10 author panels to catch at 2025 Decatur Book Festival
The 2025 Decatur Book Festival will launch with two keynote events on Friday, followed by a full day of panels and entertainment Saturday.
More than 100 local, regional, and national authors will be in attendance. Here’s a sampling of 10 notables, in order of appearance, from a wide range of genres.
Featured authors on Friday
Keynote speaker: Saeed Jones
Early this year, memoirist and poet Saeed Jones and his friend, fellow memoirist and poet Maggie Smith, co-curated a new anthology called “The People’s Project,” which published Sept. 9.
The book was born out of the aftermath of the 2024 presidential elections when many creatives in their circle were wrestling with feelings about a second Trump presidency. What started as a personal exchange of text messages between Jones and Smith expanded into a chorus of voices reflecting more broadly on community, ancestry, history, wisdom and resilience.
The anthology features 27 works including personal essays, poetry and cartoons. The anthology’s notable authors include Marlon James, Joy Harjo, Ada Limón, Kiese Laymon, Ashley C. Ford, Imani Perry and Eula Biss.
On Friday night, Jones will moderate a conversation between three authors included in the anthology: National Book Award long-listed poet and Atlantan Victoria Chang, Nashville poet Tiana Clark, and novelist Aruni Kashyap, director of the creative writing program at the University of Georgia.
7 p.m. Friday. First Baptist Church Decatur Sanctuary, 308 Clairemont Ave., Decatur.
Kidnote speaker: Angie Thomas
Angie Thomas’ first book in the Nic Blake series, “Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy,” was a bestselling, fast-paced fantasy inspired by African American history and folklore. Protagonist Nic is a courageous, spunky Black girl with empathetic instincts that drive her to become an advocate for the marginalized. The book’s sequel, “Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Book of Anansi,” came out this month. Thomas will speak, then sign books.
6 p.m. Friday. Presser Hall at Agnes Scott College, 141 E. College Ave., Decatur. Complimentary guest parking is available at the West Parking Facility, located at 137 S. McDonough St.
Author highlights on Saturday
Lovers of Romantasy score back-to-back panels Saturday morning
Saturday morning will gather lovers of fantasy and romance for two back-to-back panels.
At 10 a.m., Kate McNeil, owner of All the Tropes bookstore in Kirkwood, will moderate a conversation called “Wild Hearts, Wild Magic” with New York Times bestselling romantasy author and Atlanta native Rebecca Ross, whose works include “Divine Rivals,” “Sisters of Sword & Song” and the “Queen’s Rising” series. Alongside Ross will be Georgia newcomer Analeigh Sbrana, who debuted her fae-filled romantasy novel “Lore of the Wilds” in 2024.
A second romantasy-themed panel, “All Shades and Flavors of Romantasy,” immediately follows at 11:30 a.m. featuring three authors: N.E. Davenport, Hannah Nicole Maehrer and Kate Dramis. Preet Singh, Eagle Eye bookshop’s event coordinator and co-founder of the Love Y’all romance book festival, will moderate.
10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Saturday. First Baptist Church Decatur Sanctuary, 308 Clairemont Ave., Decatur.
Novelist Jason Mott joins Joe Barry Carroll to talk about his new book
National Book Award winner Jason Mott will discuss his book “People Like Us” (Dutton, Hardcover $30), which came out Aug. 5. The sharp, soulful novel intertwines the stories of an author on a global tour with that of a writer grappling with the aftermath of a school shooting. Both humorous and achingly sad, the book explores grief, absurdity, resilience and love in a country haunted by violence. Mott will be in conversation with former NBA All-Star turned author, artist and philanthropist Joe Barry Carroll.
10 a.m. Saturday. Marriott Hotel, Decatur Ballroom B, 130 Clairemont Ave., Decatur.
Mary Roach explores advances in science rebuilding the human body
In her new book, “Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy” (W.W. Norton & Company, $29), which came out Sept. 16, science writer Mary Roach dives deep into the strange, wonderful and often unforeseen advances in prosthetics, transplants and gene editing. Roach unpacks brainy breakthroughs, bizarre experiments and ethical puzzles, all delivered with her trademark wit and curiosity. The book raises questions about the implications of rebuilding the human body. Laurel Bristow, infectious-disease researcher at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, will moderate.
11:30 a.m. Saturday. Marriott Hotel, Decatur Ballroom B, 130 Clairemont Ave., Decatur.
Jen Hatmaker explores mid-life awakenings with Barbara Brown Taylor
For most of her career, Jen Hatmaker was known as an evangelical author, speaker, blogger and writer who blended humor and faith to offer commentary and practical guidance. Her notoriety expanded when she and her then-husband, Brandon Hatmaker, starred in 2014 HGTV reality show “My Big Family Renovation.” But in 2020, her marriage fell apart.
Her 14th and most recent book, “Awake” (Convergent, $28), which hit shelves Sept. 23, is a bold departure from her norm. Rather than offering advice or spelling out conclusions, it is a raw and vulnerable memoir, written in the form of narrative vignettes spanning 40 years.
Each scene, written from the limited perspective she had at the time, illuminates how she unknowingly built her life with bricks bound to crumble, and how her divorce thrust her into a period of midlife reinvention.
“I’m looking at patriarchy and misogyny and gender norms and body shame and purity culture,” Hatmaker said. “As I began to examine those (while writing), I found out maybe it’s not such a shock that this house fell down.”
Hatmaker will discuss “Awake” with fellow New York Times bestselling author Barbara Brown Taylor, who last year was elected to the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame.
1 p.m. Saturday. First Baptist Church Decatur Sanctuary, 308 Clairemont Ave., Decatur.
Andrew Greer and Kim Carter Fuller pay tribute to Jimmy Carter
Every Sunday for nearly 40 years, Jimmy Carter taught Scripture and delivered stirring words at a small church in his hometown of Plains. In his book, “More Than a President: Sundays with Jimmy Carter,” author Andrew Greer offers an intimate look at the spiritual and humanitarian legacy of the former president.
Greer will speak with Carter’s niece, Kim Carter Fuller, the executive director of Friends of Jimmy Carter, to tell stories about the former president’s enduring faith and servant-hearted leadership.
2:30 p.m. Saturday, First Baptist Church Decatur Sanctuary, 308 Clairemont Ave., Decatur.
Canadian investigative journalist Tanya Talaga uncovers Indigenous oppression
Tanya Talaga, a Canadian journalist who spent more than two decades as a reporter at the Toronto Star covering health, education and Indigenous affairs, has written multiple investigative books examining Indigenous trauma. Her latest book, “The Knowing” (HarperCollins Canada, $25), published in 2024, investigates the legacy of Canada’s residential school system, where Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families, stripped of their culture and suffered abuse.
Talaga will speak with Jeremy Redmon, a senior reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution who has covered immigration, politics, the military and public policy for two decades.
3:45 Saturday. Marriott Hotel, Decatur Ballroom B, 130 Clairemont Ave., Decatur.
Elizabeth George and Hank Phillippi Ryan talk crime and suspense
Bestselling mystery and suspense novelists Elizabeth George and Hank Phillippi Ryan will join forces for a conversation about building mystery and suspense. They will also discuss their newest novels, which both published last month.
George’s newest Inspector Lynley novel, “A Slowly Dying Cause” (Viking, $32), which came out Sept. 23, follows the investigation into the suspicious death of a Cornish tin workshop owner whose murder exposes family estrangements, hidden motives and a community divided over land rights.
Ryan’s thriller, “All This Could Be Yours” (St. Martin’s/Minotaur, $29), which came out Sept. 9, centers on a high-powered family whose secrets unravel when the patriarch dies, revealing twists of ambition, betrayal and revenge.
Tiphanie Yanique, novelist, poet and finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards and the Townsend Prize, will moderate.
5 p.m. Saturday. First Baptist Church Decatur Sanctuary, 308 Clairemont Ave., Decatur.
Just for fun: Landon Bryant uses humor and wit to unpack Southernisms
Charming viral sensation Landon Bryant, whose humorous takes on Southern sayings and traditions have made him a hit on TikTok and Instagram, will discuss his books “Bless Your Heart: A Field Guide to All Things Southern” and “The Night Before Christmas, Y’all.”
Bryant unpacks Southernisms like “cattywampus,” reflects on porch wisdom and pig pickins and celebrates the quirks of the South. He’ll be joined in conversation by Decatur-based playwright and screenwriter Topher Payne, a Georgia Theatre Hall of Fame inductee.
5 p.m. Saturday. Marriott Hotel, Decatur Ballroom B, 130 Clairemont Ave., Decatur.
If you go
Decatur Book Festival. Friday-Saturday. Free. decaturbookfestival.com.
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