About the Program
The 9th annual National Book Festival is organized by the Library of Congress, with honorary chairs President and Mrs. Obama. It takes place on the National Mall between 7th and 14th Streets NW, and is open to the public for free from 10am to 5:15pm. More than 70 authors are participating in event pavilions for History & Biography, Teens & Children, Fiction & Fantasy, Mysteries & Thrillers, and Poetry & Prose. The festival also features a book-signing area, the Library of Congress Pavilion and the Let’s Read America Pavilion for children's activities.
LIVE Saturday Sept. 26th TV Schedule:
9:50-10:00AM Phone Interview with Mrs.Laura Bush
10-10:30AM (History and Bio Tent) Kirstin Downey Author, "The Woman Behind the New Deal"
10:35-11:05 AM (History and Bio Tent) Douglas Brinkley Author, "The Wilderness Warrior" and David Taylor Author, "The Soul of a People"
11:10-11:45AM CALL IN with Douglas Brinkley & David Taylor on The Great Depression
11:50AM-12:15PM CALL IN with Annette Gordon-Reed on Jefferson & Hemings
12:20-12:50PM (History and Bio Tent) Annette Gordon Reed Author, "The Hemingses of Monticello"
12:50-1:25PM (History and Bio Tent) Patricia Sullivan Author, "Lift Every Voice"
1:30-2:00 CALL IN with Patricia Sullivan on the NAACP
2:05-2:35PM (History and Bio Tent) Jon Meacham Author, "American Lion"
2:40-3:05PM CALL IN with Jon Meacham on Andrew Jackson
3:15-3:45 PM (History and Bio Tent) Gwen Ifill Author, "The Break-Through"
3:50-4:20 PM (History and Bio Tent) Dan Balz & Haynes Johnson Co-authors, "The Battle for America 2008"
4:35PM-5:05PM (History and Bio Tent) Ken Burns & Dayton Duncan Co-authors, "The National Parks: America’s Best Idea"
5:10-5:45 PM CALL IN with Ken Burns & Dayton Duncan on National Parks
2009 National Book Festival
Book TV's LIVE coverage of the 2009 National Book Festival began at about 9:50AM ET from the National Mall. Starting off with an interview with former First Lady Laura Bush, who founded the Festival in 2001, Book TV 's coverage featured Kirstin Downey, Douglas Brinkley, David Taylor, 2008 National Book Award recipient Annette Gordon-Reed, NAACP historian Patricia Sullivan, Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham, Washington Week host Gwen Ifill, Washington Post reporters Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson as well as Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan. Several of these authors also did call-in shows.
For more information on the National Book Festival, please go to the Library of Congress website, www.loc.gov/bookfest.