Join the NEA at the National Book Festival!


By Grace Schaub and Paulette Beete
a young African American woman behind a podium with a sign language interpreter to her left
NEA Literature Fellow Kaitlyn Greenidge onstage on the NEA Poetry and Prose Stage at the 2016 National Book Festival. Photo by Edmond Joe, courtesy of Library of Congress
Writers can inspire their readers not only through their work but also by talking about their creative perspective and process. We look forward to listening in on a series of such conversations on the NEA Prose and Poetry Stage at the 2017 Library of Congress National Book Festival on Saturday, September 2. The free festival will take place from 10am-7:30pm at the Washington Convention Center.
Here’s a sneak peek at a few of the writers and NEA Literature Fellows taking the NEA stage during the festival, where we'll also feature Poetry Out Loud champs reciting their winning poems and chatting about their experiences with the competition. Find the complete schedule of what's happening on the NEA stage here. Follow us at @NEAarts and #NatBookFest for Twitter coverage throughout the festival.
Designed graphic The great poetry I love holds the mystery of being alive. It holds it in a kind of basket of words that feels inevitable. Marie Howe
Designed graphic quote I try to create characters, with character, to help improve my own character, and maybe the character of the person who might read me. - Ernest Gaines
Designed quote All the most lasting fiction is about one thing: how we go on. Some writers tackle this in the context of war or poverty or tyranny; I tackle it through the intimate world of the family. Julia Glass
Designed quote People constantly alter their own sense of reality in order to endure…Of course, sometimes the result is mean and destructive. I’m more interested in the ones who find the strange + seek passage thru it to something beautiful. - Brad Watson
Some of the deepest things we have in our lives...is that soft, soul-like heart that beats and dreams + feels. That’s where the poetry is… I’m calling everybody’s heart. Juan Felipe Herrera
For more from Ernest Gaines, check out our short film A Conversation with Ernest Gaines. And don't miss our podcast interview with former U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera.

Recent Blog Posts

All Blog Posts
On a music stage: Black man (center) playing a trumpet, White man (left) playing the guitar, and Black man (right) playing drums.

Grant Spotlight: American Jazz Museum

a marble reflecting the sunset

Celebrate Earth Day with NEA National Heritage Fellows!

Nathalie Handal, who has brown hair and green eyes, smiles at the camera, wearing a purple shirt.

Art Talk with Poet Nathalie Handal