History Book Festival

09/01/2026

Join the History Book Festival for a special 10th Anniversary event featuring author Julia Alvarez and illustrator Krystal Quiles! This online-only event will feature their graphic novel version of Alvarez’s classic, “In the Time of the Butterflies.”

This event is presented in partnership with Lewes Public Library and Browseabout Books.

Online Join the History Book Festival for a special 10th Anniversary event featuring author Julia Alvarez and illustrator Krystal Quiles. This online-only event will feature...

08/31/2026

Come stop by the First Friday Community Night, hosted by Historic Lewes! HBF will be there, along with some great company.

08/29/2026

Mayukh Sen will present “Love, Queenie: Merle Oberon, Hollywood’s First South Asian Star” on Saturday, September 26th!
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
ABOUT THE BOOK 📚

In 1936, when the first person of Asian descent was nominated for an Academy Award, no one realized that this milestone had been reached. Merle Oberon, born into poverty in British India to a South Asian mother and a white father, became a star by passing as white. She rose to the highest echelons of the film-world elite in Hollywood’s racially exclusionary Golden Age, all while keeping a secret that could destroy her career. Deftly exploring what we demand from stars and what those demands truly cost, “Love, Queenie” shines a light on this brilliant actor and her world.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ✏️

Mayukh Sen is an author, professor, and journalist who primarily focuses on film. He has won fellowships for his ongoing work to document the history of South Asians in Hollywood. In a prior life, Sen was a James Beard Award-winning food writer. He lives in Brooklyn and teaches at NYU.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
This event is presented in partnership with Rehoboth Beach Film Society and CAMP Rehoboth Community Center

W. W. Norton & Company

The 2026 History Book Festival is presented by
The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group
Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices | Penfed Realty

08/28/2026

Ifrah F. Ahmed will present “Soomaaliya: A Cookbook” on Saturday, September 26th!
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
ABOUT THE BOOK 📚

In Somali culture, knowledge is traditionally passed down orally – through songs, stories, recipes, and more. But what happens when that transmission is interrupted? The Somali Civil War began in 1991; the next 30 years saw a mass migration out of Somalia, painfully disrupting the transfer of culture. In “Soomaaliya: A Cookbook,” Ahmed reclaims the story of her country through its history, food, and people. From Somalia’s role in the spice trade to the relics of Italian colonial rule, here is a celebration of the richness of Somali food and the resilience of its people.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ✏️

Ifrah F. Ahmed is a Somali-born writer, chef, recipe developer, and artist whose work centers on food, history, memory, and migration. She is a regular contributor to The New York Times and has written for many other national publications, sharing recipes and stories. Ahmed lives with her family in New York City.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
This event is presented in partnership with Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice (SDARJ).

The 2026 History Book Festival is presented by
The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group
Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices | Penfed Realty

08/27/2026

David Conrad-Pérez will present “Fire in the Heart of the City: The Triangle Shirtwaist Tragedy and the Origins of Modern Charity” on Saturday, September 26th!
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
ABOUT THE BOOK 📚

While the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 is considered a turning point in the fight for labor rights, it also transformed how America envisioned social welfare. In the wake of the fire, Adolph Ochs, the ambitious new publisher of The New York Times, and Rose Schneiderman, a defiant young labor organizer, were thrown into a momentous struggle over who should organize the city’s response: a rising charity sector led by wealthy financiers and civic elites, or the reform-minded unions and activists of Lower Manhattan. This deeply researched story reverberates to this day.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ✏️

David Conrad-Pérez is a historian and former journalist who earned his PhD at UPenn’s Annenberg School. He is research director at the Center for Media & Social Impact at American University. Conrad- Pérez has worked in public media, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times and the LA Times, among others.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
This event is presented in partnership with ACLU of Delaware and Delaware Community Foundation.

NYU Press

The 2026 History Book Festival is presented by
The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group
Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices | Penfed Realty

08/26/2026

Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor will present “Something We Said: Richard Pryor, a Notorious Word, and Me” on Saturday, September 26th!
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
ABOUT THE BOOK 📚

Inspired by Pryor’s viral TED talk on why it’s hard to talk about the N-word, “Something We Said” is a braided narrative that integrates the history of the N-word with Pryor’s own story. Growing up the Black Jewish daughter of Richard Pryor, she went on to become a leading scholar and teacher of the controversial word that was central to her father’s comedy. Through the lens of her story and deep research, Pryor confronts the history of the notorious slur, working to unpack the messy, sometimes surprising, legacy of racism in the United States.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ✏️

Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor is a professor of history at Smith College, where she focuses on 19th century US history and race. She studied history at Tufts, Cornell, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. Pryor grew up in Los Angeles and now lives with her husband in North Hampton, MA.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
This event is presented in partnership with Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice (SDARJ) and ACLU of Delaware.

The 2026 History Book Festival is presented by
The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group
Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices | Penfed Realty

08/25/2026

Ada Ferrer will present “Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter” on Saturday, September 26th!
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
ABOUT THE BOOK 📚

A heartbreaking yet redemptive memoir about migration, separation, and the love of one family forcing its way through the cracks of history. Ferrer shifts between her roles as historian and family member, weaving a multigenerational tale that reaches into the past to understand the circumstances and choices that led to the present. With a trove of family letters found after the death of her parents, as well as government records, she unpacks the experience and emotion of migration and separation while examining the lasting imprint of history.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ✏️

Ada Ferrer is Dayton-Stockton Professor of History at Princeton. She wrote “Cuba: An American History,” which won the Pulitzer and LA Times Book Prizes and was featured at HBF in 2022. Born in Cuba and raised in the US, Ferrer has been traveling to and conducting research on the island since 1990.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
This event is presented in partnership with Rehoboth Beach Writers Guild and ACLU of Delaware.

Scribner Books

The 2026 History Book Festival is presented by
The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group
Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices | Penfed Realty

08/24/2026

Here is our NEW schedule, which has been updated with a few changes! We can’t wait to welcome everyone at the tenth annual History Book Festival on Saturday, September 26th. Enjoy a day of FREE author presentations at our various venues!

08/24/2026

Russell Shorto will present “Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America” on Saturday, September 26th!
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
ABOUT THE BOOK 📚

“Taking Manhattan” reveals the invention of New York City to be the result of creative negotiations to blend the multiethnic, capitalistic society of Dutch New Amsterdam with the power of the rising English empire – a foundation from which America would rise. But the birth of this city is also a story of the brutal dispossession of Native Americans and of the roots of American slavery. The paradox of New York’s origins—boundless opportunity coupled with subjugation and displacement—reflects America’s promise and failure to this day.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ✏️

Russell Shorto is the director of the New Amsterdam Project at The New York Historical and senior scholar at the New Netherland Institute. Knighted by the Dutch for advancing Dutch-American historical awareness, Shorto is the best-selling author of eight books of narrative history. He lives with his family in Maryland.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
This event is presented in partnership with The Lewes Historical Society

W. W. Norton & Company

The 2026 History Book Festival is presented by
The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group
Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices | Penfed Realty

08/20/2026

Chris Sweeney will present “The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne ” on Saturday, September 26th!
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
ABOUT THE BOOK 📚

In 1932, a diminutive, bespectacled, young woman named Roxie Laybourne graduated with her BA in mathematics and general science in NC before laboring behind the scenes at museums and labs. Three decades later, during her tenure at the Smithsonian, Laybourne pioneered the field of forensic ornithology. Using nothing more than her encyclopedic knowledge of birds, a microscope, and bits of feathers recovered from various crimes and aviation calamities, she solved mysteries, helping prosecute murderers, kidnappers, and poachers while improving the safety of air travel for all.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ✏️

Chris Sweeney is a nonfiction writer who lives with his wife and daughters in Somerville, MA. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Northwestern’s Medill School, he enjoys writing about the intersection of wildlife and society, with stories in “Audubon,” “The Guardian,” and “Popular Science,” among others.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
This event is presented in partnership with the Sussex Bird Club.

The 2026 History Book Festival is presented by
The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group
Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices | Penfed Realty