 On your mark, get set, read! Tana French, George Saunders, Alice McDermott, Kazuo Ishiguro and Roxane Gay (Courtesy of the Library of Congress) | This issue of our newsletter is devoted to the Library of Congress National Book Festival, which begins in less than an hour! It all kicks off at 11 a.m. with Michael J. Fox talking about his new memoir, "No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality," and then U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo will talk about her new memoir, "Poet Warrior." Yes, the festival is virtual again this year in response to the ongoing pandemic, but for the first time ever it will run for 10 days — from now through Sept. 27 (full schedule). This literary extravaganza offers online presentations and interviews with more than 100 authors, including Alice McDermott, Kai Bird, Tana French, Annette Gordon-Reed, Kristin Hannah, Kazuo Ishiguro, Lawrence Wright, Isabel Wilkerson, George Saunders and Viet Thanh Nguyen. More than 30 video-on-demand programs will become available this morning (such as my conversation with Yaa Gyasi, whose most recent novel, "Transcendent Kingdom," is brilliant). And dozens of live programs are coming up over the next 10 days in the following genres: - Children
- Teens
- Current Events
- Fiction
- History & Biography
- Lifestyle
- Poetry & Prose
- Science
To watch any presentation on the schedule, click on the name of the event, e.g. "Live Conversation with Lawrence Wright," and then scroll down to click on "Join the virtual event here." Note: To ask a question during a live event, you must register or re-register that day. (You don't need to register if you just want to watch.) If you find the online schedule of live events a bit overwhelming – and I don't blame you – print out a hard copy of the calendar here and stick it on your fridge. And finally, remember, this is the Library of Congress: These people invented the phrase "permanent collection." So if you miss one of the live events, you can always watch a recording of it later at your leisure. The Washington Post is a charter sponsor of the National Book Festival. (All times noted throughout this newsletter are Eastern Standard Time.)  Looking back: At the 2013 National Book Festival, Don DeLillo asked me to introduce him to Margaret Atwood on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. (Ron Charles/The Washington Post) | That we have a National Book Festival at all is the result of good luck — or Providence. The first festival, founded by First Lady Laura Bush, took place on Sept. 8, 2001. Had it slipped even one weekend later, it would surely have been canceled — possibly forever — by the wave of terror that crashed down on America. But the festival survived and thrived beyond everyone's most voluminous dreams. Under the Bushes' patronage, it became an incongruously aristocratic and casual event. For several years, the pre-festival gala was a black-tie sit-down dinner with the president, first lady and members of the cabinet, accompanied by a military orchestra. But at the festival itself, authors spoke in large tents outside on the National Mall, like a giant county fair. Paula Deen brought lemon squares. The first lady's involvement certainly gave the festival momentum, but the Bush administration's association came with complications. As the War on Terror dragged on, some authors refused to attend. But, thankfully, the Library succeeded in keeping politics from cramping the festival — or the guest authors' opinions. When Barack Obama was elected president, Michelle had other priorities, and it became clear that the National Book Festival would have to figure out a way to survive without being a traditional cause of the president's wife. At the time, the loss of White House patronage felt serious, but considering the political calamity that lay ahead, it was a blessing: Try to imagine the Donald J. and Melania Trump National Book Festival. It's a far more stable and viable Washington tradition now that it's completely divorced from the First Family. But after 12 increasingly successful years on the Mall, the festival faced an existential crisis when the National Park Service screamed, "You kids get off my lawn!" Apparently, all the booklovers and their massive tents risked damaging the grass and the watering system. With some trepidation, the Library decided to move the event to the Washington Convention Center. I was one of many people who groused about losing the outdoor festival aura, but miraculously the staff managed to maintain an atmosphere closer to a book party than an office supply conference. Also, nobody missed the hygienic trauma of the Mall's 140 porta-potties. And then last year when covid-19 made it impossible for 200,000 tote-wielding fanatics to crowd together safely, the Library had to reinvent the book festival once again. The online program is a compromise, sure, but with access to anyone anywhere, Washington's biggest literary event is now truly a "national" book festival.  Interior page from a copy of Johann Gutenberg's Bible; Cover of Flynn's Detective Fiction, August, 1944. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress) | As the largest library in the world, the Library of Congress employs some of the world's most knowledgeable book historians and conservationists. This year's festival features virtual live presentations every day next week at 3 p.m. to help you understand even more about these magical objects we call books: - From Gutenberg's Bible to the pulp paperback: The Library's Conservation Division will explain how the construction of books has evolved over the centuries — from papyrus to parchment to paper — using examples from the Library's unparalleled collections (Sept. 20).
- The engine of free expression: The U.S. Copyright Office will explain how copyright affects and protects stories, music and artwork (Sept. 21).
- More perfect union: Library of Congress curators Stephanie Stillo and Katherine Blood, along with chief of the Rare Book Division Mark Dimunation, will discuss collaborations between artists and writers — from early 20th-century livres d'artiste to contemporary graphic novels (Sept. 22).
- The ultimate spin: Library staff Sara W. Duke and Megan Halsband will discuss how cartoonist Steve Ditko and scriptwriter Stan Lee created Spider-Man. This interactive event for children and young adults will feature the original drawings from their collaboration, which are held in the Library's collection (Sept. 23).
- In the attic: Reference librarians Sheree Budge and Candice Buchanan will discuss genealogical research and the sometimes surprising and difficult information you might uncover about your ancestors (Sept. 24).
 Podcast guests: Jason Reynolds, Ambreen Tariq, Eric Garcia, Brandon Taylor, Kacen Callender and Isabel Allende (Photos courtesy of the Library of Congress) | Listen up: Several popular NPR podcasts are working with the Library to produce a series of interviews with festival authors. (Dates subject to change.) - TED Radio Hour: National Ambassador of Young People's Literature Jason Reynolds on his YA story collection "Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks" (Sept. 17).
- Short Wave: Outdoors activist Ambreen Tariq on her book "Fatima's Great Outdoors" (Sept. 17).
- Life Kit: Journalist Eric Garcia on his book "We're Not Broken" (Sept. 20).
- It's Been a Minute: Fiction writer Brandon Taylor on his story collection "Filthy Animals" (Sept. 21).
- Code Switch: Fiction writer Kacen Callender on their National Book Award-winning YA novel "King and the Dragonflies" (Sept. 22).
- Alt.Latino: Chilean author Isabel Allende on her recent memoir, "The Soul of a Woman" (Sept. 26).
 (Candlewick; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Scholastic Press; Clarion Books; Balzer+Bray) | The National Book Festival always gathers a fantastic collection of books for children. This year's lineup includes such beloved writers and illustrators as Kate DiCamillo, Sophie Blackall, Meg Medina, Jerry Pinkney and Kacen Callender. Best of all, several of these events are live Q&A sessions. Parents: Remember, anyone who wants to submit a question to an author must register on the day of the event. Young adults and teens can participate in live Q&A sessions with Traci Chee, Tahereh Mafi, Kekla Magoon, Trung Le Nguyen and Jason Reynolds. Angie Thomas, Katie Zhao and other YA stars have posted on-demand videos. Teachers may find these videos are valuable resources to show in classes later in the year. (All are free to use at home or in schools.)  (Random House; Penguin Books; Ten Speed Press; Voracious) | The National Book Festival may be closer to you than you think. This year, the Library has encouraged organizations across the country to hold watch parties and discussions related to the festival (list). For instance, the State Library of Louisiana is hosting a watch party featuring Angie Thomas's presentation (details). And libraries in Massachusetts are hosting a joint conversation about "Caste," the best-selling book by Isabel Wilkerson (details). If you're in a book club, chances are good the festival is featuring an author you've read — or want to read — with your friends (full list). Why not contact your group today and set up an online meeting to watch one of the festival interviews together? It's not just book clubs. Birding groups will enjoy watching Jennifer Ackerman, author of "The Bird Way," and David Allen Sibley, author of "What It's Like to Be a Bird," on Sept. 19 at 5 p.m. And foodies could enjoy a good meal while savoring the conversation between Hawa Hassan, author of "In Bibi's Kitchen: The Recipes and Stories of Grandmothers from the Eight African Countries that Touch the Indian Ocean," and Marcus Samuelsson, author of "The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food," on Sept. 23 at 4 p.m.  In 2014, Politics and Prose created a giant pop-up bookstore at the National Book Festival in the Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C. (Ron Charles/The Washington Post) | Washington's legendary Politics and Prose has been the official bookseller of the National Book Festival since 2014. Throughout the festival website, you'll see book titles hyperlinked to P&P for easy online ordering. Before covid struck, selling books for the festival was a very different undertaking. P&P co-owner Bradley Graham tells me, "We had to bring thousands and thousands of books to the convention center and make them available for shoppers." Every year, that entailed creating a giant pop-up bookstore essentially overnight — Bookadoon! — and staffing it with more than 70 people to keep customers moving through the lines as quickly as possible. "Serving as bookseller for a virtual festival does, at our end, involve considerably less labor," Graham says, "but there's still the challenge of anticipating how many books will be sold and making sure that we have enough on hand to fill all the web orders that we hope to receive. It takes quite a bit of guesswork." Besides the convenience of ordering directly from the festival website, about a dozen of the authors have provided P&P with signed bookplates, including Brit Bennett, Michael J. Fox, Roxane Gay, Adam Grant, Yaa Gyasi, Robert Jones Jr., Kazuo Ishiguro, Lupita Nyong'o, Jason Reynolds, Claudia Rankine, George Saunders and Diane von Furstenberg (while supplies last). Graham notes a dark secret about online author appearances that I've heard from others, too. "Book sales at virtual events just don't measure up to the numbers that we get from in-person events," he says. In other words, many more people are now attending online presentations, but fewer of those attendees are leaving with a purchased book. This is a problem, my friends. Please keep in mind that where and how you spend your money on books creates the commercial literary landscape we live in.  In-person: Adrienne Raphel, Will Shortz and Nikki Giovanni (Courtesy of the Library of Congress) | In these pandemic times, we're all pretending that virtual is next to virtuous, but let's face it: Book lovers miss seeing and hearing authors in the flesh. This year's festival features two in-person events in the Thomas Jefferson Building. Unsurprisingly, all the tickets got snatched up instantly. But don't worry, the rest of us can still enjoy these events from the comfort of our own computer screens: - Puzzle meisters will enjoy hearing Adrienne Raphel and Will Shortz. Raphel is the author of "Thinking Inside the Box: Adventures with Crosswords and the Puzzling People Who Can't Live Without Them," and Shortz is the New York Times puzzle master (Sept. 21 at 7 p.m.).
- The celebrated teacher, editor and poet Nikki Giovanni will discuss her most recent collection, "Make Me Rain," with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden (Sept. 25 at 7 p.m.)
 Young scholars in Liberia (Photo courtesy of the Luminos Fund). | Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden has announced the winners of the Library of Congress Literacy Awards, funded by Washington philanthropist David M. Rubenstein. These annual prizes, typically presented during the National Book Festival, honor organizations for their "exemplary, innovative and replicable work" to promote literacy here and around the world: - David M. Rubenstein Prize ($150,000): Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. has mailed more than 150 million free books to children from birth to age 5.
- American Prize ($50,000): The Parents as Teachers National Center in St. Louis matches parents and caregivers with professionals who make home visits during a child's early years to promote school readiness.
- International Prize ($50,000): The Luminos Fund in Boston helps out-of-school kids in Ethiopia, Lebanon and Liberia quickly catch up to their grade level and get back in school.
 (Persea) | The Library of Congress always invites some of the nation's finest poets to the National Book Festival. And they don't have to go far: The U.S. Poet Laureate's gorgeous office is right there in the Jefferson Building. As I mentioned, today at 11:25 a.m., you can hear U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo talk about her new memoir, "Poet Warrior." And look for a conversation with Claudia Rankine, Phillip B. Williams and Kevin Young on Sept. 26. On Sept. 24, poets francine j. harris and Patrick Rosal will discuss their work. To get you started, here's a poem from Rosal's "The Last Thing," a fantastic collection that will be released next week: If All My Relationships Fail and I Have No Children Do I Even Know What Love Is This fireman comes every afternoon
to the café on the corner
dressed for his shift in clean dark blues
This time it's the second Wednesday of January
and he's meeting his daughter again
who must be five or six
and who is always waiting for her father like this
in her charcoal gray plaid skirt
with green and red stripes
She probably comes here straight from school
her glasses a couple nickels thick By now I know that she can sit (except
for her one leg swinging from the chair)
absolutely still while her father pulls
fighters' wraps from his work bag
and begins half way down the girl's forearm
winding the fabric in overlapping spirals
slowly toward her fist then he props
her wrist like a pro on his own hand
unraveling the black cloth weaving it
between her thumb and forefinger
around the palm taut but
not so much that it cuts off the blood then
up the hand and between the other fingers
to protect the knuckles the tough
humpback guppies just under the skin He does this once with her left then again
to her right To be sure her pops knows he has done
a good job she nods Good job Good
Maybe you're right I don't know what love is
A father kisses the top of his daughter's head
and knocks her glasses cockeyed
He sits back and downs the last of the backwash
in his coffee cup They got 10 minutes to kill
before they walk across the street down the block
and out of sight She wants to test
her dad's handiwork by throwing
a couple jab-cross combos from her seat
There is nothing in the daughter's face
that says she is afraid
There is nothing in the father's face
to say he is not He checks his watch
then holds up his palms as if to show his daughter
that nothing is burning In Philadelphia
there are fires I've seen those in my lifetime too From "The Last Thing: New & Selected Poems," by Patrick Rosal (Persea, 2021). Reprinted with permission.  Ron, Elissa and Dawn Charles about to enjoy some ice cream at Tin Pot Creamery in Campbell, Calif., Sept. 16, 2021. (Ron Charles/The Washington Post) | I've only missed one National Book Festival over the past 17 years. In 2010, I was out in California, helping my elder daughter move into a group home. But that didn't stop me from reporting on the literary festivities back in Washington. On that September morning, Dawn went to the Mall, took photos of the authors reading and emailed them to me with her phone. In real time, I wrote up descriptions and tweeted them out. It was our version of bicoastal literary journalism. This year, we're both out in California with our elder daughter, but that won't stop us from accessing the National Book Festival online just like most of you. Meanwhile, send any questions or comments about our book coverage to ron.charles@washpost.com. You can read last week's issue here. And if you know friends who might enjoy this newsletter, please forward it to them and remind them it's free! To subscribe, click here. |
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