WASHINGTON– The Library of Congress Federal Credit Union is underwriting the first-ever Library of Congress National Book Festival PBS television special.
In celebration of the festival's 20th year, PBS stations will broadcast, "The Library of Congress National Book Festival: Celebrating American Ingenuity" on Sept. 27, 6-8 pm ET/PT. The two-hour program, hosted by Hoda Kotb of NBC News' TODAY Show, will feature some of the nation's most renowned authors and literary voices.
"We are honored to help support the first-ever Library of Congress National Book Festival PBS prime-time special," said Marsha King, president/CEO of Library of Congress FCU. "We believe the library community advances America's great story. And this is one of the ways we can give back to a community that gives so much to the world."
The 2020 National Book Festival broadcast will feature a variety of presentations and interviews by
two dozen of the nation’s most beloved literary voices. The best-selling authors will join thousands of book lovers across the country to celebrate American ingenuity — what it means to them, how it fires theirminds and imaginations and why books are so important in these times.
“The 2020 National Book Festival will reach an even bigger audience of book lovers during these challenging times, thanks to our collaboration with PBS and public broadcast stations across the country to present this television special,” said Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden. “We’d also like to thank our generous underwriters which include the Library of Congress Federal Credit Union. Without their support, this program would not be possible.”
The broadcast will feature an impressive group of authors, including:
- Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and 2020 recipient of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction Colson Whitehead.
- Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
- National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jason Reynolds.
- NBC News “TODAY” co-host Jenna Bush Hager.
- Master of the legal thriller John Grisham.
- Melinda Gates, philanthropist and co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
- Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham on civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis.
- A conversation between longtime friends Ann Patchett, whose recent novel, “The Dutch House,” is a Pulitzer finalist, and two-time Newbery winner Kate DiCamillo, whose recent book is “Stella Endicott and the Anything- Is-Possible Poem.”
- Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie.
- Graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang.
- Fantasy novelist Leigh Bardugo.