ANNETTE GORDON-REED

Annette Gordon-Reed is the author of The Hemingses of Monticello for which she won the 2008 National Book Award and the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in History.

Gordon-Reed has also co-written with Vernon Jordan Vernon Can Read!: A Memoir and is author of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy. Gordon-Reed graduated from Harvard Law School.

She will be giving a talk at 11:00 a.m. in the Boyd Vance Theater at the Carver Museum and Cultural Center.

Read more about Professor Gordon-Reed. »

CARLA A. HARRIS

Carla Harris is the Managing Director in Global Capital Markets at Morgan Stanley and is the author of Expect to Win: Proven Strategies for Success from a Wall Street Vet.

Her name has appeared on Fortune Magazine’s50 Most Powerful Black Executives in Corporate America and Black Enterprise Magazine’s Top 50 African Americans on Wall Street.

Harris started singing as a child. She performs in cabarets, at open-mike nights and in other local settings. Harris is proud of the two albums she has released: Carla’s First Christmas and Joy Is Waiting, a gospel album.

Harris will discuss and sign her book at 10:00 a.m. at the Carver Library.

Read the Black Enterprise Interview with Carla Harris. »
The Austin Chapter of the Black MBA Association will provide a free continental breakfast for this event.

ANITA RICHMOND-BUNKLEY

Anita Richmond Bunkley self-published her first novel after 32 rejections and being told that "blacks did not read many books." Now, "sixteen years and fifteen novels later," she is a sought-after motivational speaker and popular author.

Her latest titles include Mirrored LIfe, Silent Wager , Between Goodbyes and coming in June of 2009 - Spotlight on Desire.

Ms. Bunkley will read and sign at 12:30 p.m. inside the Carver Library.

Read more about Bunkley on her website. »

BERNICE MCFADDEN

Bernice McFadden’s best known work is her first published novel Sugar. She has been compared to Toni Morrison. Warmest December, Nowhere Is A Place, Loving Donovan, and Camilla’s Rose are among the books she has written.

McFadden also writes racy, humorous fiction under the pseudonym, Geneva Holliday.

McFadden will be reading at 1:30 p.m. inside the Carver Library.

Read more about McFadden her website. »

EVENT OVERVIEW

The Book Festival is scheduled for Saturday, June 27, 2009 from 10a-4p and will take place on the grounds of the Carver Branch Libraryand the Carver Museum and Cultural Center.

This celebration of African American literature will be a family oriented fun filled day of celebrating the joy of reading. This year’s book festival will also feature bestselling authors Bernice McFadden, Anita Richmond Bunkley and Harvard Business School Grad Carla Harris.

Activities for the kids include Austin storyteller Carla Nickerson. Arts and crafts, book giveaways for kids and an array of other activities are lined up for young book lovers. Activities will be going on both in the courtyard and inside the library.

Vendors include booksellers, and other small business owners. There will be spoken word presentations by local poets.

DAY'S SCHEDULE

10:00
Carla Harris with
Business Breakfast hosted by Austin Black MBAs
Facilitated by Hopeton Hay, KAZI Economic Perspectives
Carver Library Room 2 & 3

11:00
Annette Gordon-Reed
Boyd Vance Theater

12:30
Anita Richmond Bunkley
Carver Library Room 1

1:00 - 3:00
Poetry Reading
Carver Library Courtyard

1:30
Bernice McFadden
Carver Library Room 1 & 2

2:30
Angela Shelf Medearis
Carver Library Room 1

3:00 - 4:00
Open Mic Poetry Reading
Carver Library Courtyard

KID'S ACTIVITIES

11:00 – 2:00
Face Painting
Carver Library Courtyard

11:00 – 12:00
Arts & Crafts
Carver Library Room 3

1:00
Don Tate
Carver Library Room 3

2:00
Carla Nickerson- Storyteller
Carver Library Room 3