Joan Abrams
Gail Burmeister
Steven Calvert*
Allen Clark
Robin Crocker
Mare Davis
Travis DeLong, treasurer 2027
Elizabeth Hanson
Kasey Kennedy
Beverly Larson, co-chair 2027
Kim Petta, co-chair 2027
Renee Soto, secretary 2027*
Peyton Warnock
*Past co-chair (2025, 2026)
About BookFest
How it started
Bristol BookFest was founded in 2019 by Joanna Ziegler and Charles Calhoun, who thought that the town might welcome a lively new event in the quiet months– late winter, early spring – and who hoped to bring together local readers who would enjoy sharing a “big” book. It’s intended as more than a community book group – it’s an unusual opportunity for readers in a small town to connect with college-level teacher-scholars who are experts in a relevant field. The idea quickly caught on, and BookFest is now a permanent part of the calendar for a growing number of Bristolians and our East Bay neighbors.
The first program had to be postponed because of COVID but finally took place in September 2021 online. It was well received, and subsequent programs have been in person, attracting ever larger audiences.
The Books
The first book was Robert Penn Warren’s “All the King’s Men” (1946), widely recognized as the best American novel about politics – a cautionary tale about the clash of ideals and raw ambition.
The book in spring 2022 was Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus” (1816), the founding text of science fiction and another cautionary tale – about the dangers of getting what you asked for without having thought of the repercussions.
The spring 2023 book was Emily Wilson’s enthusiastically welcomed, highly readable new translation of Homer’s 3,000-year-old epic, “The Odyssey”. Can you go home again, it asked. What will you find there?
In 2024, we turned to another tale of the sea, perhaps the greatest American novel, Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick” (1851).
In 2025, the chosen book was Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” (1953), a chilling vision of a dystopian future where books are banned and critical thought is suppressed. This enduring classic serves as a powerful warning about the fragility of intellectual freedom and the dangers of censorship.
For 2026, Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway” is the centerpiece of BookFest. The novel’s themes of identity, time and the complexity of human consciousness remain as resonant in the 2020s as they were in the 1920s, inviting readers to reflect on their own inner lives and connections to others.
BookFest Committee
Betty Brito
Gail Burmeister
Steven Calvert, co-chair 2025
Allen Clark
Jillian Hanon DeLong
Travis DeLong
Elizabeth Hanson
Susan Hibbitt, secretary 2025
Kasey Kennedy
Beverly Larson
Elisabeth Lavers, treasurer 2025
Tina Palmer
Kim Petta
Lianne Pinheiro
Renee Soto, co-chair 2025
August Thompson
Ann Kathrin Weldy
BookFest Advisers: Committee members who completed their service in 2026
Betty Brito
Jillian Hanon DeLong
Susan Hibbitt
Elisabeth Lavers
Tina Palmer
Lianne Pinheiro
What our audience had to say about Bristol BookFest 2026
When I first saw the Instagram post about the “Mrs. Dalloway” book festival in Bristol, I
could hardly believe it — one of my favorite novels celebrated with such an incredible
lineup of speakers and events. The keynote by Merve Emre still has me thinking about
the novel in new ways.
Everything about the festival felt thoughtful, engaging and exceptionally high quality,
from the discussions to the atmosphere. I’m so grateful to have discovered this group
and already can’t wait to find out what next year’s book will be.
— Diana Champa
The Conversation Parlor [segment] was wonderful. Being in the Linden Place ballroom
full of Woolf readers I’d never otherwise have met, all of us willing companions to Mrs.
Dalloway, is rare. What startled me was how readily we fell to remembering our first
encounters with the text, the disorientation of reading in and around her consciousness.
Sitting with the memories of first bewilderments together, from such different distances
and places, is exactly what I love about Woolf: an interiority that never has to resolve
itself.
With Bristol BookFest’s conversation cards, the gathering became communal. We were
no longer only an audience. We were celebrating what each of us had made of Woolf,
as readers. The conversations fizzed, and there was nowhere near enough time. The
act of reading is a solitary one. Bristol BookFest gave it a room full of company, a room,
if you like, of our own.
— Cherie Rowe
The weekend conference on “Mrs. Dalloway” exceeded my expectations. I have studied
Virginia Woolf and “Mrs. Dalloway” extensively in the past, but every speaker,
presentation and conversation at BookFest gave me new information to think about,
new perspectives to consider and new ideas to challenge my assumptions.
I once attended a weeklong Virginia Woolf conference at Smith College where Woolf
scholars from all over the world spoke and led discussions of their work, and BookFest
was just as exciting and inspiring to me. I felt like I was back in graduate school again,
and graduate school was one of the best times of my life.
— Mare Davis (who later joined as a 2027 committee member)