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Share your writing Enter our Student or Adult writing contest for a chance to read your work at the 2027 Book Festival and earn prize money! Student Application Adult Application Student Writing Contest Open to Middle & High School Students Fiction 2,500 Word Limit 1st Place - $100 2nd Place - $75 3rd Place - $50 Non-Fiction 2,500 Word Limit 1st Place - $100 2nd Place - $75 3rd Place - $50 Poetry 16 Line Limit 1st Place - $100 2nd Place - $75 3rd Place - $50 * 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place winners will be chosen from both middle and high school brackets. Winners will be invited to read their work at the 2027 Williamsburg Book Festival and will have the option of having their work published in an anthology from Pale Horse Books. Students under 18 require parental permission to be published. Deadline: November 14th, 2026 Apply to the Student Writing Contest Adult Writing Contest Open to anyone 18+. Accepting all genres. Must be 500 words or less. Round 1 - Submission Enter your work, must be 500 words or less. Only entries meeting this criteria will be evaluated Round 2 - Finalists Finalists will be selected by the Williamsburg Book Festival Board & Contest Sponsors. Round 3 - Live Voting Finalists will read their work aloud at the Festival on Feb. 27th 2027. The audience will vote for the winners. Apply to the Adult Writing Contest

Our board contributes their talents to organize, plan and host the festival. Our Board Kelly Ronayne TREASURER Peter Stipe GRANT WRITER Susan Williamson MEMBER AT LARGE Sophia Rossen DIGITAL SPECIALIST Dr. Kathleen P. Decker POETRY LIASON Juanita Graham COMMUNICATIONS Jennie Kelly PRESIDENT Sarah Brandt SECRETARY Bob Archibald VICE PRESIDENT

The Williamsburg Book Festival's mission is to promote and support the art of literary composition in the Williamsburg area and expose writers to the reading public. Our free event includes authors from various genres, speakers, illustrators, and publishers from Virginia and beyond. The Williamsburg Book Festival Join us on February 27th, 2027! Our annual family-friendly event brings together a dynamic mix of authors, poets, speakers, illustrators, and publishers from Virginia and beyond. Apply to exhibit starting August 1st. Learn more Our Mission At the Williamsburg Book Festival, our mission is to celebrate and support the art of literary composition while connecting authors with the reading public. Exhibit Share your stories in a vibrant literary community Experience Connect with passionate readers and uncover exciting new creative voices Support Empower authors and readers: contribute to help support the love of reading What to Expect The Williamsburg Book Festival features a diverse lineup of authors, engaging speakers, and Virginia's Poet Laureate, along with our annual Student Writing Contest that celebrates the next generation of writers. Authors, Speakers, Poets, Workshops, Student Writing Contest Festival Flashbacks 1/1 Bookmark this! The Williamsburg Book Festival has been one of my favorite events for many years. It’s the place real book-people go to mingle, learn, and read from the best Williamsburg has to offer. Perhaps what makes this festival one of the greatest is that the community comes out to support the authors and festival with warmth and energy that brings me back year after year. —Tj O’Connor, award winning author of The Hemingway Deception and The Dead Detective Casefiles We Are authors readers publishers writers dreamers creatives book lovers poets students ...

< Back Tabitha Mann Tabitha “Tabbie” Mann, also known by her pen name Dorcas Renee, is a licensed clinical social worker, author, playwright, and local television personality. She wrote her first book, Dinosaur Brains, after studying how fear functions as the brain’s safety system. Written for children ages 6–10, the book is also used as a therapeutic tool with readers of all ages. Bitten by the writing bug, Tabbie has since written and produced ten plays and two novels exploring displacement, family, and the quest for safety: Y’all Chose This: The Diaries of Trina Pardo and Wait! What? The Decimation of Lady Liberty. She is a well-known storyteller in the DC metro area and co-hosts The Loveys Entertainment Review Show on Comcast Channel 2. Next

< Back Tim Holland Tim Holland is the author of four Sidney Lake Lowcountry Mystery Novels, including The Rising Tide, The Murder of Amos Dunn, Deception, and December Rain. His new series Matt Donovan Investigates is being launched in the first quarter of 2026 with An Impulse for Murder. What the Mirror Doesn’t See is a stand-alone mystery featuring Tony Carenza. He is a past director of the Williamsburg Book Festival, and Chesapeake Bay Writers, a member of Mystery Writers of America, The Authors Guild, Virginia Writers and Chesapeake Bay Writers. He has received Keating and Golden Nib awards for his short fiction. Over the years, his freelance articles have appeared in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, as well as having written book reviews and literary criticism for Recorder Publishing’s eight newspapers in New Jersey. Next

< Back Nicole Glover Nicole Glover is the author of the acclaimed historical fantasy series, Murder and Magic, which includes The Starseekers. Her books have received rave starred reviews for their unique blend of mystery, history, and fantasy and have been featured in NPR and local media, En Forme and the Virginian-Pilot. She's been a Library Reads pick, made the Locus bestseller list, and most recently won The Webster Award. She lives and works in Virginia plotting her next fictional murder. Next

< Back D. L. Farrar D. L. Farrar’s working career spanned over forty-five years in book and magazine publishing. She has authored short stories, books, plays, and a Hollywood screenplay with an HBO option. Organizations have sought her talent to write plays, drawing thousands of people to hear devotional inspiration through her imagination. Her unique ability to successfully combine science fiction and faith has produced stories of interest to fans of multiple genres. D.L.’s latest book, “Vincent and the Grief Masters” mixes a sci-fi murder mystery, demons, heroes and forces of hope, faith, and love. The sequel, “Forbidden Fruit,” is coming in 2026. Find her at https://dianalfarrar.wixsite.com/dlfarrar Next

< Back Stitching a Wild Story: How The Age of Deer Was Made Follow the tracks from field notes to finished pages. In this image‑rich, behind‑the‑scenes talk, Erika Howsare shows how she braided science, history, Indigenous knowledge, and hunting culture into a living narrative. From tools and maps to serendipity in Central Virginia, she makes big‑idea nonfiction feel close and human. About Erika: Erika Howsare is the author of The Age of Deer: Trouble and Kinship with Our Wild Neighbors (2024), a finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. A longtime Shenandoah Valley journalist and poet, her work has appeared in The Atlantic, Orion, Longreads, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. She teaches writing in Virginia, exploring nature, place, and our bonds with the more‑than‑human world. Previous Next

< Back Allison Gunn Allison Gunn is a researcher, writer, and librarian with a penchant for all things whimsical, folkloric, and strange. Presently digging deep into Appalachian Studies, she earned her MLIS and History M.A. from the University of Maryland with an emphasis on marginalized communities. She currently roams the wonderfully weird land of West Virginia with her delightful daughters, several furry overlords, and one masterful Mountaineer musician. Writing is, above all else, the only thing keeping her somewhat sane. Next

< Back T.S. Arther Arther is a nonfiction writer straight out of Newport News Virginia by way of Milwaukee Wisconsin. She’s a three time graduate of Saint Leo University and has a masters in Creative Writing. Arther served ten years in the Army. She is married to a witty cable guy and has four boys. When she is not writing, she loves to compete in pageants, travel, and craft. Next

< Back Luz Schweig Luz Schweig is an emerging poet raised in Mexico-Tenochtitlan, whose work participates in reviving Indigenous eco-spirituality. Her contributions have mainly focused on anthologizing marginalized voices, especially those of women. In 2012, Luz founded a women’s spiritual poetry project through which hundreds of contributors shared their stories. Her award winning anthology, Somos Xicanas, sparked a revival of published work by Mexican American women. First penned under a pseudonym, Luz’s first poetry manuscript was selected by Juan Felipe Herrera as first runner-up for the 2024 Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize. Next

< Back Jenn Bouchard Jenn Bouchard is the award-winning author of Considering Us and First Course. Her third novel, Palms on the Cape, will be published on July 2, 2026. She is a high school teacher of 26 years and also teaches writing classes and workshops to adults and teenagers in her local community and online. A graduate of Bates College and Tufts University, she lives with her family in the Boston suburbs. Next