WINSTON-SALEM — BOOKMARKS announced the author lineup for the 2013 BOOKMARKS Festival of Books on May 21. BOOKMARKS will be held on Sept. 7 from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. in the downtown arts district in Winston-Salem, centering on Trade and Sixth streets. This will be the ninth year of the Festival and the fifth year in downtown Winston-Salem.
Writers who have committed to participate in the festival include Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil War historian James McPherson; New York Times bestselling authors Debbie Macomber, Deborah Harkness and Carl Weber; beloved North Carolina authors Jill McCorkle and Ann B. Ross; and former chairman of the FDIC, Sheila Bair. August Turak will discuss his book “Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks: One CEO’s Quest for Meaning and Authenticity.”
Appearing to discuss food trends and issues is gluten-free guru Elana Amsterdam, Soul Food scholar Adrian Miller and “real food movement” leader Sherri Brooks Vinton. Fred Bahnson, food, faith and religious leadership professor at Wake Forest University, will present on the “Food for Thought” stage, as well as John Elder Robison, the brother of bestselling author Augusten Burroughs and national Autism Awareness lecturer. Jack McCallum, a 30-year veteran of Sports Illustrated, will talk about the original Dream Team while Kevin Maurer, award-winning reporter and co-author of “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden,” will discuss his new book “Hunting Che.” New York Times bestselling author Rachel Renee Russell will present the newest installment in her popular middle grade series, The Dork Diaries, and storytelling and music will be presented twice by two-time Grammy Award winner Bill Harley.
“We have a wide range of really interesting authors attending the 2013 festival from novelists and biographers to fantasy writers and illustrators. I’m delighted to announce such a great list of authors,” said Ginger Hendricks, executive director of BOOKMARKS.
The following is a list of authors signed to date: Fiction authors include Harkness, Robin Hobb, Robert Inman, Craig Johnson, Macomber, McCorkle, Jason Mott, Ross, and Carl Weber as well as poet Kathryn Stripling Byer. Nonfiction writers include Elana Amsterdam, Fred Bahnson, Bair, Raquel Cepeda, Maurer, McCallum, James McPherson, Adrian Miller, Robison, Turak and Vinton.
Teen authors include Leigh Bardugo, T. Michael Martin (12 and up), and Megan Shepherd. Young reader authors include Bonnie Christensen (ages 8-11), Diana Lopez (ages 9-12), Rachel Renee Russell (ages 9-13), Bob Shea (ages 2-6), and Kashmira Sheth (ages 4-7; 8-12).
Winston-Salem Writers will present their award-winning poets for their Poetry in Plain Sight initiative, and panel discussions will be held on topics such as First Fiction, How to Work with an Agent, Writing Winston-Salem History, and Book Club Authors.
Workshops for writers will be featured on the topics of illustrating (ages 8 and up), writing genre fiction, romance writing, and developing sense of place in fiction and nonfiction. At least four programs will be held in Spanish and English.
BOOKMARKS is a literary arts organization based in Winston-Salem whose vision is to create a community of passionate readers. This is achieved through triad-based author events, an Authors in Schools program throughout the year, which reached 4,000 students in 2012 and the premier annual free book festival in North Carolina. The ninth annual book festival will be held on Sept. 7.
Please visit bookmarksnc.org for more information.