Greensboro Bound Literary Festival brings large and diverse slate of renowned authors to Triad

The Greensboro Bound Literary Festival returns this week in-person for the first time since the pandemic began. It features a diverse slate of more than 50 renowned authors of fiction, poetry, non-fiction, young adult and children's books.

Over four days, presentations will be held at venues across the city. Writers will discuss themes behind their work during moderated author conversations like "Non-Fiction as a Call to Action," and "Poetry in an Age of Separation."

Featured authors include Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of the 1619 Project, North Carolina author of the National Book Award-winning novel Hell of a Book, Jason Mott, and UNC Greensboro graduate and author of The Violin Conspiracy, Brendan Slocumb. There will be writer workshops and a screening of the documentary on the life and work of former North Carolina Poet Laureate Fred Chappell.

Co-founder and treasurer Stephen Colyer says their mission is one of accessibility — all events are free — with a strong social justice component.

“We target having 50% of our authors be Black, or indigenous or people of color,” says Colyer. “We look to curate our programming so that we in point of fact deal with equity, diversity and inclusivity issues. And then we're trying aggressively to make our audience look like our community.”

The Greensboro Bound Literary Festival takes place Thursday through Sunday.