I’m on a plane back home this morning, but I’ll have just enough time to toss the dirty clothes in the washer and head west on I-64 to Charlottesville for the Virginia Festival of the Book being held this week.
Here’s the schedule; as usual, something for all tastes – from chefs and cookbooks, to cultural icons and children’s book authors. No need to worry that you’ll feel out of your comfort zone. Just get out there and support the literary life of you home state, friends.
My own visit is quick this year. Two school stops (Southwood Boys & Girls Club and Jack Jouette Middle School) but also an important Thursday evening panel that comes against the backdrop of the alarming national conversation (if we can we still call it that) about immigrants in this country.
I hope you’ll attend Beyond Background Characters: Life in Hyphen-American. Check out the author bios, and join us!
When: Thursday, March 17, 2016, 8:00 PM
Where: UVa Culbreth Theater (109 Culbreth Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22903)
Who:
Sara Farizan, author of Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel, is the daughter of Iranian immigrants, and was born in Massachusetts. She is an MFA graduate of Lesley University and holds a BA in film and media studies from American University. She is also the author of If You Could Be Mine.
Lamar Giles, author of the YA thrillers Endangered and Fake ID, which was a 2015 Edgar Award nominee, is a speaker and founding member of We Need Diverse Books.
Meg Medina
You know this lady?
Wendy Shang, author of The Way Home Looks Now, lives in northern Virginia. Her first book, The Great Wall of Lucy Wu, received the Asian-Pacific American Librarians Award for Children’s Literature and was placed on several state reading lists.
Moderator: Gustavo Pérez Firmat
Gustavo Pérez Firmat, author of A Cuban in Mayberry: Looking Back at America’s Hometown, has published a number of books of literary and cultural criticism, as well as several collections of poetry in English and Spanish.
See you in Charlottesville!
