Slate of visiting authors announced for ’09 book festival

A Big Stone Gap native with an ear for Italian-American stories, a behavioral economics expert who’s an Israeli military veteran and an author who has penned both thrillers and comic books will be featured speakers at the next Virginia Festival of the Book.

Tickets for the 15th-annual festival’s three main events will go on sale at 9 a.m. Wednesday and can be ordered online at http://www.vabook.org or by phone at 924-6890. The festival will take place from March 18 to 22 in a variety of Charlottesville locations.

Novelist Adriana Trigiani, known for her “Big Stone Gap” series, will speak at the Festival Lunc-heon at 11:45 a.m. March 19 at the Omni Charlottesville Hotel. Tickets for the luncheon are $50.

Dan Ariely, who will speak at the Festival Business Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. March 18 at the Omni, is the author of the New York Times bestseller “Predicta-bly Irrational,’’ the James B. Duke professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University and a founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight. Tickets will be $30.

Brad Meltzer, author of “The Book of Lies,’’ will be the Crime Wave Luncheon speaker at noon March 21, also at the Omni. Tickets are $50.

“We are very excited about the authors who are coming,’’ said Nancy Coble Damon, program director for the Virginia Festival of the Book. “They’re all great speakers.’’

Damon said the festival again will be a five-day affair filled with events for fans of diverse literary genres. However, with festival attendee feedback and economic factors in mind, there won’t be as many events packed into those days as before.

Last year, there were 171 scheduled programs for adults, which made it difficult for people to attend everything they wished to see, Damon said.

“People said they couldn’t make decisions, there were too many,’’ Damon said. “We hope to have the same high quality and diversity in a smaller number of programs.’’

Trigiani, a playwright, television writer and documentary filmmaker, is known for her tales of feisty women. She has written four books about her hometown — “Big Stone Gap,’’ “Big Cherry Holler,’’ “Milk Glass Moon’’ and “Return to Big Stone Gap’’ — and three novels about Italian-American families coming of age in America. Those include “Lucia, Lucia,’’ “The Queen of the Big Time’’ and “Rococo.’’

Trigiani’s latest novel, “Very Valentine,’’ is slated for release just in time for the festival. Her first young-adult novel, “The Viola Chesterton Chronicles,’’ is scheduled for release next year.

Ariely was badly burned while serving as an Israeli soldier. During his recovery, he began exploring the ways in which emotions, social norms and other factors can influence people’s behavior and lead to decisions that are hardly rational.

“I just encourage people to come,’’ Damon said of Ariely’s appearance. She said his “deceptively straightforward’’ ideas have “important implications for business, how to live your life.’’

“He does what seem to be relatively simple experiments about human behavior that will have far-reaching implications’’ for social policy, Damon said.

Meltzer has written for two high-profile DC Comics series, “Justice League of America” and “Green Arrow,” and has authored the “Identity Crisis” limited series and the “Last Will and Testament’’ special. His most recent book, “The Book of Lies,’’ which has reached No. 2 on the Publishers Weekly bestseller list, is based on both the biblical story of Cain murdering Abel and the unsolved murder of the father of “Superman’’ co-creator Jerry Siegel.

A graduate of the University of Michigan and Columbia Law School, Meltzer has written “The First Counsel,’’ “The Millionaires,’’ “The Zero Game,’’ “Dead Even’’ and “The Tenth Justice.’’

About half the tickets will be available to callers and half for online purchasers. Callers will be asked to leave a name, the number of tickets desired for which events and a telephone number at which festival staffers can contact them. Callers may order up to 10 tickets per event.

Kevin McFadden, associate director of the festival, recommends that folks who haven’t ordered their tickets through the Web site before visit the site today to become acquainted with it.

Most festival events, which traditionally include a variety of readings, panel discussions, family events and performances, are free. More guests and activities will be announced this fall, and book lovers can keep an eye on the Web site to stay up to date on additions. Damon said a complete list could be available by mid- to late January.