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2022 Library of Congress National Book Festival on PBS Books

From the Library of Congress –

PBS Books to Stream 10 Interviews with Featured Authors, Beginning Aug. 15

Book lovers across the nation can enjoy an early literary taste of the 2022 Library of Congress National Book Festival on PBS Books, which will host a series of virtual interviews with some of the festival’s featured authors beginning Aug. 15.

This marks the seventh collaboration between the Library of Congress National Book Festival and PBS Books, a national programming initiative produced by Detroit Public Television. The 2022 series features interviews with several of the festival’s featured authors, including Mitch Albom, Rachel Aviv, Geraldine Brooks, Dhonielle Clayton, Katie Gutierrez, Kelly Lytle Hernández, Kate Clifford Larson, Juliet Menéndez, Leslye Penelope, Lucinda Roy and Clint Smith.

The National Book Festival will take place on Saturday, Sept. 3 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Doors will open at 8:30 a.m. The festival is free and open to everyone. This year’s theme is “Books Bring Us Together.” With the return to an in-person festival, attendees will find sessions that reflect their lives and interests in the lineup of diverse offerings. Books in all of their forms will be celebrated with new storytelling and audiobook events.

The complete schedule for the 2022 Library of Congress National Book Festival can be found at loc.gov/bookfest.

Full interviews with each of the 11 authors featured by PBS Books will be streamed between Aug. 15 and Aug. 31 on PBS Books. They will also be available on-demand on PBS Books and the National Book Festival website at loc.gov/bookfest

“Books bring us together as readers across the country. We’re proud to join with PBS Books to extend the reach of the Library of Congress National Book Festival once again so that book lovers, libraries and public television stations across the country can join this celebration of reading,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden.

“Books transport us to magical lands, inspire our imaginations and compel us to contemplate important issues,” said Rich Homberg, president and CEO of Detroit Public Television. “During these unpredictable times, they offer us a respite from the challenges we face both personally and as a nation. We are thrilled to be working again with the Library of Congress National Book Festival and a prestigious lineup of authors to celebrate our love for all literature.”

Highlights from the PBS Books series include:

Aug. 15, 8 p.m. ET: Lucinda Roy and Leslye Penelope
PBS Books, in collaboration with Virginia Public Media, will host this virtual event with two trailblazing authors, who create empowered female heroines and champion diverse voices. Leslye Penelope is an award-winning author of fantasy and paranormal romance. Her debut novel “Song of Blood and Stone,” was chosen as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time. Her latest novel is “The Monsters We Defy.” Lucinda Roy is a novelist, poet and memoirist. Roy’s latest book is the novel “Flying the Coop,” book two of “The Dreambird Chronicles” trilogy. Previous books include the memoir “No Right to Remain Silent: What We’ve Learned from the Tragedy at Virginia Tech,” the novel “Lady Moses” and the poetry collection “The Hummingbirds,” winner of the Eighth Mountain Poetry Prize.

Aug. 16, 8 p.m. ET: Juliet Menéndez  
In collaboration with South Florida PBS and their initiative Between the Covers, PBS Books welcomes multicultural author, illustrator and teacher Juliet Menéndez, who divides her time between Guatemala City, New York and Paris. She worked as a bilingual teacher in New York and studied design and illustration in Paris. Her most recent book is “Latinitas: Celebrating 40 Big Dreamers.”

Aug. 17, 8 p.m. ET: Kate Clifford Larson
PBS Books, in collaboration with WTTW in Chicago, presents Kate Clifford Larson, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of three critically acclaimed biographies: “Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman,” “Portrait of an American Hero; Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter,” and The Assassin’s Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln.” She earned a doctorate in American History at the University of New Hampshire, specializing in 19th and 20th century U.S. women’s and African American history. Kate will discuss her latest book “Walk with Me: A Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer,” her writing process, and involvement in the festival.

Aug. 30, 8 p.m. ET: Katie Gutierrez
PBS Books, in collaboration with GBH in Boston, interviews author Katie Gutierrez, who penned the national bestselling debut novel, “More Than You’ll Ever Know,” which was the “Good Morning America” Book Club pick for June 2022. She is a National Magazine Award finalist, whose writing has appeared in TIME, Harper’s Bazaar, the Washington Post, Longreads and other publications.

For a complete lineup of authors interviewed virtually on PBS Books, visit: PBSBooks.org/LOCBookfest22.

The 2022 Library of Congress National Book Festival is made possible by the generous support of private- and public-sector sponsors who share the Library’s commitment to reading and literacy, led by National Book Festival Co-Chair David M. Rubenstein. Sponsors include: Institute of Museum and Library Services, The Washington Post, AARP, General Motors, James Madison Council, John W. Kluge Center, National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities. Presenting Partner C-SPAN and Media Partners NPR and El Tiempo Latino.

PBS Books (pbsbooks.org)
Started in 2015, PBS Books is a trusted national brand and a multiplatform initiative connecting diverse audiences to books through PBS stations and programming, daily and original content, book fairs, conferences, live performances, screenings and other book-related events. The vision of PBS Books is to foster a community of people engaged in unique literary experiences that spark their curiosity, promote dialogue and inspire learning. PBS Books aims to provide context for complex issues — both national and local. In early 2019 with the support of the Knight Foundation and the Wyncote Foundation, PBS Books launched a free Library Engagement Program, which currently has more than 1,800 library partners. Today, PBS Books produces regular virtual content promoting critical dialogue about current topics and critical issues in communities across the U.S. To learn more, please visit: www.pbsbooks.org.

Detroit Public TV (dptv.org)
Serving Southeast Michigan, Detroit Public TV (DPTV) is Michigan’s largest and most watched television station, with the most diverse public television audience in the country. Each week, more than two million people watch DPTV’s five broadcast channels, and nearly 200,000 people listen to its radio station, 90.9 WRCJ, for classical days and jazzy nights. In addition, DPTV is building the next generation of public media with a rapidly growing digital presence, which now reaches more than half a million unique visitors through its website, YouTube channels and social media platforms each month. Visit DPTV.org.

Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.