The second annual NH Book Festival, which featured two days of book signings, readings, shopping, and opportunities to connect with authors and other book lovers, took place this past weekend in Concord, New Hampshire. There were tents outside for some of the readings and signing events, and two separate rooms in the Capital Center for the Arts (CCA) for readings and author events. Despite the unseasonably warm day, there were hundreds of people in attendance on Saturday, and everyone was in good spirits.
One of the largest events I attended on Saturday afternoon was a poetry reading by Jennifer Chang. The organizers had set up special event readings in a cozy, intimate room upstairs at the CCA. This room looked like a real salon in an old home, all set up with armchairs, couches, and newer chairs. Everyone was packed in and waiting in anticipation for Chang, who was reading from her newest book called “An Authentic Life.” Chang was introduced by the poet laureate of New Hampshire, Jennifer Militello. Militello spoke about Chang’s history and accomplishments, which included having been a finalist for the William Carlos Williams Award in poetry (if you know poetry, you know this is a big deal).
Chang read about six poems from her book and a new, unreleased poem Her poems from the book had been written mostly during COVID and were about the death of her mother and how to navigate the unknown world while explaining to her kids what was going on. She also had poems about growing up in a family with overbearing father figures and navigating those sometimes tricky relationships. Chang also very kindly took questions from the audience. When asked how often she takes to write and revise her poems, Chang stated that it takes her a “terribly long time” to work on her poems. On average, she only writes about two to three poems a year. To be fair, each poem is a couple of pages long. The best advice I heard her give was when someone asked, “How do you know your work is done and is going to be successful?” Chang answered that she rarely thinks about success when writing and doesn’t think of poetry as “done”. She said she thinks of every page as a new opportunity and asks herself if she has anything left to say.
Outside in the tent across the street, Chang and many other authors, local and not, were signing books and getting to chat with fans. There were so many opportunities to connect with writers, book fans, and local business sponsors. The NH PBS tent was promoting its literacy programs and giving away free children’s books to those who could answer questions about New Hampshire or classic books (obviously, I got my question correct and got a cute animal poem book for my niece). Other sponsors included NHPR, where I got to meet some very popular on-air personalities and got plenty of bookmarks and stickers.
Gibson’s Bookstore was one of the event’s largest sponsors. If you’ve never treated yourself to a trip to Gibson’s Bookstore, DO IT. They have a children’s bookstore and a regular bookstore, with a café in between the two. This independent bookstore is INCREDIBLE. They have great books, great deals, and of course, knowledgeable team members who give great recommendations. They also had great accessories like sarcastic bookmarks, tote bags, and posters.
Even though the NH Book Festival has ended for this year, mark it down in your calendar for next year. They had authors from every genre: YA, romance, poetry, fantasy, horror, and many more. If you love books and want to meet other book fans, this is definitely the event for you.
