Virginia Festival of the Book
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The Virginia Festival of the Book is an annual literary festival held in March in Charlottesville, Virginia. Virginia Humanities is the organizer.[1]
1995
The festival was established by Cal Otto, Paul Collinge, and Tom Dowd. Cal Otto was the founder of the American Ephemeral Society and active in the American Antiquarian Society.[2] Paul Collinge established Heartwood Books in The Corner in 1975.[3] Tom Dowd, a University of Virginia professor, brought Cal Otto to meet with Paul Collinge at his bookstore, and together, they started the festival.[2][4]
In 1994, an article in U.S. News & World Report ranked Charlottesville as third highest in the United States for books read per person.[4] In that context, the organized set the theme for the first festival as, "Charlottesville: a place for books".[4]
The first festival was on March 30, 1995.[4] Speakers at that first festival included Rita Mae Brown,[4] George Garrett,[4] Rita Dove,[4] John Casey,[4] Jonathan Coleman,[4] Joyce Carol Oates,[4] Gregory Orr,[4] and Charles Wright.[4]
That first festival had good attendance and all involved recognized it as a success worth repeating.[5]
2024
The 30th annual Festival featured 80 events and 120 authors over 4 days.[6] Presenters included Roxane Gay,[6] Jeannette Walls,[6] Adriana Trigiani,[6] and Ada Limón.[6]