Throngs of literature lovers checked out the AJC Decatur Book Festival -- and it's arts-fest-within-the-book-fest, arts|DBF -- on Saturday despite zombifying heat and humidity. The lineup on the fest's final day today is strong, and the weather may even prove more pleasant. Here are but a few highlights ...
Gail Sheehy
Sheehy caught the zeitgeist of an age with the 1976 work "Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life, " which spoke to many women (and men) about the challenges of growing up and growing old. She went on to paint indelible portraits of President George W. Bush, Margaret Thatcher, Hillary Clinton and others among the famous and powerful in magazine stories for Vanity Fair, New York magazine and the New Yorker magazine. She will introduce her sweeping memoir, "Daring: My Passages."
1:15-2 p.m. Sunday at the Decatur Presbyterian Sanctuary stage.
Amanda Kyle Williams
The best-selling Decatur author returns with her latest thriller, "Don't Talk to Strangers," featuring private investigator Keye Street, a character The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called “one of the most addictive new series heroines.”
Appearing in a "Close Encounters" panel with Margaret Maron ("Designated Daughters") at 1:15 p.m. Sunday at First Baptist Decatur Sanctuary Stage.
William Wegman
Weimaraners are known for their glossy gray coats, doleful expressions and blue eyes, but not for being uncomfortably burdened with extra intelligence. On the other hand, photographer Wegman's Weimaraners were smart enough to don blond wigs and roller skates and sit patiently in his studio and become famous. Wegman has parlayed his dognition into children's books, including the just-published "Flo and Wendell Explore, " featuring sibling puppies out for adventure.
He appears with Chris Gall 1:30-2:15 Sunday at the Children's Stage.
For more DBF highlights for child and teen readers, click here.
Allan Gurganus
Gurganus made his mark with his 1989 debut novel, "Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All." His newest book, "Local Souls, " examines the 21st century South by revisiting the Falls, N.C., setting of the first novel. It has been described as "Winesburg, Ohio with high-speed Internet." It is his first book in 12 years.
2:30-3:15 p.m. Sunday, Old Courthouse Stage.
Ted Rall
Best book title of the festival probably goes to journalist and cartoonist Rall, well known for his acidulous multi-panel political cartoons printed in Rolling Stone, the Village Voice, the Los Angeles Times and elsewhere. Rall used a Kickstarter campaign to send himself to Afghanistan to document the impact of 10 years of war (he'd already been once, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11) and the result is "After We Kill You, We Will Welcome You Back as Honored Guests: Unembedded in Afghanistan, " a nightmare travelogue.
2:30-3:15 p.m. Sunday at the Decatur Recreation Center gymnasium.
Théâtre du Rêve
This French-culture troupe will present a staged performance of an adaptation of Fanny Britt’s children’s graphic novel “Jane, the Fox and Me,” featuring projected images and sound effects. A talk-back with actress Caitlin E. Roe follows.
2:30 Sunday, art|DBF Stage, Decatur High School Performing Arts Center. theatredureve.org
Richard Rodriguez
NPR commentator Rodriguez is part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender track, and will talk about his essay collection "Darling, " a "spiritual autobiography" that touches on religion, homosexuality and the post 9/11 world.
3:45-4:30 p.m. Sunday, Old Courthouse Stage.
Karen Abbott
In "Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, " New York Times best-selling author Abbott tells the nonfiction tale of four women --- a socialite, a farm girl, an abolitionist and a widow --- all of whom were spies during the Civil War. Her narrative reportage has been called "sizzle history, " and the festival claims she "illuminates the saucier secrets of the Civil War."
3:45-4:30 p.m. Sunday, Decatur Recreation Center Gym.
90 Second Newbery Film Festival
Presenting a “best-of” selection from the annual video contest in which kid filmmakers create movies that tell the stories of Newbery Prize-winning books. Funny things happen when even serious or somber books are compressed into 90 seconds or less by clever pint-sized filmmakers.
3:45 p.m. Sunday, Decatur Library Stage. jameskennedy.com/90-second-newbery
Wabi Sabi
Atlanta Ballet’s contemporary dance offshoot that showcases new works by the next generation of choreographic talent performs Gretchen Alterowitz’s “Holding Ground” and Benny Royce Runyon’s “Me in Your Fall.”
4:30 p.m. Sunday, Community Bandstand area. atlantaballet.com/wabisabi
Alliance Theatre: “Native Guard”
In what’s being billed as a “page-to-stage” experience, Alliance Theatre Director of New Projects Celise Kalke and Natasha Trethewey will discuss the world premiere production of the former U.S. Poet Laureate’s “Native Guard” that’s being readied for a Sept. 26 world premiere on the Alliance’s Hertz Stage. Trethewey’s Pulitzer Prize-winning collection juxtaposes her experiences as a child of a mixed-race marriage with the experiences of a soldier in the Native Guard, an African-American Union troop guarding white Confederate captives. Recommended for ages 14 and up.
5 p.m. Aug. 31, art|DBF Stage, Decatur High School Performing Arts Center. alliancetheatre.org/production/native-guard
Staff writer Bo Emerson contributed to this report.
EVENT PREVIEW
AJC Decatur Book Festival
Sunday at more than 20 indoor and outdoor locations throughout downtown Decatur. Free. 404-471-5769, www.decaturbookfestival.com.
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