The 27th annual Virginia Festival of the Book will be held March 13-26, 2021 , with all virtual events. In response to COVID-19, the 2021 Festival will take place over two weeks, continuing its commitment to connecting people and ideas through books and reading by presenting accessible and inclusive events. All events are free to attend and the majority will take place on Zoom and Facebook Live, with live captions. Video recordings, with transcripts, will also be available for on-demand viewing after the live events.
The full schedule for the 2021 Festival is available at VaBook.org and features more than 40 events , celebrating a variety of genres, topics, and reading levels. Some highlights include:
● An Evening with Jacqueline Woodson, March 16 at 7 PM ET , sponsored by W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Friends of Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, Dominion Energy, and Wells Fargo — Acclaimed author Jacqueline Woodson will read from and discuss her latest novel, Red at the Bone, as well as her National Book Award winning memoir-in-verse, Brown Girl Dreaming.
● Filled with Possibility: Poetry, March 18 at 4 PM ET —Poets Erika Meitner ( Holy Moly Carry Me ), Kiki Petrosino ( White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia ), and Brian Teare ( Doomstead Days ) read from their highly-acclaimed poetry that speaks to contemporary life; working through history, genealogical roots, environmental crises, loss, and more; and finding ways to understand and live and breathe.
● Environmental Injustice: Reckoning with American Waste, March 20 at 7 PM ET — Kerri Arsenault (Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains ), Anna Clark ( The Poisoned City: Flint’s Water and the American Urban Tragedy ), and Catherine Coleman Flowers ( Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret ) discuss their investigations into American environmental injustices.
● O Wondrous World! Ross Gay & Aimee Nezhukumatathil in Conversation, March 22 at 12 PM ET, sponsored by Westminster-Canterbury of the Blue Ridge — Ross Gay ( The Book of Delights ) and Aimee Nezhukumatathil ( World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments ) discuss their new books, collected essays devoted to their appreciation of ordinary wonders of the world, rendering them extraordinary.
● Yellow Wife with Sadeqa Johnson, March 24 at 7 PM ET — Sadeqa Johnson discusses her latest novel, Yellow Wife , the harrowing story of an enslaved woman forced to barter love and freedom while in the most infamous slave jail in Virginia; presented with the African American Authors Book Club.
● I See Myself: Diversity in Children’s Literature, March 25 at 4 PM ET — Angela Dominguez ( Stella Díaz Dreams Big), Vashti Harrison ( Little Dreamers ), and Dub Leffler ( Once There Was a Boy ) discuss the importance of inclusive storytelling and diversity in children’s literature; presented with the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of UVA.
● Homeland Elegies with Ayad Akhtar, March 25 at 7 PM ET — Ayad Akhtar ( Homeland Elegies ) discusses his novel, a deeply personal work about identity and belonging in the world that 9/11 made.
● Carol Troxell Reader: Cara Black & Three Hours in Paris , March 26 at 12 PM ET , sponsored by the Carol Troxell Fund —The third annual Carol Troxell Reader, acclaimed mystery author Cara Black will read from and discuss her newest book, Three Hours in Paris , a historic thriller set in occupied Paris.
● Dark Times & Mercy: John Grisham and Ian Rankin in Conversation, March 26 at 7 PM ET, sponsored by Gamma Knife Center at UVA — John Grisham ( A Time for Mercy ) and Ian Rankin ( A Song for Dark Times ) discuss their new books.
The Virginia Festival of the Book is a signature program of Virginia Humanities and the Virginia Center for the Book, the Virginia Festival of the Book brings readers and writers together for author readings, panel discussions, programs for children, and more. The 27th annual Virginia Festival of the Book will take place virtually, March 13-26, 2021. To learn about Festival programming, visit VaBook.org .
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