Meet the Author: Sarah Vowell
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Columnist and New York Times bestselling author Sarah Vowell will discuss her works as part of Richland Library's Broader Bookshelf program.
The Broader Bookshelf Reading Challenge encourages readers to expand their bookshelves and seek out new authors and challenging subjects. Ms. Vowell will speak about her book Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, which responds to the 2026 Broader Bookshelf prompt "Read a book about the American Revolution," as well as the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The author talk will be moderated by Dr. Evan Faulkenbury.
The author talk will be followed by a reception, book sale, and book signing.
Broader Bookshelf programs are made possible by the Richland Library Friends and Foundation and Central Carolina Community Foundation.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Vowell is the New York Times bestselling author of seven nonfiction books on American history and culture, including The Partly Cloudy Patriot, Assassination Vacation, The Wordy Shipmates, and Unfamiliar Fishes. By examining the connections between the American past and present, she offers personal, often humorous accounts of American history as well as current events and politics. Her book, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, explores both ideas and the battles of the American Revolution, especially the patriot founders' alliance with France as personified by the teenage volunteer in George Washington's army, the Marquis de Lafayette.
Vowell's thirty years as a journalist and columnist began in the freewheeling atmosphere of the weekly newspapers of the 1990s, including The Village Voice, the Twin Cities' City Pages and San Francisco Weekly, where she was the pop music columnist. An original contributor to McSweeney's, she has worked as a columnist for Salon and Time, a reviewer for Spin, a reporter for GQ, and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times, where she covered politics, history, education and life in Montana. She was a contributing editor for the public radio show This American Life from 1996-2008, where she produced numerous commentaries and documentaries and toured the country in many of the program's life shows.
Her notable side projects have included a decade as the founding president of 826NYC, a nonprofit tutoring and writing center for students aged 6-18 in Brooklyn; producing a filmed oral history series commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Montana Constitutional Convention of 1972; and occasional voice acting, including her role as teen superhero Violet Parr in Brad Bird's Academy Award-winning The Incredibles, and its sequel, The Incredibles 2, from Pixar Animation Studios.
The Broader Bookshelf Reading Challenge encourages readers to expand their bookshelves and seek out new authors and challenging subjects. Ms. Vowell will speak about her book Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, which responds to the 2026 Broader Bookshelf prompt "Read a book about the American Revolution," as well as the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The author talk will be moderated by Dr. Evan Faulkenbury.
The author talk will be followed by a reception, book sale, and book signing.
Broader Bookshelf programs are made possible by the Richland Library Friends and Foundation and Central Carolina Community Foundation.
_________________________________________________________
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Vowell is the New York Times bestselling author of seven nonfiction books on American history and culture, including The Partly Cloudy Patriot, Assassination Vacation, The Wordy Shipmates, and Unfamiliar Fishes. By examining the connections between the American past and present, she offers personal, often humorous accounts of American history as well as current events and politics. Her book, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, explores both ideas and the battles of the American Revolution, especially the patriot founders' alliance with France as personified by the teenage volunteer in George Washington's army, the Marquis de Lafayette.
Vowell's thirty years as a journalist and columnist began in the freewheeling atmosphere of the weekly newspapers of the 1990s, including The Village Voice, the Twin Cities' City Pages and San Francisco Weekly, where she was the pop music columnist. An original contributor to McSweeney's, she has worked as a columnist for Salon and Time, a reviewer for Spin, a reporter for GQ, and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times, where she covered politics, history, education and life in Montana. She was a contributing editor for the public radio show This American Life from 1996-2008, where she produced numerous commentaries and documentaries and toured the country in many of the program's life shows.
Her notable side projects have included a decade as the founding president of 826NYC, a nonprofit tutoring and writing center for students aged 6-18 in Brooklyn; producing a filmed oral history series commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Montana Constitutional Convention of 1972; and occasional voice acting, including her role as teen superhero Violet Parr in Brad Bird's Academy Award-winning The Incredibles, and its sequel, The Incredibles 2, from Pixar Animation Studios.
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Where is it happening?
1431 Assembly St., Columbia, SC, United States, South Carolina 29201
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Host or PublisherRichland Library
