Now Streaming
Explore interviews and insights from some of the nation's most prolific literary voices.
Explore interviews, insights and artistic expressions from some of the nation’s most significant and prolific literary voices with a glimpse into their creative processes and environments. "Open a Book, Open the World – The Library of Congress National Book Festival" is an hour-long special that delivers highlights from this year's National Book Festival and celebrates a sense of renewal and hope.
Now Streaming
Explore interviews and insights from some of the nation's most prolific literary voices.
Explore interviews, insights and artistic expressions from some of the nation’s most significant and prolific literary voices with a glimpse into their creative processes and environments. "Open a Book, Open the World – The Library of Congress National Book Festival" is an hour-long special that delivers highlights from this year's National Book Festival and celebrates a sense of renewal and hope.
Providing Support for PBS.org
Photos from the Library of Congress National Book Festival
1/10
Mishal Husain ("The Skills: From First Job to Dream Job - What Every Woman Needs to Know") talks about how books opened the world for her growing up in the Middle East.
Library of Congress/DPTV
2/10
Michael J. Fox ("No Time Like the Future") discusses lessons in retaining optimism in the face of mortality.
Library of Congress/DPTV
3/10
Lupita Nyong'o ("Sulwe") reminisces on how her childhood in Kenya influenced her first children's book.
Library of Congress/DPTV
4/10
Viet Thanh Nguyen ("The Committed") discusses how growing up in an immigrant family inspired his latest spy novel.
Library of Congress/DPTV
5/10
Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden welcomes viewers back to this year's National Book Festival.
Library of Congress/DPTV
6/10
Poet Amanda Gorman discusses what books have mean to her during the pandemic.
Library of Congress/DPTV
7/10
LeVar Burton, no stranger to the importance of books, hosts this year's National Book Festival from the Los Angeles Public Library.
Library of Congress/DPTV
8/10
Angie Thomas ("Concrete Rose") talks about how growing up in Mississippi has given her a unique viewpoint on the stories she tells.
Library of Congress/DPTV
9/10
Annette Gordon-Reed ("On Juneteenth") talks about what history can teach us about our ourselves.
Library of Congress/DPTV
10/10
Yaa Gyasi ("Transcendent Kingdom") speaks the challenge of writing the follow-up to her first novel from Brooklyn, NY.
Library of Congress/DPTV
About the Show
After a challenging year, we're all looking ahead as the world begins to open its doors once more. "Open a Book, Open the World – The Library of Congress National Book Festival" is an hour-long special that delivers highlights from this year's National Book Festival and celebrates that sense of renewal and hope that we’re all yearning for.
The works featured as a part of this year's festival — from some notable names like Michael J. Fox, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Roxane Gay — will remind us how books have been a lifeline in hard times and how they continue to make our lives rich with new possibilities.
It is often said that a good book takes the reader on a journey; after being largely stuck inside for the past year, we’re all ready to resume our personal journeys. Books show us who we are, who others are, and what connects us. Over the course of an hour, and with insight from leading literary voices, this is the journey that "Open a Book, Open the World" will take viewers on.
Producers
- Library of Congress
- DPTV
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