September 4-6, 2009

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The AJC Decatur Book Festival Presented by DeKalb Medical
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AJC Decatur Book Festival Presented by DeKalb Medical to Feature Dynamic Poetry Track Loaded With Distinguished Talent

Natasha Trethewey, Edward Hirsch, Thomas Lux, Patricia Smith, and Other Notable Poets to Appear

Poetry Track to Feature Poetry Slams, Open Mics, Readings, Workshops, and More

August 25, 2009 (Decatur) — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival Presented by DeKalb Medical (DBF) presents an impressive set of poetry events, including readings by local Pulitzer Prize-winner Natasha Trethewey, conversations between preeminent poets Edward Hirsch and Thomas Lux, and quickly rising new stars such as Jericho Brown and James Allen Hall.

The festival will be held Labor Day Weekend, September 4-6.

“The 2009 Decatur Book Festival presents well-known poets such as Edward Hirsch, Natasha Trethewey, Stuart Dischell, and Patricia Smith alongside exciting newer voices like Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Stacey Lynn Brown, Lytton Smith, and Travis Denton,” said Chelsea Rathburn, poetry track director of the festival. “What they have in common is excellence. These poets are all exceptional poets and exceptional performers. We’re delighted to bring them before DBF audiences.”

Poetry events kick off Friday with a free poetry workshop called “Lying Our Way to the Truth” which will explore memory and invention in poetry. The workshop is from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., and will be led by Rathburn, author of The Shifting Line and recipient of a 2009 National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, and James May, editor in chief of the literary journal New South. Interested participants may register by emailing workshops@decaturbookfestival.com.

Edward Hirsch and Thomas Lux will present a reading and conversation titled “How to Read a Poem” Sunday at 1:15 on the Old Courthouse Stage. Hirsch is author of the bestselling book How to Read a Poem: And Fall in Love with Poetry, and he is president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Lux is author of eleven books of poetry, Bourne Professor of Poetry at Georgia Tech, a Guggenheim fellow, and recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Natasha Trethewey is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poetry collection Native Guard. She was selected as Georgia Woman of the Year in 2008 by the Georgia Commission on Women, and received the 2008 Mississippi Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts for Poetry. Saturday at 12:30 p.m. on the First Baptist Decatur Sanctuary Stage, she will appear with debut author Jericho Brown, who worked as the speechwriter for former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial before receiving his Ph.D. in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Houston. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The Norton Anthology of African American Poetry, The Iowa Review, and Oxford American, and he has already earned accolades for his 2008 collection, Please.

Patricia Smith is a national poetry slam champion and author of five acclaimed poetry books, including Blood Dazzler, which explores the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. Blood Dazzler was selected as one of National Public Radio’s top five books of 2008, and was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award. Smith will share the stage with renowned spoken word performer Jeffrey McDaniel and dynamic Atlanta poet Travis Denton.

Saturday at 12:30 p.m. on the Decatur Conference Center Stage, the Atlanta Queer Literary Festival will present a reading that pairs esteemed medical doctor and poet C. Dale Young, author of three books of poetry and poetry editor of the New England Review, with newcomer James Allen Hall, whose first collection recently won the 2009 Lambda Literary Award in poetry.

These poetry events are just a few of many, and a full list of poets appearing on the festival's main stages and at the local poetry stage is available.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival Presented by DeKalb Medical is the largest independent book festival in the country and the fourth largest overall. This year, more than 300 authors and tens of thousands of festival goers will crowd the historic downtown Decatur Square to enjoy book signings, author readings, panel discussions, an interactive children’s area, live music, parades, cooking demonstrations, poetry slams, writing workshops, and more.

Interviews available upon request.

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