Georgia congressman John Lewis is the 2013 keynote speaker for the AJC Decatur Book Festival, the nation's largest independent book festival, which includes book signings, author readings, panel discussions, children's activities -- even cooking demonstrations. AJC Decatur Book Festival main page.

Schedule subject to change.

Friday

Agnes Scott

 

2:30-3:30:	Writers Conference Keynote Address featuring Clyde Edgerton
4:00-6:00:	Writers Conference featuring Ahmad Meradji, Ariel Lawhon, Sonya Collins, Beth Kephart, Marybeth Whalen, Kathie Bennett, Jill Martin Wrenn, Caroline Donahue, Kimberly Brock, Susie Wilde and Roy Peter Clark
5:00-6:00:	Kidnote Address featuring Tomie dePaola

Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts

8:00-9:00:

DBF Keynote Address featuring John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell

Saturday

Atlanta Writers Showcase

 

12:45-1:30:	Atlanta Writers Showcase Keynote featuring Jeffrey Small
1:30-2:00:	Emeralds of the Alhambara featuring John Cressler
2:00-2:30:	Sharp featuring Alex Hughes
2:30-3:00:	The Devil Laughed featuring Gerrie Ferris Finger
3:00-3:30:	Baby, You're a Rich Man featuring Chris Bundy
3:30-4:00:	Roadside Geology in Georgia featuring Pam Gore and William Witherspoon
4:00-4:30:	In Her Keeping featuring Valerie Joan Connors
4:30-5:00:	Skin in the Game featuring R.P. Finch
5:00-5:30:	Sea Change: An Example of the Pleasure Principle featuring Ken Anderson
5:30-6:00:	Germs of Truth featuring Heather Tosteson

Children's Stage

 

10:00-10:30:	Classic Stories with Jerry Pinkney featuring Jerry Pinkney
10:45-11:15:	Click, Clack, Boo! featuring Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin
11:30-12:00:	Carnivores and Other Monsters! featuring Dan Santat and Aaron Reynolds
12:15-12:45:	Mr. Tiger Goes Wild! featuring Peter Brown
1:00-1:30:	Meet Mirabelle! And Mr. Muller! featuring Michael Muller
1:45-2:15:	George Brown, Class Clown featuring Nancy Krulik
2:30-3:00:	The Hypnotists featuring Gordon Korman
3:15-3:45:	The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963 featuring Christopher Paul Curtis
4:00-4:30:	Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library featuring Chris Grabenstein
4:45-5:15:	Common Core Can Be Cool featuring Kirby Larson, Maile Meloy and Gennifer Choldenko
5:30-6:30:	Graphic Novels for Kids featuring Robin Mellom and Michael Fry

City Hall Stage

10:00-10:45:	Self-Publishing: The Good, Bad & Ugly featuring Ahmad Meradji
11:15-12:00:	A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words featuring Richard Diedrich and Laurie Shock
12:30-1:15:	One Place: Paul Kwilecki and Four Decades of Photographs from Decatur County, Georgia featuring Tom Rankin
1:45-2:30:	Whistling Dixie featuring Anderson Scott
3:00-3:45:	Where Did Our Love Go: Love and Relationships in the African-American Community featuring Edward Garnes, David Horton, Gil Robertson IV, Lita Hooper and Cassandra Wanzo
4:15-5:00:	Sans Comic: Using the Graphics Genre to Recount History featuring Nate Powell and Jonathan Hennessey
5:30-6:15:	A History of Prejudice: Race, Caste, and Difference in India & U.S. featuring Gyanendra Pandey

Cook's Warehouse Stage

11:00-12:30:	Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking featuring Cynthia Graubart and Nathalie Dupree
1:00-1:45:	Bacon Nation featuring Peter Kaminsky
2:00-3:30:	Quick & Easy Paleo Comfort Foods - Book Launch! featuring Charles Mayfield and Julie Mayfield
4:00-5:30:	Greek Revival from the Garden: Growing and Cooking for Life featuring Patricia Moore-Pastides

Decatur Library Stage

10:00-10:45:	Hauntings and Healings featuring Karen Spears Zacharias and Ann Hite
11:15-12:00:	The Storied South: Voices of Writers and Artists featuring William Ferris
12:30-1:15:	Slavery and Spirituality featuring Elaine Neil Orr and Margaret Wrinkle
1:45-2:30:	Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine featuring Adrian Miller
3:00-3:45:	Women on the Verge of A Breakdown / Breakthrough featuring Sheri Joseph and Susanna Daniel
4:15-5:00:	Digging and Delving: Resurrecting the Southern Past in Fiction featuring Charles McNair and Matthew Guinn
5:30-6:15:	Jordan is So Chilly: An Encounter with Lillian Smith featuring Brenda Bynum

Decatur High School Stage

10:00-10:45:	The Hot Country featuring Robert Olen Butler
11:15-12:00:	What American Parents Can Learn From Overseas featuring Amanda Ripley and Christine Gross-Loh
12:30-1:15:	The Business of Baby featuring Jennifer Margulis
1:45-2:30:	New Therapies for Today's Sensory Kids featuring Carolyn Dalgliesh, Kelly Dorfman
3:00-3:45:	Quarterbacks Past and Presnt featuring Dave Sheinin and Adam Lazarus
4:15-5:00:	The Astronauts Wives Club: A True Story featuring Lily Koppel
5:30-6:30:	This Assignment is So Gay - Book Launch! featuring Jee Leong Koh, Megan Volpert, Ed Madden, Theresa Davis and Pablo Miguel Martínez

Decatur Presbyterian Sanctuary Stage

11:15-12:00:	One Today featuring Richard Blanco
12:30-1:15:	The Road From Gap Creek - Book Launch! featuring Robert Morgan
1:45-2:30:	Growing a Better America: Smart, Strong and Sustainable featuring Chuck Leavell
3:00-3:45:	My Literary Brother featuring Lev Grossman and Austin Grossman
4:15-5:00:	A Question of Honor - Book Launch! featuring Charles Todd
5:30-6:15:	The Whole Enchilada - Book Launch! featuring Diane Mott Davidson

Decatur Recreation Center Gym

10:00-10:45:	The Big Shiny Sticker: An Insider's Perspective on the Newbery Medal featuring Christopher Paul Curtis, Susan Cooper, Gennifer Choldenko, Kirby Larson
11:15-12:00:	A Tap On the Window featuring Linwood Barclay
12:30-1:15:	The Power In, and of, Science Fiction Thrillers featuring Richard Kadrey and Geoffrey Girard
1:45-2:30:	The Strength Of Character: Self Discovery in Fiction featuring Jill McCorkle and Jennifer Haigh
3:00-3:45:	From Prosecution to Prose featuring Marcia Clark and Allison Leotta
4:15-5:00:	A Caldecott Conversation featuring Jerry Pinkney, Peter Brown
5:30-6:15:	The First Affair - Book Launch! featuring Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Eddie's Attic

 

10:00-10:45:	Sexy Scandals featuring Mary Morrison and Marissa Monteilh
11:15-12:00:	Secrets featuring David Samuel Levinson and Laura Lee Smith
12:30-1:15:	How the SEC Became Goliath: The Making of College Football's Most Dominant Conference featuring Ray Glier
1:45-2:30:	Picking up the Pieces featuring Ashok Rajamani and Christal Presley
3:00-3:45:	My 1980s and Other Essays featuring Wayne Koestenbaum
4:15-5:00:	Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life featuring Melody Moezzi
5:30-6:15:	The Residue Years featuring Mitchell Jackson

First Baptist Decatur Sanctuary Stage

 

10:00-10:45:	Tell Me the Truth, Doctor: Easy-to-Understand Answers to Your Most Confusing and Critical Health Questions featuring Richard Besser, M.D.
11:15-12:00:	Slavery: New Investigations and Discoveries featuring Henry Wiencek and Mac Griswold
12:30-1:15:	For Discrimination: Race, Affirmative Action, and the Law - Book Launch! featuring Randall Kennedy
1:45-2:30:	Kathy and Karin Talk Mystery featuring Karin Slaughter and Kathy Reichs
3:00-3:45:	A House Divided featuring Kimberla Lawson Roby
4:15-5:00:	The Best American Poetry 2013 - Book Launch! featuring David Lehman, Thomas Lux, David Kirby, Jericho Brown, Denise Duhamel and Kevin Young
5:30-6:15:	Rights in Fiction featuring Minrose Gwin, Susan Rebecca White and Susan Crandall

Local Poetry Stage

 

10:00-10:15:	JC Reilly
10:15-10:30:	A'nji Sings
10:30-10:45:	Tammy Foster Brewer
10:45-11:00:	Andrea O'Rourke
11:00-11:15:	Melissa Dickson Jackson
11:15-11:30:	Keetja Kuipers
11:30-11:45:	Colleen Payton
11:45-12:00:	Ujjuala Rahn
12:00-12:15:	Sylvia Cross
12:15-12:30:	Lee Furey
12:30-12:45:	Kodac Harrison
12:45-1:00:	Lee Passarella
1:00-1:15:	Karen Holmes
1:15-1:30:	Memye Curtis Tucker
1:30-1:45:	Lynn Alexander
1:45-2:00:	Dan Veach
2:00-2:15:	Collin Kelley
2:15-2:30:	Cleo Creech
2:30-2:45:	Lisa Nanette Allender
2:45-3:00:	Louise Runyon
3:00-3:15:	Christopher Martin
3:15-3:30:	Erin Ganaway
3:30-3:45:	Jesse Breite
3:45-4:00:	Jason Myers
4:00-4:15:	Rupert Fike
4:15-4:30:	Diana Anhalt
4:30-4:45:	Theresa Davis
4:45-5:00:	Karen Garrabrant
5:00-5:15:	Kesi Shaw
5:15-5:30:	Tawny Powell
5:30-5:45:	April "Ap" Smith
5:45-6:00:	Alice Lovelace

Marriott Conference Center Auditorium

 

10:00-10:45:	Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate featuring Justin Lee
11:15-12:00:	Sober Mercies: How Love Caught Up with a Christian Drunk featuring Heather Kopp
12:30-1:15:	I'd Rather Be With You featuring Mary Morrison
1:45-2:30:	Utilizing Rhetoric and Words: An Approach for Feminism featuring Jacqueline Royster and Bettina Love
3:00-3:45:	Dear Universe: Letters of Affirmation and Empowerment for All of Us featuring Yolo Akili
4:15-5:00:	A Celebration of Healing featuring Sal Brownfield and Eve Hoffman
5:30-6:15:	Taoism for Dummies featuring Jonathan Herman

Marriott Conference Center Ballroom A

 

10:00-10:45:	Selling with Noble Purpose: How to Drive Revenue and Do Work That Makes You Proud featuring Lisa Earle McLeod
11:15-12:00:	Wives and Sisters in Fiction featuring Jane Porter and Karen White
12:30-1:15:	The Philadelphia Chromosome: A Mutant Gene and the Quest to Cure Cancer at the Genetic Level featuring Jessica Wapner
1:45-2:30:	God Revised: How Religion Must Evolve in a Scientific Age featuring Galen Guengerich
3:00-3:45:	Brainwashed: How We Are Seduced by Mindless Neuroscience featuring Scott Lilienfeld
4:15-5:00:	Surrounded by Friends featuring Claire Cook and Wendy Wax
5:30-6:15:	Dragon*Con Comes to the Book Festival: A Panel of Pyr Authors featuring Joel Shepherd and Clay and Susan Griffith

Marriott Conference Center Ballroom B

10:00-10:45:	For Environmentalism featuring Jay Leutze and Kristen Iversen
11:15-12:00:	Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures featuring Virginia Morell
12:30-1:15:	The City of Devi featuring Manil Suri
1:45-2:30:	How to Write Short: Word Craft for Fast Times - Book Launch! featuring Roy Peter Clark
3:00-3:45:	Remembering Medgar Evers: Writing the Long Civil Rights Movement featuring Minrose Gwin
4:15-5:00:	Gravity's Engines: How Bubble-Blowing Black Holes Rule Galaxies, Stars, and Life in the Cosmos featuring Caleb Scharf
5:30-6:15:	The Age of Edison: Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America featuring Ernest Freeberg

Old Courthouse Stage

10:00-10:45:	Looking Back featuring Pamela Schoenewaldt, Dianne Dixon and Victoria Lustbader
11:15-12:00:	Personal Truths: On Writing Intimacy and Memoir featuring Stacey D'Erasmo and Beth Kephart
12:30-1:15:	Answering the Contemplative Call featuring Carl McColman
1:45-2:30:	Explosive Words featuring Laura McCullough and Thomas Lux
3:00-3:45:	Poetry Based on True Stories featuring Adrian Matejka and Maurice Manning
4:15-5:00:	Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution featuring Linda Hirshman
5:30-6:15:	A Leg Up: Crowd Funding Success Stories featuring Tim Byrd, Kevin "Kal" Kallaugher, Rich Tommaso, Beth Lilly and Rebecca Ryan

Teen Stage

 

11:00-11:45:	Sci Fi Thrills and Chills featuring D. J. MacHale and Rick Yancey
12:00-12:45:	Zombies and Others Who Are Not Quite Dead Yet featuring Amy Tintera and Jonathan Maberry
1:00-1:45:	Well, How Did I Get Here? featuring Myra McEntire, Lauren Miller and Michelle Hodkin
2:00-2:45:	Love in the Time of Global Warming featuring Francesca Lia Block
3:00-3:45:	Love and Romance Panel featuring Robyn Schneider, Lauren Morrill and Bridie Clark
4:00-4:45:	More Thrills and Chills featuring Geoffrey Girard and Robin Wasserman
5:00-5:30:	Teen Poetry Slam Honoring Stacey Daniel

Sunday

Atlanta Writers Showcase

 

1:00-1:30:	Camp Redemption featuring Raymond Atkins
1:30-2:00:	Divine Secrets of the Ta-Ta Sisterhood: Pledging the Pink Sorority featuring Joanna Chapman
2:00-2:30:	Get Married This Year featuring Janet Blaire Page
2:30-3:00:	Mathematical Card Magic: 52 New Effects featuring Colm Mulcahy
3:00-3:30:	Life Traces of the Georgia Coast featuring Anthony J. Martin
3:30-4:00:	On These Courts: A Miracle Season That Changed a City, A Once-Future Star, and a Team Forever featuring Wayne Drash
4:00-4:30:	The Washington Ultimatum featuring Lee Gimenez
4:30-5:00:	A Southern Woman's Guide to Herbs featuring Jaclyn Weldon White
5:00-5:30:	Fun in Fusion Research featuring John Sheffield
5:30-6:00:	What to Feed Your Baby featuring Stan Cohen

Children's Stage

12:00-12:30:	The Force is with Tom Angleberger: Origami Yoda featuring Tom Angleberger
12:45-1:15:	Moonday featuring Adam Rex
1:30-2:00:	Giddy Up! featuring Cece Bell and Rebecca Janni
2:15-2:45:	Peter Pan and Wendy: A Performance by Synchronicity Theater
3:00-3:30:	Monster Trucks and Mustaches featuring Michelle Knudsen and Bridget Heos
3:45-4:15:	Carol Reiser Awards featuring Jo S. Kittinger
4:30-5:00:	Dork Diaries featuring Rachel Renée Russell
5:15-5:45:	Interactive Drumming Circle

City Hall Stage

 

12:00-12:45:	When Will My Grown-Up Kid Grow Up? featuring Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
1:15-2:00:	The Next Wave: Magazine Journalists Making A Mark featuring Candice Dyer, Justin Heckert, Tony Rehagen, Thomas Lake
2:30-3:15:	American Homophobia featuring Stacy Braukman and David McConnell
3:45-4:30:	Radical Relations: Lesbian Mothers, Gay Fathers, and Their Children in the U.S. - Book Launch! featuring Daniel Winunwe Rivers
5:00-5:45:	The Wild, Wild... South featuring Victoria Wilcox and Sharman Burson Ramsey

Cook's Warehouse Stage

 

12:00-1:30:	Latin American Street Food - Book Launch! featuring Sandra Gutierrez
2:00-3:30:	Eat Your Vegetables featuring Joe Yonan
4:00-5:30:	Souper Jenny Cooks & Souper Jenny Does Salads featuring Jenny Levison

Decatur Library Stage

 

12:00-12:45:	Outsider Artists featuring Jim Elledge, Robert Sherer
1:15-2:00:	Blood and Soul featuring Kent Wascom and Bob Shacochis
2:30-3:15:	Lillian Smith Awards
3:45-4:30:	Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love and Karaoke featuring Rob Sheffield
5:00-5:45:	The Southern Tailgating Cookbook: A Game-Day Guide for Lovers of Food, Football, and the South featuring Taylor Mathis

Decatur Presbyterian Sanctuary Stage

1:15-2:00:	Poetry in the Public Life featuring P. Scott Cunningham, Esther Lee, Richard Blanco and Kevin Young
2:30-3:15:	The Lost Daughter featuring Mary Williams
3:45-4:30:	Lookaway, Lookaway - Book Launch! featuring Wilton Barnhardt
5:00-5:45:	Hoping to be Struck By Lightning: The Complete Poems of James Dickey featuring Ward Briggs, Bronwen Dickey and David Bottoms

Decatur Recreation Center Gym

12:00-12:45:	The Returned - Book Launch! featuring Jason Mott
1:15-2:00:	Breaking the Color Line: Integration in Sports featuring Randy Roberts, Tom Dunkel, Larry Colton and Sam Freedman
2:30-3:15:	Family Ties featuring Kim Boykin, Cassandra King and Mary Alice Monroe
3:45-4:30:	Vagina: A New Biography featuring Naomi Wolf
5:00-5:45:	Write Club Atlanta featuring Bobbin Wages, Nicholas Tecosky, Mike Molina, Josh Green, Jessica Handler and Myke Johns

Decatur Recreation Center Studio

12:00-12:45:	Have Food, Will Travel featuring Susan Puckett and Christopher Bakken
1:15-2:00:	Confessions of a Latter-Day Virgin: A Memoir - Book Launch! featuring Nicole Hardy
2:30-3:15:	Past, Present, and Tradition featuring Yangsze Choo and Charlie Lovett
3:45-4:30:	New Adult, New Genre featuring Abbi Glines and J Lynn
5:00-5:45:	Wrapped in the Flag: A Personal History of America's Radical Right featuring Claire Conner

Eddie's Attic

 

12:00-12:45:	Java Monkey Speaks! featuring Collin Kelley, Kodac Harrison and Theresa Davis
1:15-2:00:	Sex, Humor, and Everything In-Between featuring Michael Alvear and Slash Coleman
2:30-3:15:	Contagious Optimism: Uplifting Stories and Motivational Advice for Positive Forward Thinking featuring David Mezzapelle
3:45-4:30:	The Everyday and The Remarkable featuring Denise Duhamel and David Kirby
5:00-5:45:	Beneath the Surface featuring Joshilyn Jackson and Gillian Royes

First Baptist Decatur Sanctuary Stage

 

1:15-2:00:	Fevered: Why a Hotter Planet Will Hurt Our Health featuring Linda Marsa
2:30-3:15:	The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think featuring Brian Hare
3:45-4:30:	Talking Toys are Satan's Gift: Writing about Fatherhood featuring Clyde Edgerton
5:00-5:45:	Actions Speak Louder than Words featuring Jeff Shinabarger and Shayne Wheeler

Local Poetry Stage

 

12:00-12:45:	Clayton State University featuring Roberto Gibraltarik, Robert Pfeiffer and Brigitte Byrd
12:45-1:30:	Clark Atlanta University featuring Felton Eaddy
1:30-2:15:	Georgia Perimeter College featuring Marissa McNamara, Lita Hooper, Gregg Murray, Charles Fox, Katherine Perry and Louise McKinney
2:15-3:00:	Spelman College featuring Amoni Thompson, Shyla Hardwick, Opal Moore and Sharan Strange
3:00-3:45:	Georgia Tech featuring Robert Wood, Lionel London, Karen Head, Julia Turner, Haley Haufschild, Rebecca Weaver and Brent Hornilla
3:45-4:30:	Morehouse College
4:30-5:15:	Emory University featuring Gina Myers, Jericho Brown, Dana Sokolowski, Malachi Black and Bruce Covey
5:15-6:00:	Georgia State University featuring Christine Swint, Jenny Mary Brown, Jessica Temple, Diya Chaudhuri, Jocelyn Heath and Hank Backer

Marriott Conference Center Auditorium

12:00-12:45:	A Deadly Combination: Mystery + Comedy featuring Susan Boyer and Bill Roorbach
1:15-2:00:	Spies, Lies, and Lovers featuring Skyy, Nikki Rashan and Fiona Zedde
2:30-3:15:	Midnight In Mexico: A Reporter's Journey Through a Country's Descent into Darkness featuring Alfredo Corchado
3:45-4:30:	The Victory Season: WWII, The Homecoming, and the Birth of Baseball's Golden Age featuring Robert Weintraub
5:00-5:45:	Transitions: Memoirs of a Transsexual Woman featuring Tracey McDaniel

Marriott Conference Center Ballroom A

12:00-12:45:	Busy Bodies: Chocolate Flava 4 featuring Zane
1:15-2:00:	ReGeneration featuring Rebecca Ryan
2:30-3:15:	Time Warp featuring Kathryn Davis and Douglas Lain
3:45-4:30:	The Book of Immortality featuring Adam Leith Gollner
5:00-5:45:	The Story of Purpose featuring Joey Reiman

Marriott Conference Center Ballroom B

12:00-12:45:	My Beloved Brontosaurus: On the Road with Old Bones, New Science, and Our Favorite Dinosaurs featuring Brian Switek
1:15-2:00:	Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father featuring Alysia Abbott
2:30-3:15:	Politics by Pen featuring Kevin "Kal" Kallaugher and David Axe
3:45-4:30:	The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II featuring Denise Kiernan
5:00-5:45:	The Bonobo and the Atheist: Morality, Religion, and Prosocial Primates featuring Frans de Waal

Old Courthouse Stage

12:00-12:45:	Do Book Reviews Matter? featuring Lev Grossman, Teresa Weaver, Charles McNair, Gina Webb
1:15-2:00:	Crime After Crime featuring Amanda Kyle Williams, Philip DePoy and Peter Farris
2:30-3:15:	Damage featuring Chelsea Rathburn and Carl Phillips
3:45-4:30:	Love and Lies featuring Lauren Grodstein and Patricia Engel
5:00-5:45:	How Pirates Invented the Modern Music Industry featuring Alex Sayf Cummings

Teen Stage

12:00-12:45:	Fierce Reads Panel featuring Marie Rutkoski, Leigh Bardugo, Anna Banks and Gennifer Albin
1:00-1:45:	Love is Love featuring Sara Farizan and David Levithan
2:00-2:45:	When Good Girls Go Bad Panel featuring Terra Elan McVoy, Caprice Crane and Sara Shepard
3:00-3:45:	Life As We Knew It featuring Susan Pfeffer
4:00-4:45:	Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas featuring Jim Ottaviani
5:00-5:45:	Blogger Panel featuring David Levithan, Lauren Morrill and Leigh Bardugo

More Atlanta Labor Day Weekend events

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