On behalf of the board of the History Book Festival, we extend our sincere gratitude to all those who helped to make the 2020 virtual festival, Bring History Home, a resounding success!
The festival began in 2017 as a two-day event welcoming 20 authors of historical fiction and nonfiction to Lewes.
Over the next two years, it grew to become a multi-day series of author presentations that encompassed partnerships with other community groups and author visits to Sussex County schools.
We expected to present a 2020 in-person festival, but then the pandemic upended all our lives. Hosting authors online seemed our best option, but when we kicked off the Virtual History Book Festival in June, we had no idea how it would be received.
Six months later, we have our answer: authors, publishers, and attendees were thrilled with the opportunity to interact with one another online each week.
Twenty presentations attracted over 2,000 history buffs and enthusiastic readers from North America and beyond. The ecstatic comments shared at the end of the Zoom presentations were a testament to how much the weekly discussions meant to many during a challenging time.
We extend our deep thanks to presenting sponsors Delaware Humanities and the Lee Ann Wilkinson Group for helping to make our virtual festival possible.
Thanks as well to the wonderful authors and interviewers who joined us each week; our enthusiastic attendees; the festival’s virtual venue, the Lewes Public Library; our official bookseller, Browseabout Books; Cathy Tessein, our author logistics coordinator; Sam Shelton, Jeff Fabian, and KINETIK for design and web expertise; our volunteer readers for helping us with author selection; Lou Braithwaite, our proofreader extraordinaire; Nancy Staisey, for sending all authors a warm Lewes “thank you” with her boxes of delicious homemade cookies; the Cape Gazette for helping to promote the festival; and all those who generously provided moral and financial support in this very difficult year.
We plan to have another virtual festival in 2021 and look forward to bringing more authors of great historical fiction and nonfiction into homes in Lewes and beyond. Sign up for our e-newsletter at historybookfestival.org or follow us on social media to learn about coming events in the 2021 Virtual History Book Festival.
All of us who are part of the History Book Festival continue to believe in the power of history, literature, and civil dialogue to influence the future for the better. Thank you to all for helping with this important endeavor!
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