2019 Festival Authors
Don't want to wait in line to get your books signed?
Pre-order your books, and we will get them signed for you! All book orders must be placed online at bookmarksnc.org by August 26. Following the Festival, Bookmarks can ship your books to you or they will be available for pick up at our bookstore beginning on Wednesday, September 11. Please put signing and personalization notes in checkout comments.
New this year! Members of Bookmarks' Signed First Editions Club will receive a front of the line signing pass that allows members to jump to the front of any booksigning line on Festival Saturday.
All author events listed here with time and location will be held on Saturday, September 7. Refer to author bios for booksigning times on Saturday, September 8 unless otherwise indicated.
Katherine Arden
Katherine Arden, bestselling and acclaimed author of science-fiction and fantasy novels, is best known for her Winternight trilogy, of which its first installment is The Bear and the Nightingale. Her debut middle grade children’s novel, Small Spaces, was featured in The New York Times and named one of the best books of the year by Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. Its highly-anticipated sequel is Dead Voices.
Seeing Ghosts: 12:45–1:30 p.m. / Kids Area
Escape from Normal: 2–2:45 p.m. / Hanesbrands Theatre
Booksigning: 3 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/katherine%20arden
Presented with support from Wells Fargo
Mac Barnett
Mac Barnett is a New York Times bestselling author of stories for children. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages and sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. Mac’s picture books include two Caldecott-Honor-winning collaborations with Jon Klassen: Sam & Dave Dig a Hole, which also won the E.B White Read-Aloud Award, and Extra Yarn, which won both the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award. Leo: A Ghost Story, illustrated by Christian Robinson, and The Skunk, illustrated by Patrick McDonnell, were named two of the Ten Best Illustrated Books of 2015 by The New York Times. Mac's novels include the Brixton Brothers mysteries and The Terrible Two series. His new collaboration with Greg Pizzoli is the Jack series featuring a mischievous rabbit, a cranky old lady, and a lovable dog.
Storytime with Mac Barnett & Greg Pizzoli (Ages 4–8): 1:45–2:30 p.m. / Footnote
Booksigning: 2:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/mac%20barnett
Margaret D. Bauer
Margaret D. Bauer is the Rives Chair of Southern Literature in the Department of English at East Carolina University, where she received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Activity; a Distinguished Professor of Harriot College of Arts and Science; and the editor of the North Carolina Literary Review. Dr. Bauer is the author of The Fiction of Ellen Gilchrist, William Faulkner’s Legacy, Understanding Tim Gautreaux, and A Study of Scarletts: Scarlett O’Hara and Her Literary Daughters, as well as numerous articles in scholarly journals. She has also edited two Paul Green books: James Spence’s Green biography and a new critical edition of Green’s play The House of Connelly. Dr. Bauer has received several honors and awards, including the Parnassus Award for Significant Editorial Achievement from the Council of Editors of Learned Journals and the ECU Centennial Award for Excellence in Leadership. She is also a past President of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association. In 2017, she received the North Carolina Award for Literature from Governor Roy Cooper.
Exploring the North Carolina Literary Landscape: 2:15–3:15 p.m. / Mountcastle Forum
Cece Bell
Cece Bell is the author-illustrator of many books for young readers, including Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover and El Deafo, the first graphic novel to ever win the Newbery Honor award. She is also the creator of the Sock Monkey picture books and Chuck and Woodchuck. Her newest children’s book, Chick and Brain: Smell My Foot!, is for readers aged 4 to 8.
Graphic Novel Workshop (Ages 8+): 12:30–1:30 p.m. / Sawtooth School / Ticket Required
Seeing Stories: Graphic Novel Talk (Ages 8+ / ASL): 2:45–3:30 p.m. / Kids Area
Booksigning: 3:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/cece%20bell
Presented with support from Brenner Children’s – Wake Forest Baptist Health
Ali Benjamin
Ali Benjamin’s debut novel, The Thing About Jellyfish, was a National Book Award for Young People's Literature finalist in 2015, a New York Times bestseller, and named one of twenty-five notable children's books of 2015 by The New York Times. Benjamin is the co-author of Tim Howard’s The Keeper: The Unguarded Story of Tim Howard and Paige Rawl’s Positive: A Memoir, which was a Junior Library Guild selection and the first-ever nonfiction selection for The Today Show book club. The Keeper was a New York Times bestseller in sports. Benjamin has additionally authored The Cleaner Plate Club with Beth Bader. Her latest middle grade novel is The Next Great Paulie Fink.
Middle School Stinks (Ages 8–12 / ASL): 1:45–2:30 p.m. / Kids Area
Booksigning: 2:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/ali%20benjamin
Sarah Blake
Sarah Blake is the author of the novels Grange House and The New York Times bestsellers The Postmistress and The Guest Book, which instantly became a bestseller in its first month of publication in May 2019. She has also authored a chapbook of poems, Full Turn, and the artist book Runaway Girls in collaboration with artist Robin Kahn.
Book Club Spotlight: 1:45–2:30 p.m. / Calvary Moravian Church
Book & Author Tea: 4:30–5:30 p.m. / Footnote
Booksignings: 2:45 p.m. at Booksigning Tent & 5:30 p.m. at Footnote
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/sarah%20blake
Casey Cep
Casey Cep is a writer from the Eastern Shore of Maryland. After graduating from Harvard with a degree in English, she earned an M.Phil in theology at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The New Republic, among other publications. Her debut work of nonfiction is Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee.
Festival Keynote Opening Event: Thursday, September 5 at 7 p.m. / Hanesbrands Theatre
Free and open to the public; enjoy reserved seating when you pre-order Furious Hours: https://bpt.me/4300422
Becky Chambers
Becky Chambers is the author of the science fiction Wayfarer series, including The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet; A Closed and Common Orbit; and Record of a Spaceborn Few. Her books have been nominated for the Hugo Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction, among others. Her creative work has appeared at The Mary Sue, Tor.com, Five Out Of Ten, The Toast, and Pornokitsch. In addition to writing, Becky has a background in performing arts and a love for outer space. Her latest standalone novel is To Be Taught, if Fortunate.
Escape from Normal: 2–2:45 p.m. / Hanesbrands Theatre
Do You See Me? The Importance of Inclusive Characters: 4–4:45 p.m. / Hanesbrands Theatre
Booksigning: 12:30 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/becky%20chambers
Cinda Williams Chima
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima writes fantasy for teens, including the Heir Chronicles and the Seven Realms series. Her critically acclaimed books have appeared on numerous state awards lists. Chima is an active member of the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Her latest installment in the Shattered Realms series is Deathcaster.
Monsters, Magic, and Warrior Women (Young Adult): 10:30–11:30 a.m. / Hanesbrands Theatre
Booksigning: 11:45 a.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/cinda%20chima%20williams
Andie J. Christopher
USA TODAY bestselling author Andie J. Christopher writes edgy, funny, sexy contemporary romance featuring heat, humor, and dirty talking heroes that make readers sweat. She grew up in a family of voracious readers, and picked up her first Harlequin Romance novel at age twelve when she’d finished reading everything else in her grandmother’s house. It was love at first read! Her forthcoming book is Not the Girl You Marry.
Fall in Love: 2–3 p.m. / Reynolds Place Theatre
Booksigning: 3:15 p.m.
Dhonielle Clayton
Dhonielle Clayton is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Belles and co-author of the Tiny Pretty Things series. A former teacher and middle school librarian, Dhonielle is cofounder of CAKE Literary, a creative development company that focusing on developing diverse books for a wide array of readers, and COO of the nonprofit We Need Diverse Books. Her sequel to The Belles is The Everlasting Rose.
Monsters, Magic, and Warrior Women (Young Adult): 10:30–11:30 a.m. / Hanesbrands Theatre
Urgency of Now: Why the World Needs Diverse Books: 1–1:45 p.m. / Reynolds Place Theatre
Booksignings: 11:45 a.m. & 2 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/dhonielle%20clayton
Presented with support from The Chronicle
Lesa Cline-Ransome
Lesa Cline-Ransome is the author of Before She Was Harriet, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book, a nominee for an NAACP image award, and winner of the Christopher Award. Her other books include Benny Goodman & Teddy Wilson: Taking the Stage as the First Black-and-White Jazz Band in History and Just a Lucky So and So: The Story of Louis Armstrong. Her latest children’s middle grade novel Finding Langston won the 2019 Coretta Scott King Honor Award and is a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year.
Lesa Cline-Ransome & James Ransome (Ages 0–12): 10:30–11:15 a.m. / Kids Area
Booksigning: 11:30 a.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/lesa%20cline-ransome
Presented with support from The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County’s Wells Fargo Arts-in-Education grant
Stephen Compton
Stephen C. Compton was a small-town newspaper photographer in 1974 when he first visited Jugtown Pottery and a few others in North Carolina's Seagrove region. Since then, he has brought together one of the state's largest private collections, representing all periods of pottery production. Examples from his collection are often borrowed for exhibition and publication. He is the author of six North Carolina pottery-related books, including his newest, North Carolina’s Moravian Potters.
Traveling North Carolina with Arcadia: 10–11 a.m. / Mountcastle Forum
Booksigning: 11:15 a.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/stephen%20c%20compton
Angie Cruz
Angie Cruz is the author of Soledad and Let It Rain Coffee, a finalist in 2007 for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and most recently, Dominicana. She has published work in The New York Times, VQR, Gulf Coast Literary Journal, and other publications, and has received fellowships from the New York Foundation of the Arts, Yaddo, and the MacDowell Colony. She is founder and editor in chief of Aster(ix), a literary and arts journal, and is an associate professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh.
Finding Home: 11:00–11:45 a.m. / Reynolds Place Theatre
Bookmarks’ Signed First Picks: 2:45–3:45 p.m. / Calvary Moravian Church
Booksignings: 12 p.m. & 4 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/angie%20cruz
Presented with support from the Hispanic League
Dave Cullen
Dave Cullen is the author of the New York Times bestseller Columbine. Following the tragedy at Parkland High School, Cullen wrote Parkland: Birth of a Movement in February 2019, which received several starred reviews. Cullen has also written for The New York Times, BuzzFeed, Vanity Fair, Politico Magazine, Times of London, New Republic, Newsweek, Guardian, Washington Post, Daily Beast, Slate, Salon, The Millions, Lapham's Quarterly, and NPR's On The Media.
Gun Violence in America: A Conversation: 10:30–11:30 a.m. / Calvary Moravian Church
Bookmarks’ Signed First Picks: 2:45–3:45 p.m. / Calvary Moravian Church
Booksignings: 11:45 a.m & 4 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/dave%20cullen
Jen DeLuca
Jen DeLuca’s debut novel is the romantic comedy, Well Met. DeLuca’s work first appeared in the anthology Rough Edges. She has previously worked as a wardrobe master in theatre and as an ice-show dresser. Currently, DeLuca works as a litigation paralegal when she is not writing. She is a proud member of RWA and CFRW.
Fall in Love: 2–3 p.m. / Reynolds Place Theatre
Booksigning: 3:15 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/jen%20deluca
Deborah Fallows
Deborah Fallows is a linguist and writer who holds a PhD in theoretical linguistics and is the author of A Mother’s Work and Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language. She has written for The Atlantic, National Geographic, Slate, The New York Times, and The Washington Monthly, and has worked at the Pew Research Center, Oxygen Media, and Georgetown University. She co-authored with her husband Our Towns: A 100,000 Mile Journey into the Heart of America.
Our Towns: 1:15–2 p.m. / Mountcastle Forum
Booksigning: 2:15 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/deborah%20fallows
Presented with support from The Winston-Salem Foundation
James Fallows
James Fallows has been a national correspondent for The Atlantic for more than thirty-five years, reporting from China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, and across the United States. He is the author of eleven previous books. His work has also appeared in many other magazines and as public-radio commentaries since the 1980s. He has won a National Book Award and a National Magazine Award. For two years he was President Jimmy Carter's chief speechwriter. He co-authored with his wife Our Towns: A 100,000 Mile Journey into the Heart of America.
Our Towns: 1:15–2 p.m. / Mountcastle Forum
Booksigning: 2:15 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/james%20fallows
Presented with support from The Winston-Salem Foundation
Gale Galligan
Gale Galligan is the second author/illustrator of the new Baby Sitter’s series following Raina Telgemeier. Previously, Gale created a USA Today bestselling graphic novel adaptation of Dawn and the Impossible Three, and her work has appeared in a number of anthologies. The latest in the Baby-Sitters series is Boy-Crazy Stacey.
Graphic Novel Workshop (Ages 8+): 12:30 -1:30 p.m. / Sawtooth School / Ticket Required
Seeing Stories: Graphic Novel Talk (Ages 8+ / ASL): 2:45–3:30 p.m. / Kids Area
Booksigning: 3:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/gale%20galligan
Presented with support from Triad Moms on Main
Margaret George
Margaret George is The New York Times bestselling author of biographical novels about oversized historical characters, such as: Henry VIII, Mary Magdalene, Helen of Troy, Elizabeth I, and Cleopatra, which was made into an Emmy-nominated ABC miniseries. Her novel, Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles, blends history and storytelling that sweeps the reader from the glittering French court where Mary spent her youth, to the bloodstained Scotland where she reigned as Queen, to the cold English castles where she ended her days. George brings to life the Scots queen whose beauty inspired poetry, whoe spirit brought forth devotion and hatred, and whose birthright generated glorious dreams, hideous treachery, and murdered men at her feet.
Mary, Queen of Scots: 12:15–1 p.m. / Mountcastle Forum
Booksigning: 1:15 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/margaret%20george
Presented with support from the Piedmont Opera
Anne Fitten Glenn
Anne Fitten Glenn is a writer, reporter, and communications consultant based in Asheville, North Carolina. She has authored two books: Western North Carolina Beer: A Mountain Brew History and Asheville Beer: An Intoxicating History of Mountain Brewing. She pens a regular “Mountain Brews” feature for Edible Asheville magazine. She’s written for and had photos published in numerous additional publications, including USA Today, Esquire, SevenFifty Daily, All About Beer, Paste, Smoky Mountain Living, WNC Magazine, Charleston Magazine, Edible Aspen, Explore Asheville, Vanity Fair, Virginian Pilot, and CraftBeer.com.
Traveling North Carolina with Arcadia: 10–11 a.m. / Mountcastle Forum
Booksigning: 11:15 a.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/anne%20fitten%20glenn
Chris Grabenstein
We are sorry to report that Chris is no longer able to attend the festival due to an unforeseen issue that has risen. He is so sorry that he has to cancel his trip to NC.
Jasmine Guillory
We regret Jasmine Guillory will be unable to attend this year's Festival.
Rajia Hassib
Rajia Hassib’s first novel, In the Language of Miracles, was a New York Times Editors' Choice and received an honorable mention from the Arab American Book Award. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Marshall University, and she has written for The New York Times Book Review and The New Yorker online. Her new novel is A Pure Heart.
Finding Home: 11–11:45 a.m. / Reynolds Place Theatre
Book Club Spotlight: 1:45–2:30 p.m. / Calvary Moravian Church
Booksignings: 12 p.m. & 2:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/Rajia%20Hassib
Presented with support from Salem College
Billy Jensen
Billy Jensen spent 15 years as a journalist investigating unsolved murders, fighting for the families of victims. Jensen has written for Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Magazine, Boston Magazine, and The New York Times, and co-founded the Long Island Press newspaper, True Crime Report, and the largest public unsolved murders database. Jensen’s debut book is Chase Darkness with Me: How One True Crime Writer Started Solving Murders, which became a New York Times bestseller.
The Truth of Crime: 12:45–1:30 p.m. / Calvary Moravian Church
Booksigning: 1:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/billy%20jensen
Presented with support from Kilpatrick Townsend
Jeremy B. Jones
Jeremy B. Jones is the author of Bearwallow: A Personal History of a Mountain Homeland, which was awarded gold in the 2015 Independent Publisher Book Awards in memoir and named the 2014 Appalachian Book of the Year in nonfiction. His essays appear in Oxford American, The Iowa Review, Brevity, and frequently in Our State Magazine, among other places, and he co-edits the book series In Place. Jeremy earned his MFA from the University of Iowa and is an associate professor of English at Western Carolina University. Most recently, Jones contributed to Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy.
Appalachian Reckoning: 3:30–4:30 p.m. / Mountcastle Forum
Booksigning: 4:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/author/%22Jones%2C%20Jeremy%20B.%22
Preorder Appalachian Reckoning: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/book/9781946684790
Joy Jones
Joy Jones has taught creative writing and public speaking to middle school students and coached poetry slam teams. Her children's book Tambourine Moon was chosen in 2000 as a Kid's Pick of the Lists by the American Booksellers Association, selected as one of the best books for children by the black caucus of the ALA, and seen on Fox TV's hit show The Bernie Mac Show. She is also the author of Private Lessons: A Book of Meditations for Teachers and a contributor to the anthology Days I Moved Through Ordinary Sounds: The Teachers of WritersCorps in Poetry and Prose. Joy is the director of The Spoken Word, a performance poetry ensemble. Her new book is Fearless Public Speaking: A Guide for Beginners.
Public Speaking Workshop (Ages 12+): 1:30–2:30 p.m. / Sawtooth School / Ticket Required
Booksigning: 3 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/joy%20jones
Martha Hall Kelly
Martha Hall Kelly’s debut novel Lilac Girls became a New York Times bestseller the week it was published in April 2016. A historical fiction author, Kelly runs a detailed blog on the research poured into her novels. She released her highly-anticipated prequel to Lilac Girls, Lost Roses, in April 2019. Kelly is currently working on a second prequel.
Book & Author Tea: 4:30–5:30 p.m. / Footnote
Booksignings: 1 p.m. at Booksigning Tent & 5:30 p.m. at Footnote
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/martha%20hall%20kelly
Randall Kenan
Randall Kenan is currently Chancellor of the Fellowship of Southern Writers.He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Writers Award, the Sherwood Anderson Award, the John Dos Passos Award, and was the 1997 Rome Prize winner from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was awarded the North Carolina Award for Literature in 2005. From 1985 to 1989 he worked on the editorial staff of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., publishers. In 1989 he began teaching writing at Sarah Lawrence College and Columbia University. He was the first William Blackburn Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at Duke University in the fall of 1994, and the Edourd Morot-Sir Visiting Professor of Creating Writing at UNC-Chapel Hill in 1995. He was the John and Renee Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi, Oxford (1997-98), Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Memphis, and held the Lehman Brady Professorship at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. He has also taught urban literature at Vassar College. He has written a novel, A Visitation of Spirits, collection of stories, Let the Dead Bury Their Dead, a young adult biography of James Baldwin, several books of nonfiction, and wrote the text for Norman Mauskoff's book of photographs.
Exploring the North Carolina Literacy Landscape: 2:15–3:15 p.m. / Mountcastle Forum
Ann Mah
Ann Mah is a food and travel writer based in Paris and Washington, D.C. She is the author of the food memoir Mastering the Art of French Eating and the novel Kitchen Chinese. Mah regularly contributes to The New York Times’ Travel section and other media outlets, including Condé Nast Traveler, Vogue.com, BonAppetit.com, and Washingtonian magazine. Her latest novel is The Lost Vintage.
Book & Author Tea: 4:30–5:30 p.m. / Footnote
Booksigning: 5:30 p.m. / Footnote
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/ann%20mah
Kerri Maniscalco
We regret Kerri Maniscalco will be unable to attend this year's Festival.
Tif Marcelo
Tif Marcelo believes in and writes about heart-eyes romance, the strength of families, and the endurance of friendship. Marcelo is a veteran Army Nurse and holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Public Administration. Her debut adult novel is The Key to Happily Ever After.
Book Club Spotlight: 1:45–2:30 p.m. / Calvary Moravian Church
Booksigning: 2:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/tif%20marcelo
Brent Martin
Brent Martin is the author of three chapbook collections of poetry - Poems from Snow Hill Road, A Shout in the Woods, and Staring the Red Earth Down - as well as Every Breath Sings Mountains with co-authors Barbara Duncan and Thomas Rain Crowe. Martin is also the author of Hunting for Camellias at Horseshoe Bend, a nonfiction chapbook. His poetry and essays have been published in the North Carolina Literary Review, Pisgah Review, Tar River Poetry, Chattahoochee Review, Eno Journal, New Southerner, Kudzu Literary Journal, and Smoky Mountain News, among others. He lives in the Cowee community in western North Carolina and is currently serving as the Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet for the West.
Traveling North Carolina with Arcadia: 10–11 a.m. / Mountcastle Forum
Booksigning: 11:15 a.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/brent%20martin
Stacy McAnulty
Stacy McAnulty is the author of many books for young readers, including The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl, chapter book series The Dino Files and GoldieBlox, and picture books including Beautiful, Brave, Earth!: My First 4.54 Billion Years, Sun!: One in a Billion, and Moon!: Earth’s Best Friend. A former mechanical engineer, Stacy primarily writes about math and science. Her latest book is a middle grade novel, The World Ends in April.
Space Storytime (Ages 0–6): 11–11:30 a.m. / Footnote
Middle School Stinks (Ages 8+ / ASL): 1:45–2:30 p.m. / Kids Area
Booksignings: 11:45 a.m. & 2:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/stacy%20mcanulty
Meredith McCarroll
Meredith McCarroll is Director of Writing and Rhetoric at Bowdoin College, where she teaches courses in composition, rhetoric, Southern and American literature, and film. McCarroll earned her PhD in English at the University of Tennessee. Her work has appeared in Bitter Southerner, Avidly, Southern Cultures, Appalachian Journal, Pluck!, and elsewhere. McCarroll is the author of Unwhite: Appalachia, Race, and Film (University of Georgia Press). Along with Anthony Harkins, McCarroll edited Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy.
Appalachian Reckoning: 3:30–4:30 p.m. / Mountcastle Forum
Booksigning: 4:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/meredith%20mccarroll
Sarah McCoy
Sarah McCoy is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of Marilla of Green Gables; The Mapmaker’s Children; The Baker’s Daughter, a 2012 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction nominee; The Time It Snowed in Puerto Rico; the novella “The Branch of Hazel” in Grand Central; and Le souffle des feuilles et des promesses, a French exclusive title. McCoy has also taught English writing at Old Dominion University and at the University of Texas at El Paso. McCoy’s work has been featured in Real Simple, The Millions, Your Health Monthly, Huffington Post and other publications.
Life’s Messes and What I Learned Along the Way: 10–10:45 a.m. / Reynolds Place Theatre
That’s Unexpected: Retelling the Story with Characters You Know: 3:45–4:30 p.m. / Reynolds Place Theatre
Booksigning: 11 a.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/sarah%20mccoy
Steve M. Miller
Steve M. Miller is a native North Carolinian and the author of North Carolina Unionists and the Fight Over Secession. His other works include Slave Escapes and The Underground Railroad in North Carolina. Steve is currently an adjunct history instructor for Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem and Randolph Community College in Asheboro.
Traveling North Carolina with Arcadia: 10–11 a.m. / Mountcastle Forum
Booksigning: 11:15 a.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/steve%20m%20miller
Joseph Mills
Joseph Mills holds an endowed chair as professor at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and has published six poetry collections with Press 53, including This Miraculous Turning, winner of the 2015 Roanoke-Chowan Award, North Carolina’s highest honor for a collection of poems. Mills’s poetry has been featured on Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac and in former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser's nationally syndicated newspaper column “American Life in Poetry.” His debut short story collection is Bleachers: Fifty-Four Linked Fictions.
The Literary Triad: 11:15 a.m.–12 p.m. / Mountcastle Forum
Booksigning: 12:15 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/joseph%20mills
Maika Moulite
Maika Moulite is a Miami native and daughter of Haitian immigrants. She earned her Bachelor’s in Marketing from Florida State University and an MBA from the University of Miami. Moulite is committed to helping nonprofits and major organizations tell their stories online and also blogs at Daily Ellement, a lifestyle website featuring everything from diverse inspirational women to career guidance. Her young adult novel, Dear Haiti, Love Alaine, is co-authored by her sister Maritza Moulite.
Friday Authors in Schools Visits Only; No Saturday Appearance.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/book/9781335777096
Maritza Moulite
Maritza Moulite graduated from the University of Florida with her Bachelor’s in Women’s Studies and the University of Southern California with a Master’s in Journalism. She has worked for NBC News, CNN, and USA TODAY, and also blogs for Daily Ellement, a lifestyle website featuring everything from diverse inspirational women to career guidance. Her young adult novel, Dear Haiti, Love Alaine, is co-authored by her sister Maika Moulite.
Friday Authors in Schools Visits Only; No Saturday Appearance.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/book/9781335777096
Ricardo Nazario y Colón
Ricardo Nazario y Colón is a Puerto Rican poet, artist, higher education administrator, author, language teacher, and former United States Marine. As a student at the University of Kentucky, Nazario y Colón became a co-founder of the Affrilachian Poets. In 2001 he was featured in the PBS documentary Coal Black Voices. For the last 20 years Nazario y Colón has been traveling the Appalachian Region and other parts of the United States consulting on diversity, leadership development and working with community groups and universities. As a member of the Affrilachian Poets, he is particularly engaged in the fight against mountaintop removal mining and works to educate individuals outside the Appalachian region. Nazario y Colón has most recently contributed to the Appalachian Reckoning anthology.
Appalachian Reckoning: 3:30–4:30 p.m. / Mountcastle Forum
Booksigning: 4:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/ricardo%20nazario%20y%20colon
Preorder Appalachian Reckoning: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/book/9781946684790
Valerie Nieman
Valerie Nieman is a poet, novelist, and professor of English at North Carolina A&T State University. A former journalist and farmer in West Virginia, she is the author of three novels, as well as collections of poetry and short fiction. Nieman is a graduate of West Virginia University, and she received an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte. Her novel Blood Clay received the Eric Hoffer Prize in General Fiction. Neiman’s latest novel is To The Bones.
The Literary Triad: 11:15 a.m.–12 p.m. / Mountcastle Forum
Booksigning: 12:15 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/valerie%20nieman
Téa Obreht
Téa Obreht is the internationally bestselling author of The Tiger's Wife, a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the 2011 Orange Prize for fiction. Her work has been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories and The Best American Non-Required Reading, and has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, The Atlantic, Vogue, Esquire and Zoetrope: All-Story, among many others. She was the recipient of the Rona Jaffe fellowship from the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library, and a 2016 fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Obreht currently teaches at Hunter College. Her new novel, Inland, is historical fiction based in the late 19th century Arkansas territory.
Real Life Reimagined: Historical Fiction: 11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m. / Calvary Moravian Church
Bookmarks’ Signed First Picks: 2:45–3:45 p.m. / Calvary Moravian Church
Booksignings: 12:45 p.m. & 4 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/tea%20obreht
Presented with support from High Point University’s Department of English
Anne Marie Pace
Anne Marie Pace is a beloved children’s author with a focus on the unexpected and warmhearted. Pace's picture books include Groundhug Day, Busy-Eyed Day, Pigloo, and the four books of the Vampirina Ballerina series, which inspired the hit Disney Junior animated series “Vampirina.” Her latest picture book is Sunny’s Tow Truck Saves the Day.
Tow Truck Storytime (Ages 0–4): 11:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m. & 2:45-3:15 p.m. / Footnote
Booksigning: 12:30 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/anne%20marie%20pace
Andy Parker
Andy Parker is the father of Alison Parker, a journalist killed on live television, and a national gun reform advocate who has appeared on all major news networks, including CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox News. He has written op-eds for a variety of publications, such as The Washington Post, New York Daily News, Medium, CNN.com, Huffington Post, and Newsweek, and has been interviewed for publications ranging from The New York Times to Time magazine. Together with his wife, Parker runs the For Alison Foundation, which creates opportunities for children in southern Virginia to experience the arts. His book is For Alison: The Murder of a Young Journalist and a Father's Fight for Gun Safety.
Gun Violence in America: A Conversation: 10:30–11:30 a.m. / Calvary Moravian Church
Booksigning: 11:45 a.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/book/9781948062329
Michael Parker
Michael Parker is the author of six novels and three collections of stories. His short fiction and nonfiction have appeared in the Washington Post, The New York Times Magazine, the Oxford American, Runner's World, Men's Journal, and other publications, and his work has been anthologized in The O. Henry Prize Stories and The Pushcart Prize. Recently retired from UNC-G, his latest novel is Prairie Fever.
Real Life Reimagined: Historical Fiction: 11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m. / Calvary Moravian Church
Booksigning: 12:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/author/%22Parker%2C%20Michael%22
Presented in honor of Victor F. Harllee, Jr.
Jacob Paul
Jacob Paul is an assistant professor of English at High Point University. A 9/11 World Trade survivor, he won the 2008 Utah Writers' Contest and the 2007 Richard Scowcroft Prize. Paul is the author of Sarah/Sara, A Song of Ilan, and his newest novel, The Last Tower to Heaven.
The Literary Triad: 11:15 a.m.–12 p.m. / Mountcastle Forum
Booksigning: 12:15 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/author/%22Paul%2C%20Jacob%22
Mary Laura Philpott
Mary Laura Philpott writes essays that examine the overlap of the absurd and the profound in everyday life. Her writing has been featured in print or online by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, McSweeney's, The Paris Review, and other publications. She's the founding editor of Musing, the online magazine of Parnassus Books, as well as an Emmy-winning co-host of the show “A Word on Words” on Nashville Public Television. She also wrote and illustrated the humor book Penguins with People Problems, a quirky look at the embarrassments of being human. Her latest book is a collection of essays, I Miss You When I Blink.
Life’s Messes and What I Learned Along the Way: 10–10:45 a.m. / Reynolds Place Theatre
Booksigning: 11 a.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/mary%20laura%20philpott
Presented with support from WSNC 90.5 FM
Greg Pizzoli
Greg Pizzoli is an author, illustrator and screen printer from Philadelphia. His first picture book, The Watermelon Seed, was published by Disney*Hyperion Books and was the 2014 recipient of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award. In 2015, his nonfiction picture book Tricky Vic was selected by The New York Times as one of the Ten Best Illustrated Books of the Year. In 2017, he won a Geisel Honor award for the picture book, Good Night Owl. Greg's work has been featured in The New York Times, Communication Arts, 3x3 Magazine and he's won two Portfolio Honor Awards from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. After college, Greg spent two years as a full-time volunteer in AmeriCORPS from 2005-2006. In 2009, he received his MFA from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where he taught part-time for seven years. He is the illustrator of the new Jack Book series written by Mac Barnett.
Storytime with Mac Barnett & Greg Pizzoli (Ages 4–8): 1:45–2:30 p.m. / Footnote
Booksigning: 2:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/greg%20pizzoli
James E. Ransome
James E. Ransome's highly acclaimed illustrations for Before She Was Harriett received the 2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. His other award-winning titles include Coretta Scott King Honor Book Uncle Jed's Barbershop; Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt; and Let My People Go, winner of the NAACP Image Award. He frequently collaborates with his wife, author Lesa Cline-Ransome. Some of their titles include Game Changers: The Story of Venus Serena Williams, which received four starred reviews; My Story, My Dance: Robert Battle's Journey to Alvin Ailey; and Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass. Mr. Ransome also teaches illustration at Pratt Institute. The Bell Rang is his latest children’s picture book.
Lesa Cline-Ransome & James Ransome (Ages 0–12): 10:30–11:15 a.m. / Kids Area
Storytime (Ages 0–6): 3:30–4 p.m. / Footnote
Booksigning: 11:30 a.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/author/%22Ransome%2C%20James%20E.%22
Presented with support from The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County’s Wells Fargo Arts-in-Education grant
Mary Doria Russell
Mary Doria Russell is a historical fiction and science-fiction novelist, best known for her Sparrow duology. Trained as a paleoanthropologist and the author of scientific articles on subjects ranging from bone biology to cannibalism, Russell received her B.A. in cultural anthropology from the University of Illinois, her M.A. in social anthropology from Northeastern University and her doctorate in biological anthropology from the University of Michigan. Her latest novel, The Women of the Copper Country, follows "America's Joan of Arc" Annie Clements.
Real Life Reimagined: Historical Fiction: 11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m. / Calvary Moravian Church
Book Club Spotlight: 1:45–2:30 p.m. / Calvary Moravian Church
Booksigning: 2:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/mary%20doria%20russell
Victoria Schwab
Victoria Schwab is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen novels for readers of all ages, including City of Ghosts, This Savage Song, Our Dark Duet, and the Shades of Magic series, which has been translated into 15 languages. Her sequel to middle grade novel City of Ghosts, is Tunnel of Bones.
Monsters, Magic, and Warrior Women (Young Adult): 10:30–11:30 a.m. / Hanesbrands Theatre
Seeing Ghosts (Ages 8+): 12:45–1:30 p.m. / Kids Area
Booksigning: 1:45 p.m
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/author/%22Schwab%2C%20Victoria%22
Andrew Shaffer
We regret Andrew Shaffer will be unable to attend this year's Festival.
Megan Shepherd
Megan Shepherd is the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Madman's Daughter trilogy, The Cage trilogy, the middle grade novel The Secret Horses of Briar Hill, and young adult novel Grim Lovelies. Shepherd nurtures a love of science fiction and fantasy. Midnight Beauties is the much-anticipated sequel to Grim Lovelies.
Monsters, Magic, and Warrior Women (Young Adult): 10:30–11:30 a.m. / Hanesbrands Theatre
That’s Unexpected: Retelling the Story with Characters You Know: 3:45–4:30 p.m. / Reynolds Place Theatre
Booksigning: 11:45 a.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/megan%20shepherd
Amber Smith
Amber Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of the young adult novels The Way I Used to Be and The Last to Let Go. An advocate for increased awareness of gendered violence, as well as LGBTQ equality, she writes in the hope that her books can help to foster change and spark dialogue surrounding these issues. Her new young adult novel is Something Like Gravity.
YA Writing Workshop (Ages 12+): 11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m. / Hanesbrands Theatre / Free
Do You See Me? The Importance of Inclusive Characters: 4–4:45 p.m. / Hanesbrands Theatre
Booksigning: 12:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/amber%20smith
Presented with support from the Forsyth County Public Library’s On the Same Page program
Belinda Smith-Sullivan
Belinda Smith-Sullivan is a chef, food writer, spice blends entrepreneur, and a commercially-rated pilot. Smith-Sullivan has a culinary arts degree from Johnson & Wales University and writes a monthly column for both South Carolina Living and Bella Magazine. She also is featured on South Carolina Living's website with monthly how-to videos. Smith-Sullivan is an active member of the Southern Foodways Alliance, International Association of Culinary Professionals, American Culinary Federation, and Les Dames d'Escoffier. Her cookbook Just Peachy has 70 recipes for breads, breakfasts, appetizers, soups and salads, entrees, desserts, peach pies, sauces, preserves and condiments, and drinks.
Just Peachy: 3–3:45 p.m. / 4th Street Breezeway
Booksigning: 4 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/belinda%20smith-sullivan
Presented with support from Dewey’s Bakery
Kirstin L. Squint
Kirstin L. Squint holds the position of Whichard Distinguished Visiting Professor of the Humanities at East Carolina University. She is the author of LeAnne Howe at the Intersections of Southern and Native American Literature (LSU Press, 2018), a co-editor of Swamp Souths: Literary and Cultural Ecologies (forthcoming with LSU Press, spring 2020), and the editor of the in-progress collection Conversations with LeAnne Howe (under contract with the UP of Mississippi). Her chapter in Appalachian Reckoning is informed by her personal and family history in Kentucky.
Appalachian Reckoning: 3:30–4:30 p.m. / Mountcastle Forum
Booksigning: 4:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/kirstin%20l.%20squint
Preorder Appalachian Reckoning: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/book/9781946684790
Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
We regret Ebony Elizabeth Thomas will be unable to attend this year's Festival.
Daniel Wallace
Daniel Wallace is the J. Ross MacDonald Distinguished Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he directs the Creative Writing Program. He is the author of the novels Big Fish, Ray in Reverse, The Watermelon King, Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician, and The Kings and Queens of Roam. He was named the Harper Lee Award winner for 2019 by the Alabama Writers' Forum.
Exploring the North Carolina Literacy Landscape: 2:15–3:15 p.m. / Mountcastle Forum
Booksigning: 3:30 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/daniel-wallace-books
Renée Watson
Renée Watson is the Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Award-winning author of the novels Piecing Me Together, This Side of Home, What Momma Left Me, Betty Before X, co-written with Ilyasah Shabazz, and two picture books: Harlem's Little Blackbird and A Place Where Hurricanes Happen. Renée is the founder of I, Too, Arts Collective, a nonprofit committed to nurturing underrepresented voices in the creative arts. Her latest middle grade novel is Some Places More Than Others.
Middle School Stinks (Ages 8+ / ASL): 1:45–2:30 p.m. / Kids Area
My Complicated Summer: Finding Family in the Big City (Ages 8+ / ASL): 11:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. / Kids Area
Booksigning: 2:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/renee%20watson
Abbi Waxman
Abbi Waxman, the author of Other People's Houses and The Garden of Small Beginnings, is a fiction author who was the previous creative director at various advertising agencies in London and New York. Her clients included AT&T, Chase Manhattan Bank, IBM, American Express, Unilever, Mercedes-Benz, R. J. Reynolds, and Enron. Her highly-anticipated new novel is The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.
Fall in Love: 2–3 p.m. / Reynolds Place Theatre
Booksigning: 3:15 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/abbi%2520waxman
Lauren Willig
Lauren Willig is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Pink Carnation series and several stand alone works of historical fiction, including The Ashford Affair, That Summer, The Other Daughter, The English Wife, and the collaborative novels The Forgotten Room and The Glass Ocean. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages, awarded the RITA, Booksellers Best and Golden Leaf awards, and chosen for the American Library Association’s annual list of the best genre fiction. Her new historical fiction novel is The Summer Country.
Book & Author Tea: 4:30–5:30 p.m. / Footnote
Booksignings: 12:30 p.m. at Booksigning Tent & 5:30 p.m. at Footnote
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/lauren%20willig
Kerry Winfrey
Kerry Winfrey is the author of the YA novels Love and Other Alien Experiences and Things Jolie Needs to Do Before She Bites It. Winfrey has written for several websites, including HelloGiggles, and released her debut adult romance novel, Waiting for Tom Hanks, in June 2019.
Fall in Love: 2–3 p.m. / Reynolds Place Theatre
Booksigning: 3:15 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/kerry%20winfrey
Ibi Zoboi
Ibi Zoboi is the author of two novels for young adults, Pride and American Street, a finalist for the National Book Award. She also edited the anthology Black Enough. Born in Haiti and raised in New York City, her new book, My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich, is for a middle grade audience.
My Complicated Summer: Finding Family in the Big City (Ages 8+): 11:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. / Kids Area
Booksigning: 12:45 p.m.
Preorder signed books: https://www.bookmarksnc.org/search/site/ibi%20zoboi
