After two years of offering the festival virtually, Fall for the Book is thrilled to be back with both in-person and online events for the 24th year. From October 11-15, the festival will be headlined by bestselling novelist Emily St. John Mandel, graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang, comic book heavy-weight Alan Moore, and champion goalkeeper Briana Scurry.
Other featured authors include actress Sarah Edmondson, novelist Melissa Scholes Young, Planet Money host Mary Childs, meteorologist Matthew Cappucci, short story writer Morgan Talty, memoirist Rhajika Bhandari, and more.
In-person events will be hosted at Mason鈥檚 Fairfax Campus and around Fairfax County. A special day of Children鈥檚 Events will also take place on Saturday, October 8, in Old Town Hall as part of the City of Fairfax鈥檚 Fall Festival.
On Thursday, October 13, the festival will celebrate the fifth annual New American Voices Award, which honors immigrant writing. The three finalists are Aamina Ahmad, author of 鈥淭he Return of Faraz Ali鈥; Daphne Palasi Andreades, author of 鈥淏rown Girls鈥; and Sindya Bhanoo, author of 鈥淪eeking Fortune Elsewhere.鈥
Friday, October 14, the City of Fairfax presents two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, Hall of Famer, and legendary Women鈥檚 World Cup 鈥99 team member Briana Scurry, who will talk about her powerful memoir 鈥淢y Greatest Save: The Brave, Barrier-Breaking Journey of a World Champion GoalKeeper.鈥 She will speak at 7 p.m. at the Stacy C. Sherwood Center in Fairfax.
On Saturday, October 15, Fall for the Book is partnering with the Wisconsin Book Festival to present comic book legend Alan Moore virtually, as he appears on Crowdcast at 11:30 a.m. Watch the event on-demand from home via Crowdcast, or join an on-campus watch party.
Also on Saturday, the George Mason Friends present Gene Luen Yang, author of the graphic novel 鈥淒ragon Hoops.鈥 A two-time National Book Award finalist for his graphic novels 鈥淏oxers & Saints鈥 and 鈥淎merican Born Chinese,鈥 which is coming to Disney+, Yang has also written for New Super-Man聽from DC Comics, and聽the Avatar: The Last Airbender聽series from Dark Horse Comics. Yang will appear at 5 p.m. at Harris Theater.
Later that evening, the Fairfax Library Foundation presents Emily St. John Mandel, author of international bestsellers 鈥淪ea of Tranquility鈥 and 鈥淪tation Eleven.鈥 Mandel will cap off the festival at 7:30 p.m. in Harris Theater, talking about her new space and time-defying novel.
On-demand and live streamed events will be available on the festival鈥檚 website and . All events are free and open to the public, thanks to our sponsors. Free tickets will be available on Eventbrite for headline events one week prior to the festival.聽
The full schedule is now live and can be found on .