About VABook!
The Virginia Festival of the Book is an annual public festival for children and adults featuring authors and book related professionals in over 200 programs. Produced by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, VABook! is held in Charlottesville, Virginia each March to promote literacy and celebrate reading and books. The twelfth annual Virginia Festival of the Book will take place in Charlottesville from March 22-26, 2006.
As the largest gathering of authors in the state, and, indeed, the Mid-Atlantic region, VABook! has become an integral part of the Charlottesville / Albemarle book-reading community, presented in a unique partnership of contributors which includes the VFH, individuals, and area businesses and organizations. This partnership results in programs that have a wide range of book-related topics and a variety of writers. In 2005, VABook! featured more than 300 writers in 200 programs; program attendance was a record 22,874.
Almost every aspect of VABook! is organized and generated by volunteer committees who generously contribute their time and energy to this annual celebration of books and reading. Programs range from traditional author readings and book signings to a StoryFest day of children’s authors and storybook characters; from a panel on how to publish a novel to a discussion on running a book club; from a workshop on book-binding to a discussion on freelancer's rights. All programs are open to the public; with few exceptions (the Festival Luncheon, Mystery Luncheon and Saturday Evening Reception) programs are free of charge.
Past participants include Kim Addonizio, Stephen Ambrose, David Baldacci, Russell Banks, Carrie Brown, John Gregory Brown, Orson Scott Card, Michael Chabon, Clyde Edgerton, Kay Gibbons, Nikki Giovanni, Alan Gurganus, Homer Hickam, Tami Hoag, William Hoffman, bell hooks, Garrison Keillor, Stanley Kunitz, Edward P. Jones, Lois Lowry, Thomas Mallon, Paule Marshall, Alexander McCall Smith, David McCullough, Alice McDermott, Michael Novak, Michael Ondaatje, Robert Pinsky, Reynolds Price, Sheri Reynolds, Pete Seeger, Mary Lee Settle, Anita Shreve, Lee Smith, Gay Talese, Henry Taylor and hundreds of others others.
Southern Living says, "Charlottesville draws writers the way Nashville beckons musicians" (February 1998). Rita Dove, Charles Wright, Gregory Orr, Lisa Russ Spaar, Debra Nystrom, Karen Kevorkian, John Casey, Ann Beattie, Christopher Tilghman and Deborah Eisenberg are all award-winning poets and fiction writers who call Charlottesville home while serving as faculty and administration to one of the nation’s top-ranked creative writing programs at the University of Virginia. Other outstanding resident-writers include Julian Bond, Rita Mae Brown, Stephen Cushman, George Garrett, John Grisham, Jan Karon, Donna Lucey, Mary Lyons, Kathy May, Katherine McNamara, T. R. Pearson, Caroline Preston, Eleanor Ross Taylor, and Henry Wiencek. Local publishers include Howell Press, Hampton Roads Publishing, and Tupelo Press.
The Festival is widely supported by the more than 20 bookstores located in the area. The Virginia Festival of the Book is also fortunate to enjoy the support of Charlottesville's many resident writers. We hope you, too, will join us in our celebration of books every year in March.
If you would like more information about the festival, or if you would like to be placed on our mailing or email lists, please feel free to contact us. You can reach us by phone at (434) 924-6890 or by post at 145 Ednam Drive, Charlottesville VA 22903. If you have any comments about our website, please address them to vabook@virginia.edu. Your comments and ideas are greatly appreciated.
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