NH Book Festival with Jodi Picoult, Jeff Kinney and 60-plus authors
The first New Hampshire Book Festival in 2024 began the way a lot of good stories do — with a simple question. Authors Emilie Christie Burack and Sarah McCraw Crow were writing together in the café at Gibson’s Bookstore, lamenting that the state had no book festival of its own.
“I just said out of the blue, why don’t we just do it?” Burack recalled in a recent Zoom interview. Both had attended plenty of festivals elsewhere and understood what one could do for a community. “It really brings people together in conversation about story,” she said.
Gibson’s sits across from Capitol Center for the Arts on South Main Street in Concord, so Burack only needed to look out the window to envision the layout. “You can’t have a book festival without a great indie bookstore,” she said. “And then having a venue is the other really important part.”
The third annual festival kicks off Friday, Oct. 2, with ticketed keynotes in the morning and evening. On Saturday, Oct. 3, more than 60 authors, poets and illustrators, up from about 40 in the first year, will gather together. Every invited writer has published a book within the past 12 months.
The festival has drawn big names since year one, when Because of Winn-Dixie author Kate DiCamillo headlined.
This year Hanover writer Jodi Picoult delivers the opening keynote Friday night, supporting her new novel, Hollow Bones. Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid creator, appears twice. He’s at the (already sold out) Children’s Keynote on Friday morning, and Saturday’s Family Keynote, which closes the festival.
The Friday children’s event is the festival’s heart. Transportation grants help Title I schools bus students in from as far as the North Country, and every child leaves with a new book autographed by the author.
“Some educators have told us that it’s often the very first brand-new book that ever comes into a child’s home,” Burack said.
Each year the program has sold out to schools within two hours. Panels aren’t built around predetermined themes. Instead, organizers look for common threads among a flood of applications. “It’s almost like seating at a wedding,” Burack said. “It’s really fun to hear authors talking to authors about their process.”
That approach produced one of her favorites, “Writing Through Generations,” which she’ll moderate. It pairs humorist Rebecca Rule and her daughter, middle-grade author Adi Rule, with Warner’s award-winning David Elliott and his son Eli, co-authors of the spooky middle-grade novel Bone Bag.
“How the heck does a father and son write a book together?” Burack said. “I can’t wait to ask.”
She’s also excited for “Bold Hearts, Brave Voices,” a panel featuring authors of books about young protagonists who push past their comfort zones. They include Kate Schoedinger, whose debut Death By Molasses is about a boy who survived Boston’s 1919 molasses flood and helped pave a path toward the creation of OSHA.
“Redemption at Last” is moderated by Jennifer Gordon, with Andrew Krivak, Diane Les Becquets and Brinda Charry, a Keene author and festival board member whose 2025 novel The East Indian won several awards. Charry’s latest, Hocus Pocus, is set in early Boston’s world of stage entertainment. Publishers Weekly called it “a marvel.”
Three years in, the festival relies on about 100 volunteers and a working board, and its strategic plan calls for hiring a full-time executive director. A Sunday of writing workshops is under discussion.
“We want it to be a beloved New Hampshire event that goes on for generations,” Burack said.
For first-timers, Burack’s advice is to wander and discover. Saturday non-keynote events are free. There are poetry readings and plenty of panels, each one ending with a signing, as well as a morning costume parade commencing at Constantly Pizza. Everyone is encouraged to come as a favorite book character.
“We’re all about bringing the community together to talk about stories,” she said. “That’s the joy of a book festival.”
New Hampshire Book Festival
When: Friday, Oct. 2, and Saturday, Oct. 3
Where: Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 S. Main St., Concord
Keynote tickets: Jodi Picoult, Friday, Oct. 2, 7 p.m., includes a copy of Hollow Bones, $59; Jeff Kinney, Saturday, Oct. 3, 6:30 p.m., $25, includes a copy of Spooky Stories 2 (Kinney’s Friday morning keynote is sold out).
More: nhbookfestival.org
Featured photo: Courtesy photo.