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Decatur Book Festival becomes one-day October event, features Emory authors

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Emory faculty authors Carol Anderson (left) and Tiphanie Yanique will be showcased in this year’s Decatur Book Festival, set for Oct. 2.

The AJC Decatur Book Festival Presented by Emory University is permanently moving from its traditional Labor Day slot to the first weekend in October, and this year’s literary events will feature two Emory faculty authors.

This year’s festival will be a one-day program taking place on Saturday, Oct. 2, at the First Baptist Church of Decatur, as part of a larger Festival Weekend lineup that also includes the Amplify Decatur Music Festival (Oct. 1-2), the Decatur Craft Beer Festival (Oct. 2) and the Decatur Arts Festival (Oct. 2-3). 

The book festival will take place on the church grounds, and booksellers and food vendors will have pop-up shops at the church. Author panel events will also be streamed online.

“I am delighted that we are able to present a book festival this year that is scaled back due to COVID-19 restrictions, yet so rich in content,” says Leslie Wingate, Emory Libraries campus and community relations director, who also serves on the AJC Decatur Book Festival board. “Our festival theme ‘Diverse Voices Building Community’ really speaks to the times we are in, and I’m proud to have the voices of Emory professors Carol Anderson and Tiphanie Yanique in our author lineup, along with those of many other diverse, talented authors.” 

Here are the author events featuring Emory faculty: 

10:15-11 a.m.: Carol Anderson, Charles Howard Candler professor of African American Studies, will discuss her latest non-fiction book, “The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America.” Anderson’s book takes a critical new look at the Second Amendment and how it has been engineered to deny the rights of African Americans. Moderated by WABE’s Rose Scott.

12:45-1:30 p.m.: Literary Fiction panel, featuring Tiphanie Yanique, associate professor of English and creative writing. She will discuss her new novel “Monster in the Middle” (release date Oct. 19), which maps the emotional inheritance of one couple newly in love. She will be joined by Anjali Enjeti, author of the recently released novel “The Parted Earth,” a heartfelt portrait of the long shadow of the Partition of India on the lives of three generations of women. Moderated by Nicole Stamant, associate professor and chair of English at Agnes Scott College.

Click here for more information about the 2021 AJC Decatur Book Festival Presented by Emory University. For the complete author events schedule, click here.


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