Celebrate love of reading, craft of writing at 2026 Decatur Book Festival
A Pulitzer Prize winner, a James Beard Award winner, a Women’s Prize for Fiction winner and the U.S. Poet Laureate are among 100-plus writers scheduled to appear on 70 panels at this year’s Decatur Book Festival Friday and Saturday.
Following the keynote event with Brian Goldstone on Friday, venues throughout downtown Decatur will host panel discussions and author talks on Saturday representing all genres of fiction and nonfiction plus poetry, cookbooks and children’s literature.
Also on Saturday, a street fair will spill across lawns and closed roadways featuring more than 100 exhibitors representing small and independent publishers, booksellers, writing groups, literary journals, authors and more.
This year’s event marks the debut for new literary director Anna Dobben, who oversees programming.
“It kind of feels like a mixed-up America250 moment full of these novels that are adding to the national consciousness,” said Dobben when asked to characterize this year’s lineup. “There are histories that examine, you know, how do we think about George Washington’s legacy? How do we think about the legacy of plantations? As well as so many great books that examine the economics of our current age. It’s truly just a festival that has something for everybody.”
Dobben is especially pleased with the schedule of children’s authors, as well as the venue for many of the kids’ events — the new $8.5 million stage on the Decatur Square.
“The kids’ lineup is back at the center of the festival … We’re making sure they get to hear authors up on that big stage,” said Dobben.
She’s also excited to bring in Kentucky novelist Silas House.
“We’re getting an early on sale for his new novel ‘The Tulip Poplars.’ I love this book. It is across generations and questions what makes a family,” she said.
As a fan of genre fiction, Dobben is delighted with the programming at First Baptist Church of Decatur’s Carreker Hall.
“If you love romance, if you love thrillers, if you love horror, keep an eye on Carreker Hall,” she said.
All in all, she said, “ I think it’s a terrific lineup.”
IF YOU GO
Decatur Book Festival. Friday-Saturday. Keynote with Brian Goldstone, 7 p.m. Friday at First Baptist Church of Decatur, 308 Clairemont Ave. Register at eventbrite.com. Street fair and author events, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday at multiple venues in downtown Decatur. Free. decaturbookfestival.com.
2026 Decatur Book Festival highlights
Keynote: Brian Goldstone
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “There Is No Home for Us: Working and Homeless in America” (Crown, $30) discusses his groundbreaking book that humanizes the housing crisis and the plight of the working poor. Goldstone charts the lives of five Atlanta families as they try to patch together enough money from grueling minimum-wage jobs to keep roofs over their heads. He will be in conversation with writer and activist Brea Baker, author of “Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership.” (7 p.m. Friday. First Baptist Church of Decatur, 308 Clairemont Ave., sanctuary)
The following events take place Saturday.
Kidnote: “I Am a Good Dog”
Composed of random objects like rivets, routers and safety goggles, Metal Head is a robot dog who doesn’t know his purpose because the first page of his operating manual is missing in “I Am a Good Dog” (Feiwel and Friends, $18.99) by Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko. Eager to be adopted from the Dogtown shelter where he lives, Metal Head sets his sights on charming a girl named Esme, but she only wants a real dog. The authors will be in conversation with Shannon Balloon, host of the “Middle Grade Matters” podcast, for the festival’s Kidnote event. (10 a.m., Decatur Square stage)
Secrets, Lies and Deadly Consequences
Murder among the rich fuels the mysteries featured on this panel of thrillers. In Tara Goedjen’s novel “Please Enjoy Your Stay” (Atria/Emily Bestler Books, $29), a woman returns to a castle in the Austrian Alps to seek answers surrounding her cousin’s death a decade earlier. In “Perfect Life” (Bantam, $31) by Atlanta authors Kendall Shores and Meredith Lavender, a woman living among the elite of Winter Park, Florida, is forced to confront her hidden past when her wealthy husband is implicated in a mysterious murder. Brittany Smith, founder of The Book Bird in Avondale Estates, moderates. (10 a.m., First Baptist Church of Decatur, Carreker Hall)
U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze
In “Transient Worlds: On Translating Poetry” (Copper Canyon Press, $17), the National Book Award winner for his collection “Sight Lines” explores the art of translation with this anthology of poems spanning the globe and two millennia. Including multiple translations of the same poems, as well as poems written by translators, Sze considers the connection between reading and writing. He will be in conversation with Clay Smith, literary director of the Library of Congress. (11:30 a.m., First Baptist Church of Decatur, sanctuary)
ReesaTeesa
In 2024, Tareasa “ReesaTeesa” Johnson of Atlanta went viral on TikTok with her 50-part series about her nightmare marriage called “Who TF Did I Marry?” Her account of her husband’s web of lies captivated millions of viewers around the world. Now she’s written a book, “What (TF) Do I Do Now?” (Storehouse Voices, $32). Subtitled “Reclaiming Myself, One Piece at a Time,” Teesa’s memoir reflects with humor and insight on how she got involved with her ex and why she stayed as long as she did. She’ll discuss her book with Atlanta YA author Nic Stone. (1 p.m., Marriott, 130 Clairemont Ave., ballroom)
Challenging Historical Narratives
Historians explore different aspects of slavery on this historical nonfiction panel moderated by Carl Suddler, associate professor of history at Emory University. Panelists include UGA history professor Daniel Rood, whose “In the Shadow of the Great House: A History of the Plantation in America” (W.W. Norton, $35.99) examines the evolution of the plantation system and its lingering effects. He’ll be joined by John Garrison Marks, whose “Thy Will Be Done: George Washington’s Legacy of Slavery and the Fight for American Memory” (University of North Carolina Press, $35) considers the first U.S. president’s legacy of slavery and the efforts to whitewash history. (1:15 p.m., Marriott, Swanton Amphitheatre)
American Food in America250
In partnership with Georgia Humanities, DBF presents this food writers panel celebrating two of USA’s favorite foods: bacon and pimento cheese. In “Pimento Cheese: The Southern Spread” (UGA Press, $27.95), Rebecca Lang explores the origins of this finger-food delicacy and includes recipes ranging from traditional to bougie. Mark A. Johnson tracks the history of carnivores’ favorite breakfast food in “American Bacon: The History of a Food Phenomenon” (UGA Press, $34.95). Journalist Cathy Cobbs moderates. (1:45 p.m., Marriott, Mary Gay Room)
Silas House
A marriage of convenience and secret love affairs among a same-sex couple and a mixed-race couple in early 1900s Kentucky smolder at the heart of House’s new novel, “The Tulip Poplars” (Algonquin Books, $30). The former poet laureate of Kentucky spins an eloquent tale about oppression, yearning and the indefatigable power of true love in this book that is both intimate and epic. The two-time winner of the Southern Book Prize and a Grammy nominee for his work on Tyler Childers’ music video “In Your Love” will be in conversation with singer/songwriter Caroline Herring. (2 p.m., Marriott, ballroom)
Tayari Jones
Born in rural Louisiana in the 1950s, best friends Vernice and Annie are motherless girls who take different paths in life to fill the void left behind by the absence of maternal love. But when Annie gets into trouble, Vernice comes to her aid, proving that their bond transcends their different stations in life. That’s the premise of “Kin” (Knopf, $32), the latest bestseller by Jones, a creative writing professor at Emory University who Time magazine named one of the 100 most influential people in the world for 2026. She’ll be in conversation with Miwa Messer, executive producer of author events and content at Barnes & Noble. (4 p.m., First Baptist Church of Decatur, sanctuary)
J. Tom Morgan
“You need to start carrying a gun, you need to wear a bulletproof vest, and you need to get round-the-clock protection.” That was the advice former District Attorney J. Tom Morgan received before his prosecution of former DeKalb County Sheriff Sidney Dorsey for orchestrating the murder of Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown in 2000. Morgan’s memoir “A Rainy Night in Georgia” (Prometheus, $24.95) draws on trial transcripts, media reports and interviews to provide a behind-the-scenes account of this cold-blooded crime that rocked DeKalb County at the turn of the new millennium. Morgan will be in conversation with Melita Easters, executive director of Georgia WIN List, a political action committee. (4 p.m., DeKalb History Center, 101 East Court Square.)