Presenter of
the National Book Awards
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Presenter of
the National Book Awards
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The National Book Foundation announced its spring NBF Presents line-up of 16 events taking place in 12 states from February through May 2022, continuing the programming made possible by a multi-year, $900,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Since 2018, the National Book Foundation has expanded its education and public programming to 40 states and counting through in-person programs, and worldwide via free online events. This season of NBF Presents, the moniker for all of the Foundation’s public programs, represents the National Book Foundation’s continued commitment to providing readers everywhere access to engaging literary conversations. Programming for the spring season will be presented alongside new and returning program partners across the United States, and held in-person, with select events streamed online at no cost to attendees.
National Book Award–honored authors confirmed to appear at NBF Presents events in the spring season include Desiree C. Bailey, Lucas Bessire, Victoria Chang, Grace M. Cho, Christopher Paul Curtis, Natalie Diaz, Nicole Eustace, Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Brandon Hobson, Laird Hunt, Marlon James, Robert Jones, Jr., Katie Kitamura, Min Jin Lee, Megha Majumdar, Amber McBride, Elizabeth McCracken, Jason Mott, Diana Khoi Nguyen, Kimberly King Parsons, Julia Phillips, Erika L. Sánchez, and Jackie Wang, with more to come.
NBF Presents events allow audiences the opportunity to be in conversation with some of today’s most celebrated writers and their works. This season’s events will examine a range of topics—from writing the environment to exploring the deep contributions of Black writers to Southern literature.
“This season, we will continue to connect writers and readers with the aim of sparking community conversations and fostering a shared love of literature,” said Ruth Dickey, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation.
The Foundation will present programs featuring National Book Award–honored authors and nationally recognized moderators with regional book festival partners at the Bay Area Book Festival, Miami Book Fair, Tucson Festival of Books, Virginia Festival of the Book, and the Oxford Conference for the Book.
“The National Book Awards has long been the foremost judge of truly exceptional American literature, and for 28 years the Oxford Conference for the Book here in Oxford, Mississippi, has helped acknowledge some of that same top-quality writing,” said James G. Thomas, Jr., director of the Oxford Conference of the Book. “Both institutions celebrate both the creator and the creation, both the author and the work. We hope Oxford’s rich and fabled literary culture will be the perfect backdrop for this collaboration between the National Book Foundation and our regional conference—in addition to providing an ideal opportunity to share meaningful ideas rooted in our common inheritance.”
This spring will also introduce new and returning programming partners at arts centers, colleges, and libraries in rural, suburban, and urban regions, including Appalshop and Berea College in the Appalachian region of Kentucky; Coahoma Community College in the Mississippi Delta; and Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library and the University of Central Missouri in the Heartland. Other college and university partners include Amherst College in Amherst, MA; Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, NE; New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM; and Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX.
“I’m thrilled to work with the National Book Foundation both as partner and featured author,” said Brandon Hobson, 2018 National Book Award Finalist and Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at New Mexico State University. “NBF Presents opens up access to authors and books that connect campuses and communities around topics that matter to them.”
The National Book Foundation and its partners are planning for virtual, hybrid, and in-person programs this spring, and are prepared to shift to fully virtual events based on evolving health and safety protocols.
The full list of confirmed spring NBF Presents events can be found below with additional details and registration coming soon, and an updated NBF Presents calendar is available at the Foundation’s website. These are free events but please RSVP directly at the Foundation or partner website as directed.
Friday, February 11, 4:00pm MST
Las Cruces, NM
New Mexico State University
NBF Presents: Honoring Ancestral Voices
Join National Book Award–honored authors Kali Fajardo-Anstine (Sabrina & Corina, 2019 Fiction Finalist) and Brandon Hobson (Where the Dead Sit Talking, 2018 Fiction Finalist) for readings and conversation on the traditions and future of Latinx and Indigenous storytelling. Moderated by Leora Zeitlin, co-director of Zephyr Press and host of “Intermezzo” on KRWG. Presented in partnership with New Mexico State University’s Nelson Boswell Reading Series.
Saturday, February 19, Event Time TBA
Miami, FL
Books & Books and Miami Book Fair
NBF Presents: A Quest for Freedom
Celebrate the release of Moon Witch, Spider King with National Book Award–honored authors Marlon James (Black Leopard, Red Wolf, 2019 Fiction Finalist) and Desiree C. Bailey (What Noise Against the Cane, 2021 Poetry Finalist) in conversation on folklore, fantasy, and the writing of contemporary epics. Presented in partnership with Books & Books and the Miami Book Fair.
Friday, February 25, 7:00pm EST
Amherst, MA
Amherst College
NBF Presents: An Evening with the National Book Awards
The National Book Foundation returns to Amherst College’s annual LitFest with 2021 National Book Award–honored authors Katie Kitamura (Intimacies) and Elizabeth McCracken (The Souvenir Museum) for readings and conversation on the power of language and locality in fiction. Moderated by Kirun Kapur, director of the creative writing program at Amherst College. This program is supported by Amherst College and The Common magazine.
Saturday, February 26, 11:00am EST
Amherst, MA
Amherst College
NBF Presents: A Morning with the National Book Awards
For the second day of LitFest, National Book Award–honored author Natalie Diaz (Postcolonial Love Poem, 2020 Poetry Finalist) joins Alicia J. Mireles Christoff, Associate Professor of English at Amherst College, in conversation. This program is supported by Amherst College and The Common magazine.
Saturday, March 12, 2:30pm MST
Tucson, AZ
Tucson Festival of Books
NBF Presents: An Afternoon with the National Book Awards
Together, the National Book Foundation and Tucson Festival of Books highlight 2021 National Book Award–honored authors Laird Hunt (Zorrie, Finalist, Fiction), Robert Jones, Jr. (The Prophets, Finalist, Fiction), and Jason Mott (Hell of a Book, Winner, Fiction) for a conversation on the unsung heroes that inspired their novels, and why reading fiction matters. Moderated by Ruth Dickey, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation.
Sunday, March 13, 1:30pm MST
Tucson, AZ
Tucson Festival of Books
NBF Presents: An Afternoon with the National Book Awards
The National Book Foundation and Tucson Festival of Books celebrate 2021 National Book Award Nonfiction Finalists Lucas Bessire (Running Out: In Search of Water on the High Plains), Grace M. Cho (Tastes Like War), and Nicole Eustace (Covered with Night: A Story of Murder and Indigenous Injustice in Early America) in conversation on writing the personal, political, and historical. Moderated by Ruth Dickey, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation.
Saturday, March 19, 4:00pm EDT
Charlottesville, VA
Virginia Festival of the Book
NBF Presents: An Afternoon with the National Book Awards
2021 National Book Award–honored authors Robert Jones, Jr. (The Prophets, Finalist, Fiction), Amber McBride (Me (Moth), Finalist, Young People’s Literature), and Jason Mott (Hell of a Book, Winner, Fiction) join the 27th annual Virginia Festival of the Book for a conversation on ancestors, ghosts, and community.
Tuesday, March 29, 6:00pm CDT
Huntsville, TX
Sam Houston State University
NBF Presents: An Evening with the National Book Awards
Join National Book Award–honored authors Christopher Paul Curtis (The Journey of Little Charlie, 2018 Young People’s Literature Finalist), Diana Khoi Nguyen (Ghost Of, 2018 Poetry Finalist), and Kimberly King Parsons (Black Light: Stories, 2019 Fiction Longlist) for readings and cross-genre conversation on storytelling and reaching readers of all ages. This program is supported by Sam Houston State University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the MFA Program in Creative Writing.
Wednesday, March 30, 11:00am CDT
Clarksdale, MS
Coahoma Community College
NBF Presents: The Deep Literary South
Join 2021 National Book Award for Fiction Finalist Robert Jones, Jr. (The Prophets) and Winner Jason Mott (Hell of a Book) for readings and conversation on the deep contributions of Black writers to Southern literature, including their own works. Moderated by Kiese Laymon, author of, most recently, Heavy: An American Memoir, and presented in partnership with Coahoma Community College and the Coahoma County Higher Education Center.
Thursday, March 31, 3:00pm CDT
Oxford, MS
Oxford Conference for the Book
NBF Presents: An Afternoon with the National Book Awards
2021 National Book Award for Fiction Finalist Robert Jones, Jr. (The Prophets) and Winner Jason Mott (Hell of a Book) visit the 28th Oxford Conference for the Book for a conversation on the contemporary novels inspired by and set in the South that shaped the last year, and what it means for their work to connect with Southern readers and readers across the country. Moderated by W. Ralph Eubanks, author of A Place Like Mississippi: A Journey Through A Real and Imagined Literary Landscape.
Tuesday, April 5, 12:00pm CDT
Omaha, NE
Metropolitan Community College
NBF Presents: Cross-Cultural Connections
National Book Award–honored authors Grace M. Cho (Tastes Like War, 2021 Nonfiction Finalist) and Erika L. Sánchez (I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, 2017 Young People’s Literature Finalist) consider immigrant families, and the intersections of class, food, and mental health across diasporas. Join the writers for readings and conversation moderated by Jamaica Baldwin, author of Bone Language (forthcoming). Presented in partnership with Metropolitan Community College.
Tuesday, April 12, 6:00pm EDT
Berea, KY
Berea College
NBF Presents: The Environment of Now
Can readers escape the end of the world? Join National Book Award–honored authors Julia Phillips (Disappearing Earth, 2019 Fiction Finalist) and Jackie Wang (The Sunflower Cast a Spell to Save Us from the Void, 2021 Poetry Finalist) for readings and conversation on writing the environment of place and people in the 21st century. Moderated by Ansel Elkins, author of Blue Yodel and Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Berea College. Presented in partnership with Berea College.
Thursday, April 14, 7:00pm EDT
Whitesburg, KY
Appalshop
NBF Presents: Violence Done and Undone
National Book Award–honored authors Julia Phillips (Disappearing Earth, 2019 Fiction Finalist) and Jackie Wang (The Sunflower Cast a Spell to Save Us from the Void, 2021 Poetry Finalist) investigate violence—on a rural Russian peninsula and in a dreamlike state—while reaching towards human connection. Join the authors for readings and conversation presented in partnership with Appalshop.
Wednesday, April 20, 4:00pm CDT
Warrensburg, MO
University of Central Missouri
NBF Presents: Epics of Memory
Join National Book Award–honored authors Victoria Chang (Obit, 2020 Poetry Longlist) and Min Jin Lee (Pachinko, 2017 Fiction Finalist) for readings and conversation on how intergenerational memory, family, and place has shaped their writing. Moderated by Anne Kniggendorf, author of Secret Kansas City and KCUR contributor. Presented in partnership with the University of Central Missouri.
Thursday, April 21, 6:00pm CDT
Topeka, KS
Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library
NBF Presents: The Power of Choice
National Book Award–honored author and Kansas native Lucas Bessire (Running Out: In Search of Water on the High Plains, 2021 Nonfiction Finalist) and Megha Majumdar (A Burning, 2020 Fiction Longlist) examine how access and power operate in their work—from an environmental disaster in the US to a fictionalized nationalist uprising in India. Join the authors for readings and conversation moderated by Huascar Medina, Kansas Poet Laureate. Presented in partnership with the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library.
May 7-8
Berkeley, CA
Bay Area Book Festival
NBF Presents: An Afternoon with the National Book Awards
Join us for readings and conversation with 2021 National Book Award honorees. Presented in partnership with the Bay Area Book Festival. More information on the line-up coming soon.
Unless otherwise noted, all programs made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
If not indicated above, please visit the websites of any of our partners for times and locations for events.
