The Williamsburg Book Festival events scheduled for Saturday, October 1 have been cancelled but the 2022 Williamsburg Book Festival has been rescheduled for Feb 4, 2023 and the October 2023 Book Festival will occur as usual along with An Occasion for the Arts.

Schedule of Events
Saturday, October 1, 2022 (cancelled)

10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Meet the authors and publishers accepted into the juried show

at the Community Building and the Stryker Center

11:00 AM
Hear Virginia Poets Laureate read their latest works

at the Stryker Center

Carolyn-Kreiter-Foronda holds a B.A. from the University of Mary Washington and a M.Ed., M.A. and a Ph.D. from George Mason University, where she received the university’s first doctorate and an Outstanding Academic Achievement and Service Award. She has published eight books of poetry. Her poems have been nominated for six Pushcart Prizes. An accomplished visual artist, she teaches art-inspired poetry workshops for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts


Henry Hart (born 1954) is the Hickman Professor of Humanities at the College of William and Mary[1] in Williamsburg, Virginia. In addition to three books of poetry, he has written critical works on such poets as Seamus HeaneyGeoffrey Hill, and Robert LowellHis poems and essays have appeared in The New YorkerPoetryKenyon ReviewSouthern ReviewSewanee ReviewDenver Quarterly, and numerous other journals. Hart was a founding editor of Verse, an international poetry journal. In 2010, he won the Carole Weinstein Prize for Poetry.


J. Ron Smith  holds degrees (B.A., M.A., M.H., M.F.A.) from the University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University in philosophy, English, general humanities, and creative writing. He studied creative writing at Bennington College in Vermont, British drama at Worcester CollegeOxford University, and Renaissance and modern culture and literature at the Ezra Pound Center for Literature in MeranItalyHe is the recipient of the Theodore Roethke and Guy Owen Poetry Prizes; 


Sofia Starnes, a writer of Philippine-Spanish heritage served as Virginia Poet Laureate from 2012 to 2014. She received an advanced degree in English Philology from the University of Madrid. In 2013, she received a Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) degree from Union College (Ky.)  Sofia is the author of six poetry collections. She has achieved five Pushcart Prize nominations, ten finalist commendations in national and international competitions, and listings in Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in America, and Who’s Who of American Women. In 2009, she was named a Distinguished Scholar by Union College (Kentucky). 

1:00 PM
What should your child read?

at the Stryker Center

Three local Children and Young Adult Literacy experts share current as well as classic titles to entertain and inspire readers. You’ll leave with a list of books sure to delight the young readers in your life - and most likely you too!

Presenter and  moderator Sarah Lichtel taught in WJCC schools for 16 years.  She was named Williamsburg's 2008 teacher of the year and Virginia's Region II 2009 State teacher of the year. Sarah earned a master's in literacy leadership from The College of William & Mary and became a certificated associate level Orton-Gillingham practitioner. Currently Sarah tutors students in need of reading support, particularly those diagnosed with dyslexia.

Presenter Brier Anderson is the Reading Specialist at Berkeley Middle School.  In addition to being a high school English teacher for 10 years, Brier also holds a master's in literacy leadership from The College of William & Mary. 

Presenter Kim Hundley is a  graduate from James Madison University with Degree in Early Childhood Education and a Master’s Degree from Regent University. She was teacher of the year in 2004.  She now serves on the WJCC Schools Board. 

2:15 PM
HEADLINER ANNETTE SAUNOOK CLAPSADDLE PRESENTS 
To-Hi: Seeking to Balance the Cherokee-American Narrative
through Contemporary Historical Fiction.

at the Stryker Center

A citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Annette Clapsaddle resides in Qualla, NC. She holds degrees from Yale University and the College of William and Mary. Her debut novel, Even As We Breathe (UPK 2020), was a finalist for the Weatherford Award, named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2020, and received the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award (2021).

3:00 PM
Meet the headliners

at the Stryker Center

Annette Saunook Clapsaddle and youth headliner Sarah Glenn Marsh will meet with you and sign books.


 

2022 BOOK FESTIVAL HEADLINER
ANNETTE SAUNOOKE CLAPSADDLE

Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, resides in Qualla, NC. She holds degrees from Yale University and the College of William and Mary. Her debut novel, Even As We Breathe (UPK 2020), was a finalist for the Weatherford Award, named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2020, and received the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award (2021). Clapsaddle’s work appears in Yes! Magazine, Lit Hub, Our State Magazine and The Atlantic. She teaches secondary English and Cherokee Studies, is an editor for the Appalachian Futures Series (UPK), and serves on the board of trustees for the North Carolina Writers Network.

Even As We Breathe, University of Kentucky Press, examines race and class in the secluded microcosm of Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, during the summer of 1942.  Clapsaddle tackles the complexities of race relations, familial identity, and citizenship for Cherokees and draws comparisons between rural Cherokees, rural whites (soldiers and civilians), and upper-class foreign diplomats. “A fresh, welcome, and much needed addition to the fiction of the Appalachian South and its neglected people and places.”

—Charles Frazier, New York Times
bestselling author of Cold Mountain

HEAR HER PRESENTATION at 2:15 PM.  To-Hi: Seeking to Balance the Cherokee-American Narrative through Contemporary Historical Fiction. 
MEET THE AUTHOR AND BOOK SIGNING: 3:00 PM TO CLOSING at 4:00 PM.

 

WELCOME YOUTH HEADLINER
SARAH GLENN MARSH

In recent years, the book festival has also sponsored an author to visit area schools.  The 2022 youth headliner Sarah Glenn Marsh writes young adult novels and children’s picture books. An avid fantasy reader from the day her dad handed her a copy of The Hobbit and promised it would change her life, she’s been making up words and worlds ever since.

When she’s not writing, Sarah frequents the pottery studio, volunteers her time to sighthound rescue, and raises awareness about her autoimmune disease, Type 1 diabetes. She often enjoys pursuits of the nerd variety, from video games to tabletop adventures. She’s never met an animal or a doughnut she didn’t like.

Sarah lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and their tiny zoo of four rescued sighthounds, two birds, and many fish. She is the author of Fear the Drowning Deep, the Reign of the Fallen series, and several books for younger readers.

Sarah will be signing books at the Stryker Center from 3:00 to 4:00 Saturday afternoon. You can hear her speak on an AOFTA stage at 2:15 on Saturday. 

https://www.sarahglennmarsh.com/

 
 

Enter the Williamsburg Book Festival Student Competition
USE YOUR IMAGINATION TO WIN A CASH PRIZE!


 

RESOURCES FOR WRITERS

 
 

Chesapeake Bay Writers

Founded in 1991, Chesapeake Bay Writers is a chapter of the Virginia Writers Club. CBW serves writers from the Middle Peninsula, the Northern Neck and Williamsburg and adjacent areas. Lectures, critique groups, writing contests, Facebook page.

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The Muse

Located in Ghent in Norfolk, The Muse offers some 80 writing classes, workshops and seminars for beginning and advanced writers, the majority now available on-line. In addition, they offer writing support groups, gatherings and readings.

 

Osher Lifelong Learning, William & Mary

Classes for adults over 50 in the arts, writing and literature, computer training, history, government – the list goes on and on. All classes currently on-line.   

 

Poetry Society of Virginia

Readings, anthologies, contests, a library and resources for teachers—and an opportunity to vote for the upcoming poet laureate of Virginia. Local readings held at Williamsburg library facilities on a regular basis. 

 

 
 

Williamsburg Regional Library

Books, DVDs, audio books, meeting rooms and theater presentations are just the beginning of help provided by WRL.  Besides offering a wealth of research resources, you can find a large selection of on-line writing courses through Universal.    

Find it Online
Lifelong Learning
Universal Class

 
 

SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS

BENEFACTOR

 
Chesapeake Bank main sponsor
 

GRANTS

 
 

PATRONS

 
 

INSPIRER 

 
 

MUSE

 
 

SUPPORTERS

PARTNER

 

The Williamsburg Book Festival is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

Williamsburg Book Festival, Inc. is formed exclusively for charitable and educational and literary purposes.
Specifically, the organization hosts promotional and educational events, seminars and workshops that
promote and support the craft of literary composure and the exposure of writers to the reading public.