The 2007 Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival (DBF) is set for Labor Day weekend, August 31-September 2, in downtown Decatur, Georgia. The second-annual literary festival will host multiple Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, as well as many other award-winning and best-selling authors.
This year’s featured author, and one of two keynote address speakers, is Charles Frazier—National Book Award winner for Cold Mountain.
At his keynote event, Frazier and Cherokee Indian translator Myrtle Driver will be interviewed on-stage by Atlanta magazine book editor Teresa Weaver.
Driver translated Frazier’s newest book—Thirteen Moons—into Cherokee. It is only the second book, besides the Bible, ever translated into the Cherokee language. Following the on-stage interviews, Cherokee warriors will perform a traditional Cherokee dance.
The opening keynote speaker is American political satirist/humorist, and one-time candidate for Governor of Texas, Kinky Friedman. Friedman is known for, among other things, his best-selling crime fiction series and his political writings, including his newest, You Can Lead a Politician to Water, But You Can’t Make ‘Em Think.
“This is going to be another fantastic year,” said Daren Wang, executive director of DBF. “We couldn’t have been happier with the inaugural festival last year, and we expect the second installation to outshine the first.”
DBF will feature something for everyone: book signings, author readings, panel discussions, a children’s stage, music, cooking demonstrations, a wine garden, and more.
Joining Frazier at DBF are past and present Pulitzer Prize winners Hank Klibanoff, Natasha Trethewey, Doug Marlette, and Robert Olen Butler, as well as James Beard Foundation Award winner Chef Scott Peacock.
Other featured authors joining in this year’s festival include Sherman Alexie, Terry Brooks, Roy Blount, Jr., Ferrol Sams, Bobby Braddock, Billy Childish, Chuck Klosterman, Diana Gabaldon and Norman Pearlstine.
The annual DBF had its inaugural festival over Labor Day weekend 2006. An estimated 50,000 people attended and participated in talks, readings, live musical performances, cooking demonstrations and children’s activities.
