Tomorrow I head down to Charlottesville for the 15th annual Virgina Festival of the Book (March 18-22).
It can be hard, as an author, to be “on” for hours at a time (I participated in an author brunch recently that was like speed dating — every ten minutes, an egg timer dinged and you had to move to another table, where, for 10 minutes, you pimped your book to strangers splitting their focus between you and the shrimp-n-grits). At the same time, let’s be clear (as PRESIDENT Obama would say): it’s a complete honor to be invited, a complete thrill to be in the midst of so many book lovers, and a lovely chance to hear great work from writers I didn’t know.
Now. What I really, really need to know is where to eat in Charlottesville? What are Hooville specialties? Any suggestions out there? My palate is pan-brow: lowbrow, middlebrow, and highbrow.
Here, if you’re in the ‘hood, are my appearances:
March 20: Virginia Festival for the Book
PANEL: Searching for Our Roots: Memoirs
Appearing with Ariel Sabar (My Father’s Paradise: A Son’s Search for his Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq) and Martha Frankel (Hat & Eyeglasses).
Barnes & Noble
1035A Emmet Street, Charlottesville, VA
434.984.0461
2:00 pm
March 21: Virginia Festival for the Book
PANEL: African American Voices
Appearing with Randall Kenan (The Fire This Time) and Adam Bradley (Book Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop).
Central JMRL Library
201 E. Market Street, Charlottesville, VA
434.979.7151
12:00 pm
March 22: Charlottesville Links 6th Annual Celebration Brunch
Charlottesville Omni Hotel
Charlottesville, VA