Virginia Festival of the Book announces additional 2017 headliners

The 23rd annual Virginia Festival of the Book (March 22-26, 2017) announces that tickets are now available through VaBook.org for select headliner programs.

Out of Wonder with Kwame Alexander and Ekua Holmes—Wednesday, March 22, 7:00 PM, Culbreth Theatre: Beloved by children, young adults, and adults alike, Kwame Alexander and Ekua Holmes will discuss their forthcoming (Feb. 2017) book, Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets, sharing stories from their careers and engaging with topics from children’s publishing and collaborative projects to the African-American experience and underrepresented readers. Tickets are $5, all ages. This program is sponsored by the UVA Department of Drama.

An Evening with Joseph Stiglitz: Economic Inequality—Friday, March 24, 7:00 PM, Martin Luther King, Jr., Performing Arts Center: Joseph Stiglitz (The Great Divide: Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them) will speak on one of America’s greatest economic challenges: the expanding gap between rich and poor. Stiglitz explores why inequality has increased and what we can do about it. Tickets are $5. This program is sponsored by the Clergy and Laity United for Justice and Peace.

Mental Health: Sue Klebold and the Family Aftermath—Sunday, March 26, 1:00 PM, Culbreth Theatre: Sue Klebold, author of A Mother’s Reckoning and advocate for mental health awareness, research, and suicide prevention, shares the story of her son, one of the two shooters at Columbine High School, to help families see the signs when their children need help. Tickets are FREE but required. This program is sponsored by the Wesley Foundation at UVA and co-hosted by Partner for Mental Health; UVA Health Systems; and UVA Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy.

Further, the participation of additional headliners for 2017 has been confirmed, including fiction and nonfiction authors from assorted 2016 best-of reading lists, including Megan Abbott, Bill Beverly, John Hart, Beth Macy, Rebecca Mead, Patrick Phillips, Margo Lee Shetterly, Dava Sobel, and others.