Savannah Book Festival, February 18, 2012

The Savannah Book Festival unveils the final schedule for the main day of the Festival on Saturday, February 18, 2012.  New extended hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.  Author presentations on Saturday remain free and open to the public and are being held in venues in and around Telfair Square.  Festival events run from February 15-19, 2012 and feature more than 40 critically acclaimed authors, offering Savannahians and visitors alike the opportunity to Lose Yourself in Books.

Festival Executive Director Robin Gold explained, “This year, we have not only expanded the Festival to five days, but have extended our programming on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. in response to visitor feedback in previous years.  We are especially thrilled with the impressive list of authors slated for the main day of the festival which remains free to every visitor.  There really is something for everyone, and we are proud to offer a variety of brilliant writers in 2012.”

The free offerings of the Festival begin on Friday evening, February 17, with literary icon Pat Conroy delivering the keynote address.  In his latest work, My Reading Life, he shares the writers and stories that have influenced him over the years.  Held at Trinity United Methodist Church at 225 W. President Street on Telfair Square at 6:00 p.m., doors open at 5:00 p.m.

On Saturday, February 18, six venues around Savannah’s historic Telfair Square will host an impressive line-up of more than 40 authors in a variety of genres such as fiction, history, lifestyle, memoir, lifestyle and poetry.

SCHEDULE:  (Subject to Change without Notice)

Saturday, February 18

9:30 a.m.  (Authors to sign books in the Ex Libris Author and Book Tent at 10:30 a.m.)

• Melissa Fay Greene, No Biking in the House without a Helmet, Trinity United Methodist Church
• Tom Clavin, Last Men Out, Telfair Rotunda
• Janisse Ray, Drifting into Darien, Neises Auditorium, Jepson Center
• Libbie Summers, The Whole Hog Cookbook, Telfair Sculpture Gallery
• Hugh Golson and Jennifer Ryan, Andrew Low and the Sign of the Buck, Jepson Boardroom
• Spencer Quinn, The Dog Who Knew Too Much, Telfair Square Tent

10:45 a.m. (Authors to sign books in the Ex Libris Author and Book Tent at 11:45 am.)

• Michael Oher, I Beat The Odds, Trinity United Methodist Church
• Karl Marlantes, What It’s Like To Go To War, Telfair Rotunda
• Jamie Ford, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Neises Auditorium, Jepson Center
• Charles Faudree, Charles Faudree Details, Telfair Sculpture Gallery
• Martha Keber, Ebb and Flow, Jepson Boardroom
• Craig Johnson, Hell is Empty, Telfair Square Tent

12:00 p.m. (Authors to sign books in the Ex Libris Author and Book Tent at 1:00 p.m.)

• Pat Conroy, My Writing Life, and John Warley, The Moralist, Trinity United Methodist Church
• Captain Scott Smiley, Hope Unseen, Telfair rotunda
• Bobbie Ann Mason, The Girl in the Blue Beret, Neises Auditorium, Jepson Center
• Lulu Powers, Food to Flowers, Telfair Sculpture Gallery
• Stephen Hoffius and Susan Millar Williams, Upheaval in Charleston, Jepson Boardroom
• Sonny Seiler and Kent Hannon, Damn Good Dawgs, Telfair Square Tent

1:30 p.m. (Authors to sign books in the Ex Libris Author and Book Tent at 2:30 p.m.)

• Brad Thor, Full Black, Trinity United Methodist Church
• Jennifer Griffin and Greg Myre, This Burning Land, Telfair Rotunda
• Amy Hatvany, Outside the Lines, Neises Auditorium, Jepson Center
• Virginia Willis, Basic to Brilliant, Y’all, Telfair Sculpture Gallery
• Carol Megathlin, Fighting without Fanfare:  Honest Thoughts about Human Dilemmas, Jepson Boardroom
• Malcolm Beith, The Last Narco, Telfair Square Tent

2:45 p.m.  (Authors to sign books in the Ex Libris Author and Book Tent at 3:45 p.m.)

• Doug Brinkley, The Quiet World, Saving Alaska’s Wildness Kingdom, Trinity United Methodist Church
• Irshad Manji, Allah, Liberty and Love, Telfair Rotunda
• Laura Harrington, Alice Bliss, Neises Auditorium, Jepson Center
• Randy Fertel, The Gorilla Man and the Empress of Steak, Telfair Sculpture Gallery
• Mark Jarman  Bone Fires, Jepson Boardroom
• Patricia Cohen, In Our Prime:  The Invention of Middle Age, Telfair Square Tent

4:00 p.m.  (Authors to sign books in the Ex Libris Author and Book Tent at 5:00 p.m.)

• Jeffery Deaver, Carte Blanche, Trinity United Methodist Church
• Touré, Who’s Afraid of Post Blackness, Telfair Rotunda
• Hillary Jordan, When She Woke, Neises Auditorium, Jepson Center
• Nan Chase, Eat Your Yard! Edible trees, shrubs, vines, herbs and flowers for your landscape,  Telfair Sculpture Gallery
• Dawn Baker, Dawn’s Daughter, Jepson Boardroom
• Taylor Polites, The Rebel Wife, Telfair Square Tent

5:15 p.m. (Authors to sign books in the Ex Libris Author and Book Tent at 6:00 p.m.)

• Stewart O’Nan, The Odds, Trinity United Methodist Church
• S.C. Gwynne, Empire of the Summer Moon, Telfair Rotunda

The Festival will close on Sunday February 19 with a SOLD-OUT ceremony with Stephen King.

The Savannah Book Festival Inc. is an independent, non-profit corporation led by a volunteer board of directors.  It is committed to remaining free and open to the public and to celebrating the written word and its role in improving the human experience.  For more information, please contact Executive Director Robin Gold at (912) 598 4040.  Or visit our website at http://www.savannahbookfestival.org/ , our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Savannah-Book-Festival/242909485772025 and follow us on Twitter at @SavBookFestival.