Maggie Hall ran the Literary Hill BookFest from 2010 until 2016. Pictured above are (left) Karen Lyon, former columnist for the Hill Rag’s “The Literary Hill,” and Maggie Hall in 2011. Photo: Maggie Hall.
How the Literary Hill BookFest Got Started
by Larry Janezich
Posted October 3, 2024
The 13th Annual Literary Hill BookFest will happen on Sunday, October 6 in North Hall, Eastern Market, from 11:00am until 3:00pm.
CHC reached out for comment to Maggie Hall, on how the Literary Hill BookFest got started.
Hall said, “I came up with the idea of a book festival in 2010, shortly after my first book – Mish-Mash Dictionary of Marmite – was published. When I was drumming up PR for the book I wondered how getting into a book festival worked. Suddenly it hit me: there were plenty of writers on The Hill – we should have our own.
After drawing up a basic plan – with the main point being that all featured writers should live on The Hill – I knew I needed help to make the idea work.
I realized that Karen Lyon, then the author of the Hill Rag’s monthly column “The Literary Hill,” was an obvious choice. I approached Karen and invited her to come on board. The two of us had a get together at my home and before long the BookFest – thanks to a wonderful, enthusiastic group of volunteers – was a reality.
I get a great kick out of seeing – in fact am delighted – that the BookFest is an established force and a pivotal part of Capitol Hill’s strong cultural life.
As for my book? The initial response from writers/authors on The Hill was so great I gave up my space at the BookFest to accommodate last minute requests to be included. In 2014, I managed to hold onto a table and discovered how successful the BookFest can be for an individual writer: I sold (despite its very Brit-centric subject) 27 books!”
This year’s celebration of books and authors will feature more than 40 authors, poets, booksellers, publishers, literacy groups, including acclaimed national bestselling novelist Louis Bayard, author of The Pale Blue Eye. Other featured authors include former White House speech writer and comedian Sean O’Brien; nationally recognized anti-bias and antiracist author and educator Liz Kleinrock; award-winning author and Smithsonian Curator of Political History Jon Grinspan; National Book Award finalist and former editor-in-chief of the Washington Post’s Book World section Marie Arana; beloved author, trailblazer and Smithsonian Ambassador Christine Platt; acclaimed novelist, former investigative journalist and film and TV writer James Grady, whose novel Six Days of the Condor was famously adapted into the Robert Redford film Three Days of the Condor, and many more.
The BookFest is completely free and open to the public, with a popular poetry open mic immediately following the main event, where established and aspiring poets will entertain an enthusiastic crowd. For more, go here: www.literaryhillbookfest.org
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 
Once again, Larry, thank you so much for the Literary Hill Book Fest story. A wonderful history piece. Early volunteers like me got involved because of Maggie Hall. She worked hard to promote the event in the beginning and helped make it the success it has become. You are both Hill treasures!