"A celebration."

"The force that makes literature flourish -and civilization work."

"Charlottesville draws writers the way Nashville beckons to musicians."

"We hope we will see you there."

"Poetry is particularly strong at the Virginia Festival, buttressed by a program that includes a keynote address by William Meredith, winner of the 1997 National Book Award for poetry, an evening reading by Poet Laureates Robert Pinsky and Rita Dove, and a reading by Pulitzer Prize-winners Yusef Komunyakaa and Henry Taylor."
- Publisher's Weekly, March 16, 1998

"We're excited about attending as many of the readings, lectures, discussions and other events as we can possibly manage during these five (too short) days. If you are within range of central Virginia, we hope we will see you there."
- Poetry Daily, March 9, 1998

"This began as a small program in Charlottesville and has grown progressively bigger, involving many of the writers who live in the area as well as others (Jane Hamilton and Russell Banks, to name two) whose book tours coincide with the festival. I attended last year and can report that everything I saw was interesting and well-run."
- David Streitfeld, The Washington Post Book World, March 8, 1998

"Having gone to Charlottesville... what came crashing upon me was the importance of centripetal force. The force that makes literature flourish - and civilization work."
- Michael Pakenham, The Baltimore Sun, March 30, 1997

 

And what they're saying about Charlottesville...

"Charlottesville draws writers the way Nashville beckons to musicians." - Southern Living, February 1998

"Charlottesville may be the only city in the United States where the number of people reading books is surpassed by the number of people writing them."
- Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 18, 1997

"Charlottesville has been home to such noted writers as Thomas Jefferson, Edgar Allan Poe, and William Faulkner. So it's fitting that the town hosts a festival celebrating books."
- The Washingtonian, March 1997