Tag Archives: National Book Festival

Great Reads from Great Places Online Panel with Nebraska’s Astronaut Clayton Anderson

Letters in Space by Astronaut Clayton Anderson was chosen to represent Nebraska at the 2022 National Book Festival. Nebraska’s Great Reads from Great Places book was chosen from its 2021 Nebraska Book Award winners.

Author Clayton Anderson took part in an online panel conversation with other chosen authors from state Centers for the Book in the Midwest Region. He talked about his book, what inspired him, what he likes most about Nebraska, and more.

Astronaut Clayton Anderson is Nebraska’s only Astronaut. He spent 167 days in space and 38 hours and 28 minutes in executing 6 spacewalks. He applied 15 times before NASA selected him as an Astronaut in 1998. He spent 30 years working for NASA, 15 as an engineer and then 15 as an Astronaut.

Astronaut Clayton “Astro Clay” Anderson is the author of three children’s books; Letters from Space, A is for Astronaut: Blasting through the Alphabet, and It’s a Question of Space: An Ordinary Astronaut’s Answers to Sometimes Extraordinary Questions, and his award winning memoir, The Ordinary Spaceman.

Find out more about Astro Clay and his current and upcoming books at www.AstroClay.com. Follow him on social media @Astro_Clay

###

Check out the Library of Congress’ YouTube channel for other videos from the 2022 National Book Festival.

Posted in Books & Reading, General | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Books Chosen to Represent Nebraska at National Book Festival

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 1, 2022

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tessa Terry
402-471-3434
800-307-2665

Books Chosen to Represent Nebraska at National Book Festival

“Letters from Space” and “The Bones of Paradise” chosen for the National Center for the Book’s Great Reads from Great Places program

The Nebraska Center for the Book has selected one youth book and one adult book by Nebraska authors to represent the state at the 2022 National Book Festival: Letters from Space by Clayton Anderson, illustrated by Susan Batori and The Bones of Paradise: A Novel by Jonis Agee.

Both titles will be part of the National Center for the Book’s Great Reads from Great Places program. Great Reads from Great Places features books and authors representing the literary heritage of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and Northern Marianas. For over 20 years this program has included a highlighted youth title from each affiliate center. In 2022, Great Reads from Great Places is including titles for adults for the first time.

This year’s National Book Festival on Sept. 3 will be held in-person in Washington, D.C., but will include many livestreamed and recorded virtual programs celebrating books and authors. Author Clayton Anderson will take part in an online panel conversation with other chosen authors from state Centers for the Book in the Midwest Region to talk about his book and what inspired him, what he likes most about Nebraska, and more.

This and other panel discussions will be posted toward the end of August on the National Book Festival website and the Library of Congress’s YouTube channel.

About the Books

Letters from Space

Written by a real life Astronaut, these letters from space are full of weird science, wild facts, and outrageous true stories from life in space, complete with hysterical illustrations from Susan Batori. The back of the book includes even more interesting information on space, astronauts, and living among the stars.

A starred review in School Library Journal reads: “With a final page of facts about NASA, astronauts, and living in space, this must-purchase entertains with a combination of zany art, humor, and solid facts for fascinated young readers craving space travel even the armchair kind.”

Nebraska’s Great Reads from Great Places book is chosen from the previous year’s Nebraska Book Award winners and this book was awarded the 2021 Nebraska Book Award in the Children’s Picture Book category.

The Bones of Paradise

A multigenerational family saga set in the unforgiving Nebraska Sand Hills in the years following the massacre at Wounded Knee—it is an ambitious tale of history, vengeance, race, guilt, betrayal, family, and belonging, filled with a vivid cast of characters shaped by violence, love, and a desperate loyalty to the land.

Chosen as the 2022 One Book One Nebraska selection, libraries across Nebraska and other literary and cultural organizations have participated in book discussions, activities, and events that encourage Nebraskans to read and discuss this book.

The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the Nebraska Library Commission.  

As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, “bringing together people and information.”  

About the Authors

Astronaut Clayton Anderson

Nebraska’s only Astronaut, spent 167 days in space and 38 hours and 28 minutes in executing 6 spacewalks. He applied 15 times before NASA selected him as an Astronaut in 1998; and he spent 30 years working for NASA, 15 as an engineer and then 15 as an Astronaut.

Succeeding in one of the most difficult and coveted jobs in the world through perseverance and a never-give-up mantra, Anderson employs NASA’s “Plan, Train and Fly (Execute)” philosophy to all his speaking engagements and projects. Coupled with lessons learned in the areas of leadership, persistence, and passion, he provides unique and “out of this world” insights for those seeking to achieve practical execution.

Astronaut Clayton “Astro Clay” Anderson is the author of three children’s books; Letters from Space, A is for Astronaut: Blasting through the Alphabet, and It’s a Question of Space: An Ordinary Astronaut’s Answers to Sometimes Extraordinary Questions, and his award winning memoir, The Ordinary Spaceman.  You can find out more about Astro Clay and his current and upcoming books at www.AstroClay.com. Follow him on social media @Astro_Clay

Jonis Agee

Agee was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and raised in Nebraska and Missouri, places where many of her stories and novels are set. In all, she is the author of thirteen books, including five novels, five collections of short fiction, and two books of poetry.

Agee’s novels include The Weight of Dreams (Viking Adult, 1999,) South of Resurrection (Viking Audlt, 1997,) Sweet Eyes (Crown, 1991,) and The River Wife (Random House, 2007.) She’s the Adele Hall Professor of English at The University of Nebraska — Lincoln, where she teaches creative writing and twentieth-century fiction.

Agee is married to the writer Brent Spencer. They live in Ponca Hills, which is on the Missouri River, north of Omaha.

“I own twenty pairs of cowboy boots (some of them works of art), love the open road, and believe that ecstasy and hard work are the basic ingredients of life and writing.”

###

The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases .

Posted in Awards, Books & Reading, Events, General | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Your Bridge to History” by Portia and Preston Love, Jr. to Represent Nebraska at National Book Festival

A children’s picture book that encourages children to know their history will represent Nebraska at the 2021 National Book Festival. The Nebraska Center for the Book selected Your Bridge to History by Portia Love and Preston Love, Jr. (‎Preston Publishing, 2019) as the state’s selection for the National Book Festival’s Great Reads from Great Places programing. Each state selects one book about the state, or by an author from the state, that is a good read for children or young adults. The book will be featured in the Great Reads from Great Places – History Edition author panel, which will be available September 17th on the websites of both the National Book Festival and Nebraska Center for the Book. The National Book Festival will run Sept. 17-26, with the theme “Open a Book, Open the World.”

This book, written by Portia and Preston Love, Jr. and illustrated by Regina Jeanpierre, takes you along with the Black Votes Matter Tour across the American South. The characters tour sites where individuals and organizations focus on Civil Rights, Voting Rights, and Black History in the United States. Beautiful illustrations depict the pictures the tour participants experienced along the way. QR codes are included to take readers to websites that are important to further learning. Nebraska’s Great Reads from Great Places book is chosen from the previous year’s Nebraska Book Award winners and this book was awarded the 2020 Nebraska Book Award in the Children’s Picture Book category. Entries for the Nebraska Book Awards are accepted every year between March 1st and June 30th – see http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/awards/nebookawards.html.

The National Book Festival will feature virtual and live presentations by award-winning authors, poets, and illustrators. One such featured author is Nebraskan, Roxanne Gay. Gay’s presentation will be available September 17th on the festival’s Video On-Demand page. We encourage all Nebraskans to tune in for both author talks and experience two voices representing our state’s literary heritage. Find out more about the 2021 National Book Festival (including a list of featured authors) at www.loc.gov/events/2021-national-book-festival/about-this-event/.  

The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the Nebraska Library Commission.  

As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, bringing together people and information.  


                                                                                        ###  

The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases .  

Posted in Books & Reading, Events, General | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Coronavirus forces National Book Festival to shift to online-only format this year

One of Washington’s most cherished events has been felled by the novel coronavirus. The National Book Festival, set to celebrate its 20th anniversary this year, will not be held as planned, the Library of Congress announced Thursday.

The literary extravaganza, which in recent years has drawn an estimated 200,000 people to the Washington Convention Center, was scheduled for Aug. 29. But due to the ongoing covid-19 crisis, the presentations by scores of best-selling and award-winning authors will be moved to the weekend of Sept. 25-27 and presented online only.

The news had been expected, but still came as a disappointment. With authors unable to travel amid social distancing restrictions, most major literary festivals this year have been canceled or shifted online.

Appropriately, the theme of this year’s National Book Festival is “American Ingenuity,” a quality that will be required to effectively reimagine the event in a new virtual format. A statement from the library notes that the move online will “serve a global audience and demonstrate how authors and their stories help to connect and illuminate the world.”

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden issued a statement saying, “Although we cannot hold our usual National Book Festival, which attracts more than 200,000 attendees of all ages, I believe this virtual festival has the potential to convey the same spirit of inventiveness and creativity to an even wider book-loving community.”

This year’s list of authors includes novelists, historians, poets and children’s authors such as Madeleine Albright, John Grisham, Colson Whitehead, Melinda Gates, Kate DiCamillo, Poet Laureate Joy Harjo and National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jason Reynolds.

The festival, which was started in 2001 under the direction of then-first lady Laura Bush, has been underwritten in recent years by Washington-area philanthropist David M. Rubenstein.

The Washington Post is a charter sponsor of the festival.

Thursday, May 28, 2020 | www.washingtonpost.com

Posted in Books & Reading, Events, General | Tagged | Leave a comment