25 Years of the National Book Festival: Highlights from 2011

This is a guest post by Literary Initiatives intern Jacob Sharp.

The Library of Congress National Book Festival will celebrate its 25th year on September 6, 2025. For this year’s festival information, visit the 2025 National Book Festival website.

To honor the occasion, we are taking the 24 weeks leading up to this year’s festival at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center to highlight two videos each week from past National Book Festivals, from the festival’s first year in 2001 to 2024. Each week, we’ll highlight a past festival year. We hope you enjoy scrolling through the past with us! Check out videos from the first 2001 festival here.

Toni Morrison (1931-2019) was a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, editor and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, exquisite language and richly detailed African American characters who are central to their narratives. Among her best-known novels are “The Bluest Eye,” “Sula,” “Song of Solomon,” “Beloved,” “Jazz,” “Love” and “A Mercy.” Morrison earned a plethora of book-world accolades and honorary degrees, and she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. She was the recipient of the 2011 Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction (now known as the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction).

The following video featuring a conversation with Morrison offers a deeper glimpse into her life, career and influences—beginning with her early love of reading and spanning pivotal moments in her journey as a writer, editor and cultural icon.

Toni Morrison begins speaking at 7:08, and the video proceeds as follows:

• 7:08: Morrison’s literary beginnings and how she fell in love with reading as a child
• 16:13: Education at Howard University and the importance of surrounding herself with fellow Black intellectuals
• 23:52: Her time as an editor for Penguin Random House (at the time, Morrison was the first African American woman to hold the position of editor at the publisher)
• 29:50: Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner and how they inspired her writing and analysis of literature, as well as prominent figures in American culture she remembers fondly
• 42:18: Q&A period begins; Morrison begins by discussing the burning of her house and how she processed that trauma

Tomie dePaola (1934-2020) was an American author and illustrator who illustrated 268 children’s books, many of which he wrote. His honors include the 1981 Kerlan Award from the University of Minnesota, the 1983 Regina Medal from the Catholic Library Association, the 2011 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award (now the Children’s Literature Legacy Award). In 1990, he was the U.S. nominee for the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award.

In the following video, dePaola reflects on his life and work with warmth and humor, offering personal stories, creative insights and advice for young artists. dePaola begins by speaking about his early inspirations and concludes his discussion with a thoughtful and witty Q&A session.

Tomie dePaola begins speaking at 1:10, and the video proceeds as follows:

• 2:28: Anecdotal stories of dePaola’s childhood and how he began his career as an illustrator
• 6:57: The story of how he came up with his iconic “Strega Nona” character and his latest book (at the time) centered around the character
• 16:22: Q&A period begins; dePaola begins by sharing his favorite book he’s written, a children’s non-fiction book which introduces children to the concept of death: “Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs”
• 30:50: Tips for young aspiring authors and illustrators
• 36:44: Keeping creativity in the classroom

Come back soon for highlights from 2012!