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Posted by: Wendi Maloney
On a dark and windy morning on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, 114 years ago this Sunday, Orville Wright took flight in a tiny airplane he and his brother Wilbur had painstakingly constructed. The 605-pound craft flew all of 120 feet and remained airborne only 12 seconds. After Orville’s first success, Wilbur set the …
Posted in: Collections, Manuscripts, National Book Festival, Technology, Today in History
Posted by: Gayle Osterberg
On January 31, award-winning author and literacy advocate Stephen King helped the Library launch our annual call for nominations for the Library of Congress Literacy Awards honoring organizations working to promote literacy and reading in the United States and worldwide. Throughout the winter, 18 additional authors, including Kwame Alexander, Ken Burns and Margo Jefferson added …
Posted in: Literacy, National Book Festival
Posted by: Wendi Maloney
The National Book Festival began in 2001 as a joint project of former first lady Laura Bush and the Library of Congress. A career librarian and a native of Texas, Bush proposed a national literacy event building on the success of the Texas Book Festival. Her idea took off: the National Book Festival has taken …
Posted in: National Book Festival
Posted by: Wendi Maloney
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced today that Denis Johnson, author of the critically acclaimed collection of short stories “Jesus’ Son” and the novel “Tree of Smoke,” will posthumously receive the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction during the 2017 Library of Congress National Book Festival, Sept. 2. The National Book Festival and the …
Posted in: Books, National Book Festival
Posted by: Wendi Maloney
(The following is a repost from the National Book Festival blog. The author is Lola Pyne of the Library’s Office of Communications.) Earlier this week, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden made an exciting video announcement detailing the stellar authors who will headline this year’s Library of Congress National Book Festival. She was joined in front of a …
Posted in: Books, Events, National Book Festival, Video
Posted by: Wendi Maloney
(The following is a repost from the National Book Festival blog. The author is Lola Pyne of the Library’s Office of Communications.) Spring is in the air and with it begins anticipation for our summer celebration of books and reading—the Library of Congress National Book Festival—which this year will take place on Sept. 2. Two weeks ago, …
Posted in: Books, National Book Festival