Some of the United States’ most successful and prominent authors gathered in D.C. this past weekend to celebrate literature at the ninth annual National Book Festival.
Marking the launch of the festival, the organizers and authors attended a private event held Friday evening at the Library of Congress. Several authors spoke at the launch, including David Baldacci (“First Family”), Judy Blume (“Freckle Juice”), John Grisham (“The Associate”), Annette Gordon-Reed (“The Hemingses of Monticello”) and Julia Alvarez (“In the Time of the Butterflies”).
The authors spoke of their early trials and tribulations as new writers and their concerns for the future of literacy. Blume and Gordon-Reed also read excerpts from their works. Each author told stories that gave the audience insight into each of their lives as writers.
Baldacci spoke of the organization he and his wife founded, the Wish You Well Foundation, which works to develop literacy programs for families. Grisham recounted how he purchased 1,000 copies of his first novel, “A Time to Kill,” and went to libraries in his home state trying to sell them. Alvarez shared stories from her childhood and discussed how she was inspired by Langston Hughes’ poem, “I, Too, Sing America.” Judy Blume, who has often been criticized and had her work banned for tackling mature topics not usually written about for children, spoke out passionately against book censorship.
Over 130,000 attendees from across the country came for Saturday’s big event on the National Mall. Nearly 80 best-selling authors were present to interact with the crowds and sign books. Pavilions were set up according to different genres including “children,” “teens and children,” “fiction and fantasy,” “mysteries and thrillers,” “history and biography” and “poetry and prose.” Several pavilions, such as the PBS Kids’ “Raising Readers” pavilion and “Let’s Read America,” catered to the younger crowd and emphasized the importance of literacy in children.
Wandering about the Mall, one could see that authors are their own brand of celebrity. Avid book lovers waited hours in line to have their cookbooks signed by celebrity chef Paula Deen and teen girls cheered incessantly for romance novelist Nicholas Sparks as he took the stage. The authors each gave 30- to 45-minute presentations discussing their work or sharing stories pertaining to their job as an author. Audience members also had the opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation.
Despite a heavy downpour late in the afternoon, energy remained high at the festival. Edward Hirsch could be heard reciting one of his many poems in the “poetry and prose” pavilions and attendees stormed the book sales pavilion causing it to quickly fill to capacity.
“I don’t usually do festivals, but I begged to come to this one!” Jodi Picoult, author of “My Sister’s Keeper,” told her audience. Under the “history and biography” pavilion, Ricky Minor discussed his transition from music director for the hit TV show “American Idol” to author. Fans hoping for a bit of behind-the-scenes gossip about “Idol” were left disappointed, however, when Minor informed them that his interaction with the show’s famed judges does not go beyond “Hello” and “How are you today?”
Other secrets shared by the authors came from John Irving (“Cider House Rules”) and Shannon Hale (“Princess Academy”). Irving admitted to fans that he is very anti-technology.
“I write first drafts in spiral-bound, lined notebooks,” Irving admitted, saying that his second draft is usually typed up on a typewriter. Another quirk of Irving’s was the revelation that he always comes up with the last sentence of the novel before beginning to write, and that it never changes. Hale, meanwhile, explained she’s the mother of a two-year-old girl and joked with her audience that being an author meant always having first dibs on the neighborhood babysitter. She also advised future writers to never give up and showed the audience the numerous amounts of rejection letters she received before finally finding a publisher.
The National Book Festival this year also introduced the Digital Bookmobile to readers, demonstrating the ease of reading e-books. While still a relatively new technology, e-books have risen in popularity since Amazon.com introduced the Kindle, an electronic platform for reading. The Digital Bookmobile allowed visitors to go through their e-book database and provided tutorials on how to access the database from some of America’s libraries. Whether it is digital or paperback, the National Book Festival has established that there is still a large marketplace for books.
You can reach this writer at thescene@theagleonline.com.
