22nd Annual Virginia Festival of The Book is Hidden Gem

This year’s VA Festival of the Book will take place from March 16-20.
This year’s VA Festival of the Book will take place from March 16-20.

Whether you are an avid reader, a life-long learner, or simply curious about lots of things, there is a hidden gem you need to check out.

The Virginia Festival of the Book is an annual opportunity in Charlottesville that gets little attention in this part of the state. However, with over 200 events and author presentations, encompassing a wide range of topics and interests, the festival is something you should seriously consider giving a try.

This year’s version, from March 16-20, features impressive big names, like Lee Smith, Roy Blount, Jr., Sara Gruen, Tracy Chevalier, Alan Furst, Jon Scieszka (the kids’ book author, of Stinky Cheese and Time Warp Trio fame), James “Bud” Robertson, Pulitzer Prize-winning authors and poets, and more.

But it is authors of whom you may have never heard, writing their books about people, places, and things you may find of interest, that are the heart of this festival. Fiction and nonfiction for every taste and topic, poetry, short stories, cookbooks, gardening books, books about music, sports, and history, books for adults, for young adults, and for children – this event has it all!

There are even Saturday sessions on writing and publishing, in case you are an aspiring author.

What’s more, almost all of it is free! While most of the presentations take place on either UVa’s Grounds, or in venues on and around the Downtown Mall, others are spread around the area. You might find yourself at Monticello, Piedmont Virginia Community College, in Crozet, or even at a local brewery. So it’s important to plan ahead so you can make the most of your time.

A highlight of this year’s festival will be a paid event, An Evening with Bryan Stevenson, moderated by best-selling author, John Grisham, at the Paramount Theater on Saturday evening, March 19.

Stevenson is the author of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, the true account of his considerable and successful efforts at “defending the poor, the wrongly condemned, and those trapped in the furthest reaches of our criminal justice system.” The book was named one of the best books of 2015 by The New York Times, The Washington Post and other major publications, and won the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.

Stevenson has been a leader in what has been a growing, bipartisan concern about America’s mass incarceration problem (we have by far the highest rate in the world, not only raising issues about justice, but also expense), harsh and inflexible sentencing guidelines, and the influence of race and poverty on our courts. Bryan Stevenson can be seen, and his message heard, in his moving TEDTalk, at www.ted.com/talks.

Charlottesville is less than two hours from Roanoke, so the festival is a workable day trip, and many of the authors/events are now scheduled for the weekend. Go once, and you are likely to want to go again and again.

For more about this year’s authors, events, and schedule, go to vabook.org.

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