June 13, 2018 (REVISED Aug. 21, 2018) Library of Congress National Book Festival Announces Full Author Lineup

Readers of all ages will find familiar authors, illustrators and poets at the 2018 Library of Congress National Book Festival. The 18^th annual festival will feature a diverse lineup of 115 authors – including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, eminent historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, acclaimed novelist Amy Tan, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith and two-time Newbery Medal winner Kate DiCamillo – on Saturday, Sept. 1, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

Doors to the convention center will open at 8:30 a.m., with programs beginning at 9 a.m. and running until 7:30 p.m.

Here are a few festival highlights:

• U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor will launch her first children’s book and a young readers adaptation of her memoir in conversation with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on the Main Stage.
• E. Annie Proulx, winner of the 2018 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction and author of “The Shipping News” and “Brokeback Mountain,” will appear on the Fiction Stage for an interview with Marie Arana, the festival’s literary director.
• U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith will join the festival’s Poetry and Prose Stage for a conversation with former Poet Laureate Robert Hass about the making of poetry.
• Mystery writer Louise Penny will be discussing her 2017 novel, “Glass Houses.”
• On the Main Stage, historian Jon Meacham will discuss his new book, “The Soul of America,” about critical times in our history when hope overcame fear and division.
• Biographer Ron Chernow will discuss his new book about Ulysses S. Grant on the History and Biography Stage.
• Matt de la Peña and Loren Long will discuss their new book, “Love,” on the Children’s Stage.
• Also on the Children’s Stage, Jacqueline Woodson, the Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, will discuss two new books she has been writing.
• Visitors also will be able to engage with the new PBS series “The Great American Read” and participate in a national vote to choose “America’s Best-Loved Novel.”

Authors participating in this year’s festival will make their presentations on the following stages:

Stages for Adults

Main Stage: Madeleine Albright, Isabel Allende, Dave Eggers, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jon Meacham, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Amy Tan

Fiction: Jennifer Egan, Jeffrey Eugenides, Andrew Sean Greer, Tayari Jones, Min Jin Lee, Celeste Ng, E. Annie Proulx (winner of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction), Luis Alberto Urrea, Lisa Wingate and Meg Wolitzer

Genre Fiction: Pénélope Bagieu, Jeffery Deaver, Joseph Finder, Roxane Gay, Deborah Harkness, David Ignatius, Patrick McDonnell, Brad Meltzer, Louise Penny, Ed Piskor, Hank Phillippi Ryan and Tillie Walden

History & Biography: Kai Bird, Ron Chernow, Steve Coll, Erica Armstrong Dunbar, Stuart E. Eizenstat, David Ignatius (2nd appearance), Lawrence P. Jackson, Joseph Kanon, Catherine Kerrison, Brian Kilmeade, Patricia O’Toole, Adam Sisman and Lawrence Wright

Understanding Our World: Juli Berwald, Mark Bowden, Francisco Cantú, Alfredo Corchado, Deborah Fallows, James Fallows, Sujatha Gidla, Brent D. Glass, Kristin Ann Hass, Sy Montgomery, James Reston Jr., Kirk Savage, Brooks D. Simpson, Edward Tenner, Tara Westover, Isabel Wilkerson and Gordon S. Wood

Poetry & Prose: Natalie Diaz, Camille T. Dungy, Mark Eisner, Heid E. Erdrich, Jennifer Elise Foerster, Robert Hass, Kay Redfield Jamison, Patricia Lockwood, James McBride, Lorrie Moore, Patrick Rosal, Richard Russo, Fiona Sampson, Tracy K. Smith and Poetry Out Loud 

Stages for Young People

Children: A Book That Shaped Me summer writing contest, Elizabeth Acevedo, Sylvia Acevedo, Katherine Applegate, Harry Bliss, Alexandra Bracken, Matthew Cordell, Christopher Paul Curtis, Matt de la Peña, Kate DiCamillo, Patrick Downes, Russell Ginns, Chris Grabenstein, Erin Entrada Kelly, Jessica Kensky, Minh Lê, Loren Long, Danica McKellar, Meg Medina, Jennifer A. Nielsen, Jason Reynolds, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Nikki Russell, Rachel Renée Russell, Dan Santat, David Shannon, Suzanne Slade, Trudi Trueit, Brendan Wenzel and Jacqueline Woodson (National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature)

Teens: Leigh Bardugo, Robin Benway, Ellen Hopkins, Justina Ireland, Brendan Kiely, David Levithan, Sandhya Menon, Marisha Pessl, Brian Selznick and James L. Swanson

Poetry Slam: The National Book Festival Youth Poetry Slam will include some of the nation’s top youth slam groups—from the capital and around the country. Champion delegates from these groups will compete to be named the festival's top youth slammer by performing new works on books and reading. Celebrity judges include Elizabeth Acevedo, author of the bestselling novel-in-verse "The Poet X," and poet Javier Zamora, winner of the 2016 Barnes and Noble Writers for Writers Award. This event is presented in collaboration with the poetry organization Split This Rock.

The National Book Festival is made possible by the generous support of private- and public-sector sponsors who share the Library’s commitment to reading and literacy, led by National Book Festival Co-Chairman David M. Rubenstein. Charter sponsors are the Institute of Museum and Library Services, The Washington Post and Wells Fargo; Patron sponsors are The James Madison Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities; the Champion-level sponsor is PBS; Contributor-level sponsors are National Geographic and Scholastic Inc.; and, in the Friends category, AARP, Booklovers Circle members, Bookshare – a Benetech initiative, Marshall B. Coyne Foundation Inc., Dollar General Literacy Foundation, Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction administered by The University of Alabama School of Law, The Hay-Adams, The Junior League of Washington, Library of Congress Federal Credit Union, J.J. Medveckis Foundation, Mensa Foundation, Timothy and Diane Naughton, Reading Is Fundamental, Small Press Expo (SPX) and the Whittle School & Studios. Those interested in supporting the National Book Festival can contact the Library at devofc@loc.gov.

Later this summer, the National Book Festival app for iOS and Android smartphones will be updated with complete presenter, schedule and wayfinding information. Follow the festival on Twitter @librarycongress with hashtag #NatBookFest, and subscribe to the National Book Festival Blog at loc.gov/bookfest/.

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