BookTV has aired, on CSPAN2, every weekend since 1998 focusing on non-fiction books. That focus shifts a little in January 2018 when their 3-hour-long show In Depth will begin featuring fiction authors as well.
They are going to feature one fiction author, on the first Sunday of each month, all year long. These segments will be conducted as all In Depth shows are, allowing viewers to watch live and call or send in questions via social media.
They haven’t shared the whole line up for the year, but there are some big fiction authors slated to be on the show:
- January 7th: David Ignatius
- February 4th: Colson Whitehead
- March 4th: Jeff Shaara
- April 1st: Walter Mosley
- May 6th: TBD
- June 3rd: Gish Jen
- July 1st: Brad Thor
- August 5th: Cory Doctorow
- September 2nd: TBD
- October 7th: Geraldine Brooks
- November 4th: TBD
- December 2nd: Brad Meltzer
What a great lineup! Those are some smart folks who are writing about big and small topics all over the place. BookTV has chatted with fiction authors before during their coverage of literary festivals or industry events like Book Expo of America. In fact they’re airing a conversation with George Saunders about his book Lincoln in the Bardo, which is a segment I plan on watching.
If you don’t keep up with BookTV, it is well worth your while to check the lineup every weekend. They’ve had some great interviews over the years and they broadcast many author readings, book parties, and book festivals. It’s one of the coolest things our government has every spent taxpayer dollars on. The BookTV YouTube channel is worth a subscription too.
