WEBVTT

00:00.900 --> 00:02.168 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
>>My name is Kalela Williams,

00:02.168 --> 00:04.070 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
and I'm the Director
of Virginia Humanities,

00:04.070 --> 00:06.039 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
Virginia Center for the Book.

00:06.039 --> 00:07.707 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
How would I describe myself?

00:07.707 --> 00:09.843 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
I would say I'm a writer.

00:09.843 --> 00:12.145 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
I have been writing
for a long time.

00:12.145 --> 00:16.383 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
My debut novel is coming
out in the fall of 2024,

00:16.383 --> 00:17.717 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
and it's called "Tangleroot."

00:17.717 --> 00:19.919 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
I'm also a reader.

00:19.919 --> 00:21.921 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
I'm a history enthusiast.

00:21.921 --> 00:23.623 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
I love history.

00:23.623 --> 00:26.893 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
I even do historical
interpretation or
at least I used to.

00:26.893 --> 00:30.030 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
I'm a daughter, I'm a sister,
I'm an auntie, a partner,

00:30.030 --> 00:32.065 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
I'm a cat mama.

00:32.065 --> 00:34.634 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
I've got three cats.
(Kalela laughing)

00:34.634 --> 00:36.836 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
I was introduced to
libraries as a child

00:36.836 --> 00:38.938 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
and introduced to
used bookstores,

00:38.938 --> 00:41.975 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
and that's what really
got me hooked on books.

00:41.975 --> 00:46.179 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
So Virginia Humanities is the
State's Humanities Council,

00:46.179 --> 00:49.149 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
and Virginia, the Virginia
Center for the Book

00:49.149 --> 00:51.584 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
is a department within
Virginia Humanities,

00:51.584 --> 00:52.786 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60%
and there's many
other departments.

00:52.786 --> 00:54.687 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60%
I have great
coworkers in folk life

00:54.687 --> 00:58.858 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
and in grants, in education
and community initiatives,

00:58.858 --> 01:00.593 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
"With Good Reason,"
a radio show,

01:01.928 --> 01:03.063 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
Encyclopedia of Virginia,
I could go on and on.

01:03.063 --> 01:04.631 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60%
And the Virginia
Center for the Book

01:04.631 --> 01:07.434 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
as one of the departments
in Virginia Humanities is,

01:07.434 --> 01:11.438 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
there's a book art studio
and a book arts program.

01:11.438 --> 01:15.241 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
And so that encompasses
an actual print studio,

01:15.241 --> 01:18.078 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
an art studio that
focuses on book arts.

01:18.078 --> 01:21.448 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
And then we also do
year-round literary programs

01:21.448 --> 01:22.982 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
such as author readings.

01:22.982 --> 01:24.851 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
And of course, we're
very well known

01:24.851 --> 01:26.820 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60%
for the Virginia
Festival of the Book,

01:26.820 --> 01:29.189 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
which happens every
year in March.

01:29.189 --> 01:32.859 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60%
Books are a way
to talk to people.

01:32.859 --> 01:33.793 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
Books are ideas.

01:33.793 --> 01:34.727 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
They're thoughts.

01:34.727 --> 01:36.129 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
They're written down on a page.

01:36.129 --> 01:38.898 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
People coming together
to talk about these ideas

01:38.898 --> 01:40.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
and these concepts

01:40.233 --> 01:42.602 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
and how they relate to
us as individual people,

01:42.602 --> 01:44.337 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
that's what excites me

01:44.337 --> 01:46.106 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
about the Virginia
Festival of the Book.

01:46.106 --> 01:47.674 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60%
Now there's some
things, you know,

01:47.674 --> 01:49.642 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
there are some perks like
meeting famous authors that's,

01:49.642 --> 01:51.911 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60%
and I fan girl
like anybody else.

01:51.911 --> 01:54.114 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
Really, what's exciting
to me about the festival

01:54.114 --> 01:58.017 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
is the way that it
allows me to think bigger

01:58.017 --> 02:00.053 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
and think broader
and think more deeply

02:00.053 --> 02:01.988 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60%
and think all,
more imaginatively.

02:01.988 --> 02:03.890 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
It's just really thrilling.

02:05.291 --> 02:07.961 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
(upbeat music)