “Ten Years Later: Six People Who Faced Adversity and Transformed Their Lives” (Simon & Schuster).

Linda Ronstadt’s childhood in Tucson, Ariz. was filled with a wide variety of music – from Hank Williams to Gilbert and Sullivan, from Mexican folk music to opera and jazz. In her memoir “Simple Dreams, A Musical Memoir” (Simon & Schuster) she tells of her early life at home, first performing with her siblings; and her journey to Los Angeles at the opening of the folk-rock movement that commenced a soaring 40-year career. She has sold more than 100 million records, toured the world, and collaborated with many other major singing stars; she became the first female artist in popular music to release four consecutive platinum albums.

George Weigel is an internationally recognized expert on the history of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the distinguished senior fellow and chair of Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., and was the founding president of the James Madison Foundation. His autobiography of Pope John Paul II, “Witness to Hope,” was a best-seller, and when Pope Benedict XVI stepped down from his post, Weigel was a sought-after commentator on the future of the papacy. His new book is “Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st Century Church” (Basic Books/Perseus).

Although William Wegman started his career thinking he would be a painter, he has become universally known for the photographs of his Weimaraner dogs in various guises and situations. His first subject was his dog Man Ray. Man Ray became so popular that the Village Voice named him Man of the Year in 1982. Wegman’s next collaboration was with the dog Fay Ray. Wegman has published many books featuring his beloved dogs, and his newest is “Flo & Wendell” (Penguin).

At the festival, 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 Pavilion will offer reading 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 2013 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, Target, The Washington Post and Wells Fargo; Patrons the National Endowment for the Arts and PBS KIDS; Contributors AT&T, Digital Bookmobile Powered by OverDrive and Scholastic Inc.; and--in the Friends category--the Hay-Adams, the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Small Press Expo (SPX). Thanks also to C-SPAN2’s Book TV, The Junior League of Washington and The Links.

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.