Book-lovers gathering at a previous Decatur Book Festival. (Photo by Megan Varner)
This month, the organizers of the Decatur Book Festival announced Saeed Jones and Angie Thomas this year’s keynote and “kidnote” speakers, respectively, giving bookish Atlantans more reasons to anticipate the beloved event. Both Jones and Thomas are known for their activism and writing about social justice themes, working to promote empathy through sharing their struggles and joys with honesty and hope.
This is not a coincidence, according to the Festival’s executive director, Leslie Wingate, who says organizers wanted to provide a balm for the often overwhelming fear and uncertainty of recent years. “We are doing everything we can in every aspect of our programming, not just our author programming, to instill that sense of belonging and community in this Festival,” Wingate said.
That dedication to community made Jones — award-winning author of three celebrated books, most recently the poetry collection Alive at the End of the World (Coffee House Press, 2022) — a perfect choice for this year’s keynote event.
But the project that brought Jones to Festival organizers’ attention this year was the forthcoming Power to the People: Poems, Essays, and Art for Looking Forward (Simon & Schuster, September 2025), an anthology of poetry, essays and art aimed at cultivating purpose, community and hope in a troubled era, which Jones curated alongside writer Maggie Smith.
Thomas also advocates for community in her work, focusing on stories of Black children and teenagers wrestling with racism and systemic violence alongside friendship, crushes and family strife. Her first book, The Hate U Give (Clarion, 2017), was a massive hit, crossing over from YA to adult readers and ultimately being adapted for the big screen in 2018. Her newest book, Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Book of Anansi (Clarion), scheduled for release in September, is the second installment in a planned middle-grade fantasy trilogy.
Thomas said that she sees books “as a form of activism. If nothing else, books give us a glimpse into lives that we may not have known about before; they can promote empathy.”
Now more than ever, Wingate said, books are a necessary source of comfort, and the Festival as a “place of community.”
“I was on a call with someone” she said, “and they said the Festival feels like a big hug — you know, when hugs are needed the most. And I just thought that was the perfect depiction.”
The Decatur Book Festival will take place around downtown Decatur on October 3 and October 4 and include author signings, panels and readings, along with exhibits, live music, cooking demonstrations, food and activities, much of which will be announced in the coming months.
Jones will appear Friday, October 3, in the Sanctuary of the First Baptist Church of Decatur in discussion with three contributors to The People’s Project: poet Tiana Clark and local writers Victoria Chang and Aruni Kashyap. Thomas will appear the same day, at Agnes Scott College’s Presser Hall, in a discussion with Atlanta literacy advocate FeFe Handy. Both events are free, but reservations are recommended.
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Rachel Wright has a Ph.D. from Georgia State University and an MA from the University College Dublin, both in creative writing. Her work has appeared in The Stinging Fly and elsewhere. She is currently at work on a novel.
