6 Georgia authors, from poets to novelists to scientists, to meet at the 2026 Decatur Book Fest

With the Decatur Book Festival just days away, Atlanta’s literary community is buzzing. Local authors are front and center at this year’s DBF, with about one-third of the author lineup from Georgia, according to DBF Literary Director Anna Dobben. 

“A book festival is a chance for readers and authors to connect, and when it’s a local connection, that’s powerful,” Dobben says, adding that the Festival is a unique opportunity for local authors and readers to connect directly with each other. “I want local authors to feel a sense of pride and community over a book festival that happens in their city.”

Following are six highlights among the 28 local authors festivalgoers will have a chance to connect with at the 2026 edition of the Decatur Book Festival. 

All events take place Saturday, October 3. 

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Tayari Jones

“Tayari Jones is a Great American novelist,” says Dobben of the New York Times bestselling author of An American Marriage. “And how lucky are we that she lives in Atlanta?” 

Jones, who graduated from Spelman College and teaches creative writing at Emory University, was the first person Dobben invited to join this year’s Festival and the first to accept. This year alone, she was named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World and released her newest bestseller, Kin, which was selected for Oprah’s Book Club. At the Festival, she will discuss Kin with podcaster and bookseller Miwa Messer.

DBF Where and When
Kin with Tayari Jones, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., First Baptist Church.
Signing: 5:15 p.m., First Baptist Church, front lawn. 

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Chelsea Rathburn

Since 2019, Chelsea Rathburn has been Georgia’s poet laureate, a position that Dobben calls “a boon to the literary community” because it helps to “lend a voice to a state’s identity.”

With a prestigious career that includes four published collections of poetry, fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Academy of American Poets and a teaching position at Mercer University, Rathburn provides quite the boon. She will appear at the Festival to discuss her most recent collection, Broken Houses, in conversation with fellow poets Dorsey Craft, Kate Gaskin and Patricia Lockwood.

More on ArtsATL: A review of Broken Houses by Chelsea Rathburn.

DBF Where and When
“A Woman of Substance: Poetry,” 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., Decatur Library auditorium.
Signing: 1:45 p.m., Decatur Library Meeting Room. 

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Aruni Kashyap

Poet, author and translator Aruni Kashyap appears at the Festival for the second year in a row after participating in poet and memoirist Saeed Jones’ 2025 keynote conversation. It’s unsurprising that this multitalented writer has more to share with festivalgoers: In addition to publishing six books and dozens of articles, poems and stories, Kashyap directs the University of Georgia’s creative writing program, where Dobben says he does “a fantastic job stewarding young writers.”  

His new novel,  How to Date a Fanatic, follows a queer college student’s attempts at romance amid frightening political turmoil on campus. Kashyap will appear in conversation with Malavika Kannan, author of Unprecedented Times.

DBF Where and When
“Coming of Age in a Rapidly Changing World: Fiction,” 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. Marriott Hotel, Henry Oliver Room.
Signing: 1:30 p.m., Marriott Conference Center. 

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Natalia Hernandez

Genre- and gender-bending indie novelist Natalia Hernandez’s books place independent women of color in epic fantasy worlds inspired by the lore, aesthetic and cultures of Latin America. She describes her newest novel, The Lost Guardian, as “a gender-swapped The Mummy Meets Atlantis.” 

Hernandez will discuss it at the Festival along with The Dark in Her Veins author M. K. Lobb. Event attendees will get an extra treat, too: “We’ve gotten permission to sell … The Lost Guardian a few days before the official publication date,” Dobben says, “which means that attendees at the Decatur Book Festival can get this dreamy romantasy title before anyone else.” 

DBF Where and When
“Romance and Dangerous Fantasy Adventures,” 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m., First Baptist Church, Carreker Hall. 
Signing: 4 p.m. First Baptist Church, front lawn. 

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David George Haskell

Atlanta biologist David George Haskell is an award-winning writer and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist who teaches environmental science at Emory University. Widely praised for his lyric approach to science writing, Haskell is also an accomplished public speaker.

“I have thought about asking [Emory] if I can attend his classes,” Dobben says, adding, “Attending his DBF session for his new book, How Flowers Made Our World, may need to suffice.”

Luckily, it sounds fascinating: Haskell and author Ashia S. Ajani (Tending the Vines: Black Abundance in Eight Plants) will discuss plants’ influence on human culture, ecosystems and life on Earth. 

DBF Where and When

“Interconnected: Humans and Plants,” 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., Marriott Hotel, Mary Gay Room. 
Signing: 4:15 p.m., Marriott Conference Center. 

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Christy Mandin

Georgia resident Christy Mandin is the author and illustrator of the New York Times bestselling Millie Fleur picture books. The books, which Dobben affectionately calls “an ode to being a weird kid,” feature a Wednesday Addams lookalike with a poison garden and a one-of-a-kind outlook.

In the newest installment, Millie Fleur’s Worst Day Ever, Millie has an epically terrible day and turns to her friends for help. Mandin will read from her book at the Festival in an event that Dobben enthuses “local parents must attend.”

DBF Where and When
“The Worst Day Ever!” 1:30 to 2 p.m., Once Upon a Stage.
Signing: 2:15 p.m., DeKalb History Center, north lawn on Ponce de Leon side. 

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Rachel Wright has a Ph.D. from Georgia State University and an MA from the University College Dublin, both in creative writing. Her work has appeared in The Stinging Fly and elsewhere. She is currently at work on a novel.