Arts & Entertainment

Fall for the Book Festival Begins Wednesday

The annual literary festival runs Wednesday to Sunday at venues across the region.

More than 125 writers, including novelists, poets, journalists, historians and children's book authors, will participate in the 14th annual Fall for the Book Festival Wednesday through Sunday at locations throughout the D.C. Metro area.

This year's headliners include:   

  • Neil Gaiman, whose works include the DC Comic series "Sandman," "Coraline," "Anansi Boys" and "American Gods" ("Au Diable Vauvert").
  • Alice Walker, celebrating the 30th anniversary of her landmark novel, "The Color Purple."
  • Rita Dove, former Poet Laureate of both the United States and Virginia, and 1987 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
  • Katherine Boo, the author of "Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity."
  • Michael Chabon, winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for fiction with his book "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay."

A complete schedule is available online, and can be viewed by date or searched by category. The categories are Award Winner, Business & Finance, Children's & Young Adult, Cooking, Education, Environmentalism, Fiction, Folklore, History & Biography, Memoir, Philosophy & Religion, Poetry, Politics & Current Affairs and Science & Medicine.  The complete program may be downloaded in pdf format.

Find out what's happening in Herndonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In addition to author appearances — all participating authors are listed on the festival Web site — there will be award presentations, exhibitions and book sales, swaps and drives. 

The festival is headquartered on the Fairfax campus of George Mason University, and many events take place in various campus buildings and in the Sandy Spring Bank Tent on the Johnson Center's North Plaza. Events at other locations in the D.C. metropolitan area are indicated in the program.

Find out what's happening in Herndonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

All events are free and open to the public, though reservations are required for Michael Chabon, Neil Gaiman and Alice Walker.

For more information about the Fall for the Book Festival, refer to these Patch articles:

Fall for the Book: Authors with Ties to GMU

Local Authors at Fall for the Book


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