The NYS Writers Institute’s 3rd Annual Albany Book Festival will be held September 10 through 24 with all events taking place online, free, and open to the public.
“We have pivoted to a Virtual Writers Institute for our entire fall programming, with everything offered online on the NYS Writers Institute’s website, YouTube channel and at albanybookfestival.com,” said Writers Institute Director Paul Grondahl. “The health and safety of everyone involved is paramount and Covid-19 protocols dictate that it is not advisable or permitted to come together in large gatherings on the UAlbany campus as in previous years.”
Authors and events already confirmed include:
- National Book Award winner Colum McCann
- National Book Critics Circle Award winner Edwidge Danticat
- Former child soldier Ishmael Beah, the Sierra Leonean and American author of the bestselling memoir A Long Way Gone
- Harold Holzer with his new book The Presidents vs. the Press: The Endless Batter Between The White House and the Media—From the Founding Fathers to Fake News
- Noam Chomsky, one of the most cited scholars in modern history, and “America’s leading dissenter” according to Bill Moyers.
- Gish Jen, whose new novel The Resisters was praised by Stephen King as “An absolute joy.”
- Jane Leavy, author of The Big Fella: Babe Ruth and the World He Created and Mickey Mantle and the End of American Childhood, and Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy
- Sister Helen Prejean, whose bestselling book about ministering to death row inmates, Dead Man Walking, was the basis for the movie of the same name
- National Book Award finalist Kali Fajardo-Anstine
- Novelist and food writer Cree LeFavour
- Dwight Garner, author and New York Times book critic
and more.
