The Virginia Festival of the Book is an annual literary festival held in March in Charlottesville, Virginia. Virginia Humanities is the organizer. [1]
The festival was established by Cal Otto, Paul Collinge, and Tom Dowd. Cal Otto was the founder of the American Ephemeral Society and active in the American Antiquarian Society. [2] Paul Collinge established Heartwood Books in The Corner in 1975. [3] Tom Dowd, a University of Virginia professor, brought Cal Otto to meet with Paul Collinge at his bookstore, and together, they started the festival. [2] [4]
In 1994, an article in U.S. News & World Report ranked Charlottesville as third highest in the United States for books read per person. [4] In that context, the organized set the theme for the first festival as, "Charlottesville: a place for books". [4]
The first festival was on March 30, 1995. [4] Speakers at that first festival included Rita Mae Brown, [4] George Garrett, [4] Rita Dove, [4] John Casey, [4] Jonathan Coleman, [4] Joyce Carol Oates, [4] Gregory Orr, [4] and Charles Wright. [4]
That first festival had good attendance and all involved recognized it as a success worth repeating. [5]
The 30th annual Festival featured 80 events and 120 authors over 4 days. [6] Presenters included Roxane Gay, [6] Jeannette Walls, [6] Adriana Trigiani, [6] and Ada Limón. [6]