North Carolina Literary Festival

In 1998, the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill sponsored a weekend literary festival for readers and writers. Open to the public, this inaugural statewide event had as its focus A Celebration of Southern Writers & Readers. Over 100 writers appeared on the festival program, giving talks, leading forums and panel discussions, and reading from their works.

Conceived as a statewide celebration of writers and readers, the 1998 North Carolina Literary Festival was sponsored by the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and held at the university 3-5 April 1998. Planning for the event started in 1995 and intensified in 1997. The festival proved to be a largely successful and enjoyable event for its patrons, bringing together the public, 60 recognized readers, and over 107 writers for a weekend of talks, forums, readings, performances, and book signings. The event, A Celebration of Southern Writers & Readers, included nationally acclaimed writers from several genres, including poetry, literary fiction, literary nonfiction, mystery, science fiction and fantasy, young adult fiction and children's literature. Featured writers included Alice Adams, Daphne Athas, Doris Betts, Ellen Douglas, Rita Dove, Clyde Edgerton, John Grisham, Allan Gurganus, Margaret Maron, Tim McLaurin, Robert Morgan, Lawrence Naumoff, Reynolds Price, Louis D. Rubin, Jr., Lee Smith, and Derek Walcott. Vendors and exhibitors were in attendance on Polk Place on the university campus, and the events were located in various indoor and outdoor campus venues. The festival drew state and national media attention, especially over the appearance of bestselling author John Grisham ( The Pelican Brief, The Client ), whose appearance remained somewhat of a mystery until the very close to the actual event.

With the enormous popularity and success of the 1998 festival, it was determined that a statewide celebration of writing and reading should be repeated biennially. The Center for the Study of the American South asked the Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to assume responsibility and share the enormous planning and organizational tasks related to hosting the event. No festival was held in 2000, but the Library hosted the second North Carolina Literary Festival on 5-6 April 2002. Featured writers and performers included Gail Godwin, Allan Gurganus, Pam Durban, Lucille Clifton, Fred Chappell, Robert Morgan, Randall Kenan, Lee Smith, Elizabeth Spencer, Donald Davis, and Ashley Bryan. Because of the tradition of collaboration among Research Triangle university libraries, the decision was made to alternate sites for the festival among North Carolina State University, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The host libraries would have the flexibility to celebrate and interpret the festival as they wished, with the approval of co-sponsors and the guidance of an appointed advisory board. The libraries and universities, along with various sponsors and co-sponsors, would provide the festival's operating budget, but most events would be open and free to the public.

North Carolina State University hosted the third North Carolina Literary Festival, 15-18 April 2004. Writers and performers in attendance at the 2004 festival included Alice Walker, Dennis Lehane, Orson Scott Card, Angela Davis-Gardner, Sarah Dessen, Clyde Egerton, Karen Joy Fowler, Kaye Gibbons, Randall Kenan, Jill McCorkle, Sharyn McCrumb, Bland Simpson, Daniel Wallace, and Kathryn Stripling Byer. Along with the change of venue to Duke University in 2006, festival organizers changed the name of the festival to North Carolina Festival of the Book. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill again hosted the festival on 10-13 September 2009.