Southern Festival of Books Moves to Bicentennial Mall

The Southern Festival of Books is celebrating its 35th anniversary, and this year's installment will be at a new venue. The long-running celebration of literature will be held Oct. 20 through 22 at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, the Tennessee State Museum and the Tennessee State Library. 

One of the area’s oldest literary events, the Southern Festival of Books will be open to the public on Saturday, Oct. 21, and Sunday, Oct. 22, for panel sessions, discussions and readings. But before all that — and for the first time in the festival’s history — Friday, Oct. 20, will be Student Day, which will welcome 1,000 students from area schools for author meet-and-greets, book giveaways and educational programming. Featured festival books will be available for purchase and can even be signed by authors throughout the weekend.

The full lineup hasn’t yet been announced — watch for a full lineup announcement July 20 at the Tennessee State Museum. Roughly 150 authors are slated to attend, including bestselling novelist and recent National Humanities Medal recipient Ann Patchett, award-winning and bestselling author Lee Smith and Nashville-based author and New York Times columnist Margaret Renkl.

For more information, visit sofestofbooks.org — and stay updated on Festival announcements by following the Festival on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.  Curious about what went down at last year's Southern Fest? Check out our extensive coverage.