**CANCELLED** Jekyll Island Book Festival 2020

**UPDATE - THE 2020 JEKYLL ISLAND BOOK FESTIVAL HAS BEEN CANCELLED**

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Jekyll Book Festival

The 3rd annual book festival is designed for all book-lovers and includes a mix of author presentations, meet-and-greets & signings, book and retail sales, and family-friendly fun.

TURTLE STAGE

The main event of the Jekyll Island Book Festival, the Turtle Stage will feature presentations from several esteemed authors. The Turtle Stage presenting authors will give readings from their books, share insights from the writing process, and answer questions from the audience. Between author presentations, visitors can enjoy live music.

VILLAGE GREEN PAVILION

Taking over the Village Green, the Village Green Pavilion will host a myriad of book festival fun. From author meet-and-greets, to book signings, to festival merchandise, there’s something for book lovers of all ages. You might even catch a glimpse of your favorite book characters!

OCEAN WAY

Ocean Way, across from the Jekyll Island Convention Center and nestled between Ameris Bank and Sunrise Grill, will feature authors, vendors, and even more activities for book lovers of all ages.

To learn more about the book festival, join Ocean Way as a book vendor or to become a volunteer, visit: https://www.jekyllisland.com/bookfestival

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PRESENTING AUTHORS

𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫

Kent Alexander was the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia at the time of the 1996 Centennial Olympics. He spent hundreds of hours working with the FBI to find the bomber, and ultimately wrote and hand-delivered Richard Jewell’s clearance letter. Six years ago, he teamed with former Wall Street Journal editor Kevin Salwen to explore what really happened in the investigation and media coverage of that attack, and three more that followed. The penned The Suspect as a character-driven narrative nonfiction work. Warner Bros. purchased the film rights for Clint Eastwood’s movie “Richard Jewell movie,” and brought them in as consultants.

An Atlanta native, Kent has enjoyed an unusually diverse legal career, including service as an Asst. U.S. Attorney, partner at King & Spalding law firm, Sr. V.P. and General Counsel of Emory University, General Counsel of CARE (the global anti-poverty organization), and chief of staff of a U.S. Senate campaign.

Whitney Otawka

Whitney Otawka is a chef, writer, and author of The Saltwater Table: Recipes from the Coastal South. She lives on the wild and sparsely inhabited Cumberland Island, Georgia.

Whitney studied anthropology at The University of California, Berkeley. Living in the Bay Area, she steered her sights towards the culinary world and began working at a French creperie in Oakland, California.

In 2005, Whitney moved to Athens, Georgia, where she worked her way up to Sous Chef at Hugh Acheson’s 5&10 while working simultaneously as Chef de Partie of Linton Hopkins’ Restaurant Eugene in Atlanta. She attended culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu Atlanta and in 2012 she appeared on Bravo’s Top Chef.

In 2015, Whitney took the post of Executive Chef at Greyfield Inn on Cumberland Island Georgia. The Saltwater Table is a reflection of the cuisine Whitney has explored through her time and travels in the Coastal South. With more than 125 recipes, the book offers a modern perspective on southern flavors with a strong emphasis on vegetables and fresh ingredients. The Saltwater Table transports readers to the mysterious, lush Cumberland Island, allowing us to recreate a taste of this vibrant world in our own kitchens.

𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧

Caleb Johnson is the author of the novel Treeborne—an honorable mention for the Southern Book Prize and longlisted for The Crook’s Corner Book Prize. Caleb grew up in Arley, AL, studied journalism at The University of Alabama and earned an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Wyoming. His writing can be found in Southern Living, The Paris Review Daily, The Bitter Southerner, Literary Hub, Electric Literature, Gravy, Southbound, and others. Caleb has received fellowships and grants from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Jentel Writing Residency, and the University of Wyoming. Currently, Caleb teaches writing at Appalachian State University.

Ed Grisamore

Ed Grisamore teaches journalism at Stratford Academy in Macon, where he is advisor for The Gazebo, the school’s student news site, and co-advisor for the yearbook, The Overlook. He is a Sunday columnist for The Macon Telegraph and was the recipient of the 2010 Will Rogers Humanitarian Award, presented by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Grisamore is a native of Atlanta and graduated cum laude from the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism. He began his newspaper career in the Telegraph sports department and named local columnist in June 1998. He was featured in the November 2005 issue of “Georgia Trend” magazine in a story called “A Way with Words.” He retired from full-time newspaper duties in May 2015. Grisamore is the author of nine books and has won more than 45 writing awards. In 2012, he was named “Georgia Author of the Year” in the Essays category. He is also a playwright and his audiobook, “Gris & That,” was nominated for a Grammy in the “Spoken Word” category. In 2008, he was inducted into the Macon Sports Hall of Fame for “contribution to sports” in the city. He has been involved in numerous community activities and belongs to the Macon Palaver Club. He is a member of Vineville United Methodist Church. Ed and his wife, Delinda, have co-authored three sons — Ed, Grant and Jake. They have three grandchildren — Grayson Brewer Grisamore, Sterling Gray Grisamore and Genevieve Pope “Ginny Pope” Grisamore.

𝐊𝐚𝐲𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡

The bright seven-year-old second grader, and published author of her first interactive adventure-filled book, Let’s Be Friends. This southern girl with a big heart was inspired to share her adventures with the world after being disappointed about not winning a writing contest at her school, and also saddened about how some kids were not able to make friends as easily as she did the first couple days of school. KayLee Michelle is far from average, as she is very sensitive to and mindful of things that kids transition through daily. She too has been the new student or felt out of place at one point due to a shift in her home life. Her mother, Hashondra, published author and founder of Manifest A Deliverance (MAD), encouraged her to turn a not-so-good situation into opportunity and purpose that would change her life and the lives of others. In MAD, Hashondra encourages participants to ‘get MAD the right way,’ helping others find ways to channel negative energy into positivity, in a safe space. In doing so, KayLee Michelle was able to create her very own adventure book series. She believes that anyone can achieve anything, no matter if one or two obstacles get in the way. By sharing her personal adventures, she hopes to encourage other kids to learn and explore the world around them.