Celebrate 11 Years of the AJC-Decatur Book Festival with The Chattahoochee Review
Enjoy the Labor Day Weekend with The Chattahoochee Review (TCR) at the annual AJC-Decatur Book Festival (AJC-DBF). This year marks the 11th running of the largest independent book festival in the country that features a stellar gathering of world-class authors, illustrators, editors, publishers, and booksellers. The festival kicks off at Emory’s Schwartz Center on Friday, Sept. 2 at 8 p.m. with its keynote event that pays tribute to the life and works of beloved and bestselling author Pat Conroy, who passed away in March from pancreatic cancer.
As in years past, TCR editors, along with faculty members from Perimeter College at Georgia State University’s English Department, will be participating in the following programs throughout the weekend festival:
- Saturday, Sept. 3 and Sunday, Sept. 4: The Chattahoochee Review Booth
- Time: Saturday-10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday-Noon to 6 p.m.
- Location: The Square in Downtown Decatur, Booth No. 516
- Sunday, Sept. 4: Perimeter College on the Local Poetry Stage
- Time: 1 to 1:55 p.m.
- Presenters: Michael Diebert (Clarkston), Charles Fox (Decatur), Louise McKinney (Dunwoody), Gregg Murray (Dunwoody), Katherine Perry (Decatur), and Rebecca Weaver (Decatur)
- Location: Java Monkey, Downtown Decatur
Other institutions participating in the track at this year’s event include: Clayton State University (Noon to 12:55 p.m.); Georgia State University’s Atlanta campus (2 to 3:05 p.m.); Morehouse College (3:10 to 3:45 p.m.); Georgia Institute of Technology (3:50 to 4:15 p.m.); Spelman College (4:20 to 5:20 p.m.); and Kennesaw State University (5:25 to 6 p.m.).
AUTHOR DISCUSSION, INTERVIEW, & READING SESSIONS
Saturday, Sept. 3: Perfume River (Reading)
- Time: 10 to 10:45 a.m.
- Author: Robert Olen Butler
- Introducer: Anna Schachner, TCR editor
- Location: Decatur Recreation Center Studio
Saturday, Sept. 3: Deadly Secrets (Discussion)
- Time: 1:45 to 2:30 p.m.
- Authors: Susan Crawford & Lucie Whitehouse
- Moderator: Amber Nicole Brooks, TCR nonfiction editor
- Location: Marriott Conference Center C
Sunday, Sept. 4: The Opposite of Everyone (Interview)
- Time: 5 to 5:45 p.m.
- Author: Joshilyn Jackson
- Interviewer: Anna Schachner, TCR editor
- Location: Sanctuary, First Baptist Church Decatur
One of the most anticipated aspects of the 2016 festival is the program track curated by novelist and Whiting Award-winner, Alexander Chee (The Queen of the Night). The Alexander Chee Selects Track will feature a dream team of authors who, through discussions about their works, will speak to themes related to how history tends to repeat itself.
Information about all of the free events taking place at the 11th Annual AJC-DBF—at which all are welcome—can be found on the festival’s Website.