Media partners including PBS and C-SPAN’s Book TV are showcasing new ways to access the 20th National Book Festival this weekend, including a national television special and live call-in Q&As with featured authors.
PBS stations will broadcast “The Library of Congress National Book Festival: Celebrating American Ingenuity,” featuring some of the nation’s most renowned literary voices and hosted by NBC’s Hoda Kotb, whose mother worked at the Library for more than 30 years. The two-hour program premieres Sunday, Sept. 27 at 6 p.m. ET/PT (check local listings).
Featured authors include Colson Whitehead, Madeleine Albright, Jason Reynolds, Jenna Bush Hager, John Grisham, Melinda Gates, Gene Luen Yang and many more, including the current and former U.S. poets laureate.
The TV special is available for on-demand streaming on PBS.org and on the PBS video app for the next several weeks. The show will air or re-air at later dates on some PBS stations in the weeks ahead. Don’t miss this special celebration of how books make us better.
This weekend, C-SPAN’s Book TV continues its coverage of the National Book Festival for the 20th year. On Saturday and Sunday evening, Book TV is featuring numerous author presentations, followed by live call-ins with select authors including Gail Collins, Jon Meacham, Ann Druyan and Rick Perlstein. Be sure to catch Book TV’s coverage. The full schedule is at https://www.c-span.org/series/?bookTv.
PBS Books is also featuring select authors from the National Book Festival through Facebook Live chats in collaboration with local PBS stations. Check out these virtual events at https://www.facebook.com/PBSBooks1/.
Finally, be sure to join the festival online to see author presentations on demand and to join live Q&A events with authors on Saturday and Sunday. The festival will also continue beyond this weekend as videos will remain on the festival platform for the weeks ahead. Timely topics include Democracy in the 21st Century, Fearless Women and Hearing Black Voices.