The Alexandria Festival of the Book
Portraying America 1776 - 2026
A collaboration of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Alexandria
and Virginia Humanities
The Alexandria Festival of the Book, a collaboration of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Alexandria and Virginia Humanities, is pleased to announce a one-day book festival,
“Portraying America 1776 – 2026”, to be held on March 14 at St. Paul’s in Old Town Alexandria.
Award winning authors will lead participants through the Revolutionary War period in the morning session and then into the Gilded Age and the Jazz Age in the afternoon. The participating authors have written about George Washington’s first “first family” and his relationship with his “hometown” of Alexandria, the winter of 1778 at Valley Forge, Washington’s personal
involvement in the creation of the of the gardens and landscape at Mount Vernon, the Gilbert Stuart portraits, the role of France and Spain in the American Revolution, and about Gilded Age artist John Singer Sargent and four of the women he painted, the personal and professional
friendship of architect Stanford White and sculptor Augustus Saint Gaudens, F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby which was published just over 100 years ago, and Belle da Costa Greene, J. Pierpont Morgan’s librarian. (See list of authors and the books they will be discussing below)
“We are fortunate to have this impressive array of award-winning authors join us here in Alexandria. Alexandria is, indeed, George Washington’s “hometown” and we are pleased to celebrate that. Alexandria is also a city of readers and book clubs and we are excited about the opportunity to explore a few selections from the literature that helps explain and define us,” said Oran Warder, Rector of St. Paul’s.
“Virginia Humanities is excited about the myriad authors, eras and themes that we will be presenting in Alexandria on March 14. What an exciting way to approach America’s 250th by combining perspectives on the Revolutionary War period with glimpses into the Gilded Age and Jazz Age and beyond,” commented Matthew Gibson, Executive Director of Virginia Humanities.
Virginia Humanities has delivered public Humanities programs throughout the state for more than 50 years and has presented the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville for more than 30 years.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church was founded more than 200 years ago. Designed by architect Benjamin Latrobe who also worked on the White House, the U.S. Capitol and St. John’s Lafayette Square, St. Paul’s was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. St. Paul’s has a tradition of hosting lecture, music, art, garden and community events.
The festival will be held on Saturday, March 14, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 228 S. Pitt St, Alexandria 22314, from 10 am -3:30 pm. The event is open to the public and free of charge but we ask that you register via Eventbrite at alexandriavabookfest.eventbrite.com (in order that we may plan for the day). For further information about event logistics, please contact Catherine Chapin at admin@stpalx.org
Please watch the website for further announcements: www.alexvabookfest.org
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