Weekend of the Bookworm- AJC Decatur Book Festival, Sept. 3-5.

We have some exciting bookworm-friendly events happening in the Atlanta area this week!  So I thought I’d make a little announcement for all those that were unaware and do not want to miss out.  

Tomorrow Jonathan Safran Foer will be presenting Eating Animals at the Atlanta History Center.  I'll be attending with pen and pad in hand, and will definitely be providing a follow-up post on Thursday to discuss the event.  I'm really looking forward to it, regardless of how much I’m not looking forward to the traffic I have to deal with to get there. 

The excitement doesn’t stop there because folks in my neck of the woods will be gearing up for the festivities that will take place over the weekend. The Downtown Decatur Square will be hosting the AJC-Decatur Book Festival, the largest independent book festival in the United States, which celebrates the writing profession with a weekend full of fun events for the whole family.  Starting Friday, those who wish to participate can take part in writing workshops that kick-start the festival. Several writers, bloggers and publishers will be hosting workshops for all those who wisely pre-registered themselves (as the classes are now full) to listen to experts discuss the importance of character development, successful tools for blogging, how to get work published, and many other really interesting and informative topics.  I'm sad to confess that my full-time position prevents me from getting to any of the workshops on time!  Later in the evening (8 P.M., Agnes Scott College’s Presser Hall), festival-goers have the opportunity to listen to the Keynote Speaker and National Book Winner, Jonathan Frazen. This will be the first stop on Franzen's national book tour with his recently published Freedom.  If that isn’t big news, I don’t know what is!  

The festival will have over 150 booths lined up, featuring local independent booksellers, emerging artists and other miscellaneous goods and services.  They'll be great food, music, spoken word and a little stage action. Nearly 300 writers will be at the DBF, and it’s a great opportunity to sponsor their work, get to know the unfamiliar emerging faces, and relax with like-minded individuals. Other notable artists will also be speaking throughout the weekend and an official schedule can be found here.  I hope to be dropping by after work on Friday night and arriving early on Saturday to get in as much literary mania as I can hold for the weekend. 

I’m especially looking forward to a lecture which discusses the effect John Kennedy Toole's Confederacy of Dunces has had on American Literature, followed by a discussion of the way in which the novel was adapted for the stage.  If you're a huge fan of the novel, you cannot afford to miss this. 

All and all it looks like it’s going to be a pretty promising and fun-filled week/weekend!  If you want more information about the AJC Decatur Book Festival, click here or follow DBF on twitter.  

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