COLUMBIA, MO – The 2021 Unbound Book Festival, a free celebration of literature of all kinds, marches onward with literary panels, discussions and events taking place on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. CST now through April 23.
All 2021 Unbound events are held virtually and they are open to the public and free to attend. All events will be available on Facebook Live and YouTube.
Thus far, the 2021 Unbound Book Festival has featured 17 events in total throughout January, February and March with five events remaining for April.
“We’ve been delighted by the amazing conversations and readings that we’ve experienced through this year’s online festival,” says Unbound founder Alex George. “Our authors and poets are so generous, and so brilliant, that they have inspired and lifted us up as they always do, even though this year we have been apart.”
“We’ve been thrilled with how many folks have tuned in over the course of the last few months,” George adds. “More than 25,000 people have watched an Unbound event online this year, which exceeds our wildest hopes.” Below you will find the dates and descriptions of the remaining Unbound Book Festival events taking place throughout the month of April, the final month of the fest.
Tuesday, April 6 at 7:00 p.m. CST – “In it Together – Writing, Community and Craft”
“Two New York Times best-selling authors (and friends) take the virtual stage to ask each other four powerful questions about their newest books, their writing lives in the worlds of fiction and memoir, and the deep need for community, especially right now.”
Participants include authors Laura Munson and Julie Metz. Learn more about this program and get the participation links at www.unboundbookfestival.com/craft-talk.
Tuesday, April 13 at 7:00 p.m. CST – “You Do the Math”
“Some might think of literature and mathematics as diametrically opposed, pillars in some imagined battle between right-brain and left-brain thinking—of the fantastical versus the pragmatic or berets versus pocket-protectors. Others wax poetic about the beauty of math, its intricacies, mysteries and near-religious revelations. Three author/mathematicians help us to consider the field’s calculable and incalculable powers.”
Participants include authors Catherine Chung, Karen Olson, Eugenia Cheng and moderator Dan Edidin.
Learn more about this program and access the participation links here: www.unboundbookfestival.com/you-do-the-math.
Thursday, April 15 at 7:00 p.m. CST – “April Poetry Reading”
“Join us for our final poetry reading of the festival! Kerrin McCadden is the author of ‘American Wake’ and ‘Landscape with Plywood Silhouettes,’ winner of the Vermont Book Award and the New Issues Poetry Prize. Cate Marvin’s fourth book, ‘Event Horizon,’ is forthcoming from Copper Canyon Press. Her previous collections include ‘Oracle,’ ‘Fragment of the Head of a Queen’ and ‘World’s Tallest Disaster.'”
Participants include poets Kerrin McCadden, Janine Joseph, Cate Marvin.
Learn more about this program and access the participation links here: www.unboundbookfestival.com/poetry-reading-april.
Tuesday, April 20 at 7:00 p.m. CST – “Missouri Bicentennial: The State of Things”
“In our final event to mark Missouri’s Bicentennial, we welcome two of the state’s most astute and clear-eyed chroniclers. In their recent books bestselling authors Sarah Kendzior and Walter Johnson take Missouri’s past and present as a lens through which to consider the country as a whole. This will be a thought-provoking discussion about Missouri, its legacy, and its place in the modern-day United States.”
Participants include the authors Sarah Kendzior and Walter Johnson and moderator Jeff Pasley.
Learn more about this program and access the participation links here: www.unboundbookfestival.com/bicentennial-panel.
**Thursday, April 23 at 7:00 p.m. CST – Keynote Event Featuring Tracy K. Smith and Jericho Brown”**
The 2021 Unbound Festival concludes on Thursday, April 23 with the keynote event featuring readings and conversations between the beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning poets Tracy K. Smith and Jericho Brown.
Tracy K. Smith is the author of the celebrated memoir “Ordinary Light” and four award-winning books of poetry. Smith won the Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for her book of poems entitled “Life on Mars” and was the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2017 through 2019.
Jericho Brown has published three highly-acclaimed books of poetry, including “The Tradition,” which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2020. Learn more about this program and access the participation links here: www.unboundbookfestival.com/keynote-event.
A list of scheduled Unbound Book Festival events, detailed descriptions of each event, biographies of the participating authors and poets, and a “How to Festival” guide with instructions on how to attend, can be found at UnboundBookFestival.com.
Those interested in receiving updates on the 2021 Unbound Book Festival are encouraged to sign up for the Unbound email list found at the bottom of the page at www.UnboundBookFestival.com and/or follow the fest’s Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/UnboundBookFestival.
