1. National Book Festival
#1 Literary & Publishing Event
This year's event, a staple on the National Mall, will recognize "Books That Shaped America" and feature authors including Nobel Prize-winner Mario Vargas Llosa; Pulitzer Prize-winning novelists Geraldine Brooks, Jeffrey Eugenides, and Junot Diaz; and American novelist Philip Roth. Next: September 22-23, 2012
This year's event, a staple on the National Mall, will recognize "Books That Shaped America" and feature authors including Nobel Prize-winner Mario Vargas Llosa; Pulitzer Prize-winning novelists Geraldine Brooks, Jeffrey Eugenides, and Junot Diaz; and American novelist Philip Roth. Next: September 22-23, 2012
Photo: Abby Brack/Library of Congress Photo
2. Washingtonian’s Best of Washington Party
#2 Literary & Publishing Event
The event drew 1,900 people and this year evoked the ambiance of a vintage ice cream parlor. The event used two floors of the National Building Museum, with the American Beverage Association hosting the Publishers Reception for sponsors in a separate room on the second floor. Next: summer 2013
The event drew 1,900 people and this year evoked the ambiance of a vintage ice cream parlor. The event used two floors of the National Building Museum, with the American Beverage Association hosting the Publishers Reception for sponsors in a separate room on the second floor. Next: summer 2013
Photo: Tony Brown/imijphoto.com for BizBash
3. The Week Opinion Awards Dinner
#4 Literary & Publishing Event
The Week's Opinion Awards recognize the nation's best opinion journalists and this year drew honorees and guests to a dinner at the W Hotel, where host David Gregory of NBC used his Meet the Press skills to interview Obama official Austan Goolsbee and Senator Lindsey Graham. Next: November 2012
The Week's Opinion Awards recognize the nation's best opinion journalists and this year drew honorees and guests to a dinner at the W Hotel, where host David Gregory of NBC used his Meet the Press skills to interview Obama official Austan Goolsbee and Senator Lindsey Graham. Next: November 2012
Photo: Geoff Chessman/ImageLink
4. The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Gala
#5 Literary & Publishing Event
Judges selected The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka as the winner after reading more than 350 works of fiction published in 2011 and honored her at a dinner in the Folger Elizabethan Theatre. Next: May 2013
Judges selected The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka as the winner after reading more than 350 works of fiction published in 2011 and honored her at a dinner in the Folger Elizabethan Theatre. Next: May 2013
Photo: James R. Brantley
5. Scripps National Spelling Bee
#6 Literary & Publishing Event
The competition continued its partnership with ESPN as the nation watched teens, preteens, and, for the first time, even a 6-year-old, spell words such as this year's winning "guetapens." Next: Spring 2013
The competition continued its partnership with ESPN as the nation watched teens, preteens, and, for the first time, even a 6-year-old, spell words such as this year's winning "guetapens." Next: Spring 2013
Photo: Mark Bowen/Scripps National Spelling Bee
