March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 49 F

Award-Winning Authors Headline 2011 Annapolis Book Festival

Key School Book Fair

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Nationally renowned authors Gwen Ifill, Michele Norris, Annette Gordon-Reed, Peter Bergen, and Norb Vonnegut are among many distinguished speakers scheduled to appear at the 2011 Annapolis Book Festival on Saturday, April 9, at The Key School.

This free community event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and features more than 40 prominent authors, as well as book signings, new and used book sales, and numerous family activities. The festival draws approximately 3,000 visitors each year. Several festival panels will be broadcast live on C-Span’s Book TV.

Featured panels include a discussion about race in America with Washington Week moderator Gwen Ifill and co-host of NPR’s All Things Considered Michele Norris. In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, professors and authors, including Harvard’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Annette Gordon-Reed, the U.S. Naval Academy’s Craig Symonds, University of North Carolina’s Joseph Glatthaar, and lecturer Harold Holzer, will reflect on the historic events and press coverage of the Civil War and its aftermath. Authors slated to discuss ‘man’s best friend’ include National Geographic, Discovery Channel and PBS documentary producer Meg Daley Olmert and Humane Society president and CEO Wayne Pacelle.

Panelists also include Washingtonian magazine editor Garrett Graff and former New York Times reporter David Shipler considering the rights of the people. Author Jehanne Wake examines the lives of the Caton sisters of Annapolis — granddaughters of Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

“I am always inspired by the exchanges held throughout a day of intellectual stimulation at the Annapolis Book Festival,” said Key School head of school Marcella Yedid. “Provocative and timely topics, engaged audiences and knowledgeable presenters whose books have recently captured the national imagination are the ingredients of this much loved event.  It is not surprising that it draws its attendees from the greater Annapolis, Baltimore and Washington region, many of whom make this an encore event in their schedules.”

In addition to author appearances, the 9th annual festival includes family-friendly entertainment and educational performances, as well as a variety of interactive children’s activities and a silent auction of storybook-inspired furniture.

“There is something for everyone,” said Annapolis Book Festival chairwoman Liz Filter.We have incredible panels of authors speaking about everything from autism to Islam, from zombies to the Civil War. We have more than 100 parent volunteers and generous sponsors who work to make this day a reality. And we have children’s activities and entertainment, including crafts, games, storytelling, music, and dancing, that allow us to share our love of reading with the next generation.”

The Annapolis Book Festival is held on the campus of The Key School at 534 Hillsmere Drive, Annapolis, MD, 21403. Designed to promote and celebrate reading among all ages, the event is free and open to the public.

Visit www.keyschool.org/annapolisbookfestival for more information and a complete schedule of events. Follow @KeySchool on Twitter for the latest #AnnapolisBookFestival updates.

2011 Annapolis Book Festival panel topics and authors include:

Does Race Still Matter?

Civil War Perspectives

  • Joseph T. Glatthaar —author of General Lee’s Army: From Victory to Collapse; Soldiering in the Army of Northern Virginia: A Statistical Portrait of the Troops Who Served Under Robert E. Lee (due out June 2011)
  • Annette Gordon-Reed—author of Andrew Johnson: The American Presidents Series: The 17th President, 1865-1869; The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
  • Harold Holzer and Craig L. Symondsco-authors of The New York Times Complete Civil War 1861-1865 (a compilation of the northern press and editorial coverage of the Civil War with a foreward by President Bill Clinton)

Man’s Best Friend

  • Meg Daley Olmert—author of Made for Each Other: The Biology of the Human-Animal Bond
  • Jon Franklin—author of Wolf in the Parlor: How the Dog Came to Share Your Brain
  • Julie Klam—author of You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness; Please Excuse My Daughter
  • Wayne Pacelle—author of The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them

Citizen Science: Autism, Vaccines and the Threat to Public Health

Islam in America

The Rights of the People

  • David Shipler—author of The Rights of the People: How Our Search for Safety Invades Our Liberties
  • Garrett M. Graff—author of The Threat Matrix: The FBI at War in the Age of Global Terror

Climate Change and Environmental Challenges

  • Fen Montaigne—author of Fraser’s Penguins: A Journey to the Future in Antarctica
  • Eric Pooley— author of The Climate War:  True Believers, Power Brokers, and the Fight to Save the Earth

Thrillers in the Real World

  • Norb Vonnegut—author of Top Producer; The Gods of Greenwich (due out April 2011)
  • Andrew Gross— author of Reckless, Don’t Look Twice
  • Steven J. Harper— author of The Partnership
  • Michael Palmer— author of The Last Surgeon; The Second Opinion; A Heartbeat Away

Why is War the Answer?

DC’s Finest Novelists

  • Howard Norman—author of What Is Left the Daughter, The Bird Artist; The Museum Guard
  • Mark Athitakis —book critic
  • Eugenia Kim—author of The Calligrapher’s Daughter
  • Tania James—author of Atlas of Unknowns

Mutants, Zombies and Killer Unicorns

  • Larry Doyle—author of Go Mutants!
  • Maccabee Montandon—author of The Proper Care and Feeding of Zombies: A Completely Scientific Guide to the Lives of the Undead
  • Diana Peterfreund—author of Ascendant; Rampant

Ladies Ahead of Their Time

  • Jehanne Wake—author of Sisters of Fortune: America’s Caton Sisters at Home and Abroad

Our Aging Population and the Economy

  • Ted C. Fishman—author of Shock of Gray: The Aging of the World’s Population and How It Pits Young Against Old, Child Against Parent, Worker Against Boss, Company Against Rival, and Nation Against Nation

Women In Sports

  • Marilyn Cohen—author of No Girls in the Clubhouse: The Exclusion of Women from Baseball
  • Joe Wallace—author of Diamond Ruby
  • Don Van Natta Jr.—author of Wonder Girl: The Magnificent Sporting Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias (due out June 2011)

Workshops led by The Writer’s Center

  • Barbara Esstman—co-editor of A More Perfect Union: Stories And Poems About The Modern Wedding
  • Jeff Kleinman—literary agent
  • Michele Wolf—author of Immersion
  • James Mathews—author of Last Known Positive
  • C.M. Mayo—novelist, author of The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, Miraculous Air, Sky Over El Nido
  • Rose Solari—poet, co-founder of Alan Squire Publishing, author of Orpheus in the Park, Difficult Weather, Looking for Guenevere
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