PBS Books and GBH is honored to host this virtual engagement event with author Veronica Chambers as part of our exciting partnership with The Library of Congress for the 2020 LOC National Book Festival: Celebrating American Ingenuity.
This year, LOC’s annual Book Festival with the theme “Celebrating American Ingenuity” was held online between September 25 and 27. The Festival culminated in a two-hour PBS Books special exploring ingenuity of acclaimed American authors. Hosted by Hoda Kotb, the special premiered on September 27th but is continuing to air in other markets throughout October. The National Book Festival features diverse stories from special guests like Joy Harjo, Salman Rushdie, Madeleine Albright, and John Grisham.
Throughout the months of September and October, PBS Books is hosting ten events (just like this!) to showcase several talented, ingenious authors featured in this dynamic special. These intimate, moderated Q&As will be deep-dives into the work of some of the most celebrated literary luminaries of our time, all while providing insights into the upcoming festival. The events will be targeted to particular national regions, but are accessible to all audiences.
About the Author
Veronica Chambers is a prolific author, best known for her critically acclaimed memoir, Mama’s Girl, which has been course adopted by hundreds of high schools and colleges throughout the country. The New Yorker called Mama’s Girl, “a troubling testament to grit and mother lover…one of the finest and most evenhanded in the genre in recent years.” Born in Panama and raised in Brooklyn, her work often reflects her Afro-Latina heritage.
She co-authored the award-winning memoir Yes Chef with Marcus Samuelsson, as well a Samuelsson’s young adult memoir Make It Messy, and has collaborated on four New York Times bestsellers, most recently 32 Yolks, which she cowrote with chef Eric Ripert, She has been a senior editor at the New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, and Glamour. She speaks, reads, and writes Spanish, but she is truly fluent in Spanglish. She is currently a JSK Knight Fellow at Stanford University.