#1 Literary & Publishing Event
About 75,000 people celebrated the 15th anniversary of the festival. The Library of Congress event selected as its theme the Thomas Jefferson quotation "I Cannot Live Without Books” in honor of the 200th anniversary of the library's acquisition of Jefferson’s personal library. The event took place at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and this year debuted a free app to help attendees navigate the festival. Next: September 2016
#2 Literary & Publishing Event
The eighth annual edition of Washingtonian magazine’s celebration of the city’s choices for best restaurants and bars sold out of its 1,500 tickets so quickly that planners added 200 more. The blowout at the National Building Museum had an Old Hollywood theme this year. Next: June 2016
#3 Literary & Publishing Event
The largest peer-reviewed literary prize celebrated its 35th anniversary this year. The award went to Preparation for the Next Life by Atticus Lish. Lish was honored along with the four other finalists at the event. Next: May 14, 2016
#4 Literary & Publishing Event
Michael Pollan, Jessamyn Hope, and Shalom Auslander are among the authors participating in this year’s festival, which has 10 nights of programming. The event is presented by the Washington DC Jewish Community Center's Morris Cafritz Center for the Arts. Next: October 18-28, 2015
#5 Literary & Publishing Event
For only the fifth time in the competition’s 88-year history, co-champions were named after 20 rounds of spelling. Vanya Shivashankar, 13, and Gokul Venkatachalam, 14, were both victors, as watched by prime-time viewers on ESPN. The final round is just one part of weeks of events, from an orientation to a farewell party. Next: May 27-28, 2016
