Top of page

First Batch of Authors for 2013 National Book Festival

Share this post:

Authors and poets Margaret Atwood, Marie Arana, Taylor Branch, Don DeLillo, Khaled Hosseini, Barbara Kingsolver, Brad Meltzer, Joyce Carol Oates, Katherine Paterson and U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey will be among more than 100 writers speaking at the 13th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival, on Saturday, Sept. 21 and Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013, between 9th and 14th streets on the National Mall.  As always, the event is free and open to the public; it will run from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and from noon to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, rain or shine.

Author signing books at 2012 National Book Festival
Author John Green signs books for his fans at the 2012 Library of Congress National Book Festival. Photo by Richard Herbert

Other poets and authors slated to appear at the festival include Katherine Applegate, Rick Atkinson, Paolo Bacigalupi, Nicholson Baker, Bonnie Benwick, A. Scott Berg, Holly Black, Monica Brown, Steve Coll, Susan Cooper, Justin Cronin, Matt de la Peña, Kathryn Erskine, Richard Paul Evans, Brian Floca, Eric Gansworth, Albert Goldbarth, Mark Helprin, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Juan Felipe Herrera, Jennifer and Matthew Holm, and Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Also Pati Jinich, Adam Johnson, William P. Jones, Cynthia Kadohata, Jamaica Kincaid, Matthew J. Kirby, Jon Klassen, Kirby Lawson, Grace Lin, Mario Livio, Rafael López, Kenneth W. Mack, William Martin, Ayana Mathis, James McBride, D.J. MacHale, Heather McHugh, Lisa McMann, Terry McMillan, Elizabeth Moon, Christopher Myers, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Kadir Nelson, Patrick Ness, Katherine Paterson, Daniel Pink, Andrea and Brian Pinkney and Matthew Quick.

Not to mention Lesa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome, Vaddey Ratner, Christel Schmidt, Jon and Casey Scieszka, Chad “Corntassel” Smith, Andrew Solomon, Sonya Sones, Walter Stahr, Manil Suri, James L. Swanson, Mark Teague, Evan Thomas, Steve Vogel, Dean Young, Charles Whelan, and Henry Wiencek. (Hmm.  I guess we are mentioning them.)

What is more, internationally known illustrator Suzy Lee is creating the artwork for this year’s NBF poster.

This author list is just getting started! For details as they develop, go to www.loc.gov/bookfest/ .

Comments (5)

  1. I noticed that this year festival features Barbara Kingsolver but she is not included in the listing of authors; hopefully just an oversight as I am looking forward to her being there to sign my book. This will be my 10th year at the festival !

  2. This is an event I always look forward to.

  3. Will Barbara Kingsolver still be presenting at the festival? I do not see her listed on the schedules and was hoping to see her this year.

  4. Is this a really popular festival? Would it be hours in line for an author’s autograph?

  5. Livv, yes, it’s really popular, and there are queues for the author book-signings. But they are one of the most-loved elements of the festival and each year there are more and more authors and activities for people of all ages. Even if you decide not to stand in line for an author signature, you will find much to enjoy at the festival.

Add a Comment

This blog is governed by the general rules of respectful civil discourse. You are fully responsible for everything that you post. The content of all comments is released into the public domain unless clearly stated otherwise. The Library of Congress does not control the content posted. Nevertheless, the Library of Congress may monitor any user-generated content as it chooses and reserves the right to remove content for any reason whatever, without consent. Gratuitous links to sites are viewed as spam and may result in removed comments. We further reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to remove a user's privilege to post content on the Library site. Read our Comment and Posting Policy.


Required fields are indicated with an * asterisk.