2010 National Book Festival Pavilions and Authors

Steven Roberts

(History & Biography)
Journalist Steve Roberts was interviewed by his wife, PBS host Cokie Roberts, about his new book, “From Every End of This Earth: 13 Families and the Lives They Made in America.” The grandchild of Polish immigrants, Roberts said, “Immigrants give far more to this country than they take away.”

- Courtesy of The New Yorker

David Remnick

(History & Biography)
David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, discussed his new biography of Barack Obama. “My goal was to separate the wheat from the chaff, the fact from the fiction,” said Remnick. The book focuses on the life and rise of the first African American president. The story ends at the White House door.

Timothy Egan

(History & Biography)
New York Times writer Timothy Egan explores the largest wildfire in American history in “The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America.” In its aftermath, the fire of 1910 helped shape the U.S. Forest Service.

- Kay Springwater

Adele Logan Alexander

(History & Biography)
George Washington University professor Adele Logan Alexander addresses the topic of mixed-race families in her book, “Parallel Worlds: The Remarkable Gibbs-Hunts and the Enduring (In)Significance of Race.” William Hunt was the first African American to have a career in the State Department.

- Cap Pryo

Suzanne Collins

(Children/Teens)
The subject of war and its effects on children is central to Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games,” the first work in a popular science fiction trilogy for young adults. “We can’t have enough books to explain war to children,” said Collins, the daughter of a Vietnam veteran.

- Joanne Dugan

Rebecca Stead

(Children/Teens)
2010 Newbery Medal winner Rebecca Stead made a shift from lawyer to author. She had a passion for writing but fear stood in the way. “I wanted to protect myself from disappointment. But there’s no protecting yourself when you’re doing something that is meaningful for you.”

- Mark Bennington

Jane Smiley

(Children/Teens)
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jane Smiley has written several young adult novels that deal with horses. “As a girl I would have loved to have an onslaught of horses to read about,” she said. “I have fulfilled my own fondest desire.”

James Ransome

(Children/Teens)
“The text is the ice cream, and I put the sprinkles on top,” said James Ransome to describe the craft of illustrating. Ransome has recently added author to his list of credits, with the publication of “Gunner: Football Hero,” which he wrote and illustrated.

- Lori Barr

Isabel Allende

(Fiction & Mystery)
The niece of assassinated Chilean President Salvador Allende, Isabel Allende sought exile in Venezuela. She began writing her first novel, “The House of the Spirits,” on Jan. 8, 1981, while in exile. Since then, Allende has a ritual of always beginning a new book on that date.

- Deborah Feingold

Elizabeth Kostova

(Fiction & Mystery)
“I never read vampire books, so I was surprised that my first novel had elements of the supernatural,” said Elizabeth Kostova. Her best-selling novel “The Historian” blends history and the folklore of Vlad Tepes, otherwise known as Count Dracula.

- Adriel Bettelheim

Ken Follett

(Fiction & Mystery)
Ken Follett discussed his most ambitious work of historical fiction, “The Century Trilogy.” The series follows five interrelated families through the events of the 20th century. Said Follett of his methodology, “I work until five in the afternoon then have a glass of champagne or two at six.”

- Naishi Min

Anchee Min

(Fiction & Mystery)
Inspired by events in her nation’s history, Chinese-born Anchee Min has written about people like Empress Dowager Cixi, the last ruling empress of China. “So much was given to me—my American citizenship. I thought the best way to repay would be to provide what I know.”

- Greg Martin

Jonathan Franzen

(Poetry & Prose)
Jonathan Franzen discussed “four unwelcomed questions” that he frequently receives. Most of them involve the writing process. Even questions about when he writes can raise his ire. “This line of questioning seems innocuous, but I find it personal and invasive,” said the author of “Freedom.”

- Sigrid Estrada

Elizabeth Alexander

(Poetry & Prose)
“Poetry reaches across voids that separate human beings,” said poet Elizabeth Alexander, who read 10 of her poems to a packed crowd. She added that the most important part of writing is the editing, “pages and pages of editing.”

- Beth Bliss

Gail Godwin

(Poetry & Prose)
Gail Godwin said she got the idea for her recent novel from her book editor, who asked about her favorite type of ghost stories. Godwin realized that she liked those that are psychological, in which characters are haunted from the inside. Such is the case with the characters in “Unfinished Desires.”

- Walsh

Rae Armantrout

(Poetry & Prose)
Poet Rae Armantrout grew up in a world where a career in literature was a distant possibility. Luckily for the 2010 winner of the Pulitzer Prize (“Versed”), her mother bought a set of encyclopedias for children, and two volumes were devoted to poetry. Two teachers also nurtured a love of poetry.

Spike Mendelsohn

(Contemporary Life)

“Top Chef” favorite Spike Mendelsohn discussed his cookbook, “The Good Stuff Cookbook: Burgers, Fries, Shakes, Wedges and More.” He wants to “give back to the fans of the show” by making a cookbook that calls for “easy-to-shop-for ingredients.”

- Ted Axelrod

Lidia Matticchio Bastianich

(Contemporary Life)
The star of PBS series “Lidia’s Italy” spoke about her life and career as the owner of four New York restaurants, specializing in Italian and Croatian cuisine. Stressing the importance of food and family, Bastianich said, “I think a table filled with food and family is really magical. Everyone connects to the table.”

- Bill Nyard

Ree Drummond

(Contemporary Life)
Thanks to a “rugged cowboy,” whom she married, Ree Drummond ditched her black pumps and pedicures to move to a cattle ranch in Oklahoma. She began chronicling her rural experiences on ThePioneerWoman.com, a blog where she shares her family life, recipes and more with a legion of fans.