Authors in Action
The start of autumn will be bringing a lot of book events to the Baltimore-DC metro area - I can't wait! My reading schedule will take some juggling to incorporate a few books by some of the authors listed below that I haven't gotten around to reading yet.
From September 28-30, Baltimore's Mt Vernon neighborhood (home to the Peabody Institute) will be hosting the Baltimore Book Festival. A celebration of Baltimore's diverse community is evident in the group of author's that will be making an appearance. A few I am looking forward to meeting and/or hearing speak are (and the books they are most well known for):
- Roya Hakakian, author of Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran
- Pam Munoz Ryan, author of the young adult novel Esperanza Rising
- Tim Wise, author of White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son
- Laura Krauss Melmed, author of the children's picture book Moishe's Miracle: A Hanukkah Story"
The full list of authors appearing at the festival can be found here. One of the founders of The Paperback Swap will also be in attendance as one of the exhibitors.
Overlapping with the Baltimore Book Festival is Washington DC's 2007's National Book Festival, hosted by the Library of Congress and Laura Bush, and held on Saturday, September 29. Fortunately, the events I plan on going to at the Baltimore festival are scheduled for Friday and Sunday, or otherwise this would have been a tough decision! The National Book festival doesn't have quite as many authors I am interested in meeting this year (namely, Khaled Hosseini, I'm still a bit annoyed I missed his appearance there last year). But, there are a few:
- Sena Jeter Naslun (Ahab's Wife, which has been getting rave reviews from other bloggers and which I just checked out from the library, and her new book Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette)
- Jodi Picoult
- Susan Vreeland, author of many historical fiction novels including Girl in Hyacinth Blue, and Luncheon of the Boating Party. I hope to read Girl in Hyacinth Blue before the festival.
- Nancy Pearl, I will read Book Lust by the time of the festival!
Other well known author's coming to the DC festival include:
- Terry Pratchett
- Joyce Carol Oates
- David Baldacci
The full line-up can be found here.
Perhaps I should start setting aside some spending money now. :)
6 comments:
If you get a chance to see Joyce Carol Oates, you'll be amazed - she's friendly, lighthearted, and very, very funny!
It's times like this that I wished I lived in the East. I would love to see every one of those authors you mentioned from the Nat'l Book Festival. If I could only choose one, it would be Susan Vreeland. I'm not familiar with the authors you listed for Baltimore, but I'd still want to go.
Salt Lake has their's in Oct and it's pretty good, but usually doesn't draw such big name authors.
I followed your link to the Nat'l Festival. If you like mysteries, even a little bit, you will want to see Lisa Scottoline.
Those 2 book festivals look like such a treat for you. Can't wait to hear all about them afterwards.
I half jokingly told my husband we should postpone our 10th wedding anniversary next year a couple of months so we can be sure to attend next year's national book festival. He pretended he didn't hear me. :-)
teabird - Thanks! I haven't read anything by her, but I will definitely keep that in mind.
booklogged - Baltimore gets very few visits by authors, but the proximity to DC is great! Thanks for the author rec!
literary feline - LOL!!!What's wrong with celebrating a wedding anniversary at a book festival? ;)
Nyssaneala, my favorite by Vreeland is Girl in Hyacinth Blue. Be sure to read the interview at the back of the book. Also liked Artemesia. I'm still looking forward to Boating Party.
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