The Library of Congress has announced the dates of the 2012 National Book Festival. This year marks the 12th year that the festival—which is free and open to the public—has been held.
This year, the festival will take place (rain or shine) on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and on Sunday, Sept. 23 from 12 noon to 5:30 p.m. As in years past, the festival will be held on the National Mall in Washington.
If you’re in the D.C. metro area, you should definitely plan on coming down—the festival will include more than 100 authors, poets, and illustrators who will be speaking, signing books, and meeting their fans. The festival is arranged into various pavilions which are dedicated to categories of literature, such as children, teen, poetry and prose, fiction and mystery, graphic novels, and State Poets Laureate. Check out the full listing of past authors and pavilions here.
The artist for this year’s commemorative poster will be Rafael Lopez, the award-winning illustrator for Pat Mora’s Book Fiesta!.
The National Book Festival site will include new information on the event as it is released. The site also has a variety of videos, podcasts, author information, and more from past events—including 115 webcasts from 2011, which include talks given by authors such as historian David McCullough and Nobel-prize winner Toni Morrison.
I know that this would be a weekend field trip I’d be delighted to attend with my elementary school-aged kids. My bookish high-school self would have also had a great time visiting the various pavilions, either as part of a school activity or just with friends.
Do you have a particular author or illustrator you’d love to see at the 2012 event? The Library of Congress is inviting comments here.