Welcome to Day Seven of the Library of Congress National Book Festival! Every morning, we’ll run down the schedule for the day’s live presentations and preview the following day’s schedule, so you won’t miss a thing. (You can always review the full Festival schedule here.) You can get this notice sent to your inbox each morning by subscribing to the National Book Festival blog. Here’s the rundown for today:
Today: Thursday, Sept. 23 LIVE
3 p.m. ET: With Great Responsibility: The Spider-Man Origin Story in Art and Comic Books. Let’s share a virtual moment with the Spider-Man origin story — which includes Stan Lee’s story and Steve Ditko’s art — from “Amazing Fantasy” #15 (1962). Look at selected images from the drawings and hear experts’ insights into the collaboration that led to the development of the teen superhero.
4 p.m. ET: Live Conversation with Hawa Hassan and Marcus Samuelsson. Hawa Hassan, author of “In Bibi’s Kitchen: The Recipes and Stories of Grandmothers from the Eight African Countries that Touch the Indian Ocean” (Ten Speed), and Marcus Samuelsson, author of “The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food” (Voracious), discuss their new cookbooks with Robin Givhan, senior critic-at-large at The Washington Post.
5 p.m. ET: Live Conversation with Honorée Fanonne Jeffers and Deesha Philyaw. Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, author of “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois” (Harper), and Deesha Philyaw, author of “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies” (West Virginia University), discuss their new books with Karen Grigsby Bates, senior correspondent for NPR’s “Code Switch.”
6 p.m. ET: Live Conversation with Peter Godfrey-Smith. Peter Godfrey-Smith discusses his new book, “Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of the Mind” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), with New York Times Book Review writer and editor Gal Beckerman.
7 p.m. ET: Live Conversation with Rodney Scott and Trisha Yearwood. Rodney Scott, author of “Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ: Every Day Is a Good Day” (Clarkson Potter), and Trisha Yearwood, author of “Trisha’s Kitchen: Easy Comfort Food for Friends and Family” (Mariner), discuss their new books, cooking and community with Jummy Olabanji, co-anchor of NBC4’s “News4 Today” morning news show.
Videos On-Demand: Watch Anytime
View conversations with authors that you can stream and watch anytime! Here’s the full list.
- Guy Raz and Mindy Thomas discuss “Wow in the World: The How and Wow of the Human Body: From Your Tongue to Your Toes and All the Guts in Between” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).
- Meg Medina, author of “Merci Suárez Can’t Dance” (Candlewick), and Jerry Pinkney, author of “The Little Mermaid” (Little, Brown), discuss their new books.
- Kekla Magoon discusses “Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People” (Candlewick) with Liv Aspholm, student ambassador from 2020-2021 National Ambassador Jason Reynolds’ GRAB THE MIC program.
More Author Talks & Festival Events Near You
Listen to NPR podcasts:
- Kacen Callender on Code Switch (from Sept. 22)
- Brandon Taylor on It’s Been A Minute (from Sept. 21)
- Eric Garcia on Life Kit (from Sept. 20)
- Jason Reynolds on TED Radio Hour (from Sept. 17)
- Ambreen Tariq on Short Wave (from Sept. 17)
Our media partners have joined us to broaden the National Book Festival celebration this year to include conversations with many of our Festival authors. Check out the full list here.
In addition, local organization and affiliate Centers for the Book have found ways to bring the National Book Festival closer to you. Find watch parties, community conversations, story walks, poetry slams, book club meetings and more.
You can also explore these events by state and discover Great Reads from Great Places through the Festival Near You interactive map.
Tomorrow: Friday, Sept. 24 LIVE
3 p.m. ET: Family Secrets: Navigating Unexpected Genealogical Finds. Almost everyone who engages in genealogical research eventually comes across unexpected facts and details. The staff at the Library of Congress have collected resources to help researchers adjust to their new reality, decide whom to share their discoveries with and figure out the next step in their research. Join us in exploring the discoveries made possible by both traditional research and DNA.
4 p.m. ET: Live Conversation with Julia Sweig and Karen Tumulty. Julia Sweig, author of “Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight” (Random House), and Karen Tumulty, author of “The Triumph of Nancy Reagan” (Simon & Schuster), discuss their new books with Colleen Shogan, a senior vice president and the director of the David Rubenstein Center for White House History at the White House Historical Association.
5 p.m. ET: Live Conversation with David Nasaw and Sonia Shah. David Nasaw, author of “The Last Million: Europe’s Displaced Persons from World War to Cold War” (Penguin), and Sonia Shah, author of “The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move” (Bloomsbury), discuss their new books with CBS News’ “60 Minutes+” correspondent Enrique Acevedo.
6 p.m. ET: Live Conversation with Alice McDermott and George Saunders. Alice McDermott, author of “What About the Baby?: Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), and George Saunders, author of “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading and Life” (Random House), discuss their new books with Washington Post book critic Ron Charles.
7 p.m. ET: Live Conversation with francine j. harris and Patrick Rosal. francine j. harris, author of “Here Is the Sweet Hand” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), and Patrick Rosal, author of “The Last Thing: New & Selected Poems” (Persea), discuss their new works with Ydalmi Noriega, director of programs and community engagement at the Poetry Foundation.
How Are We Doing? Let Us Know
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Join us for the 2021 National Book Festival, Sept. 17-26. Audiences are invited to create their own festival experience this year, with programs in a range of formats. Subscribe to this blog for future updates on the festival, and visit the Festival website.