One hundred authors shared their latest books during the 42nd annual Book Fair and Authors’ Night, a fundraiser for the National Press Club Journalism Institute, on Friday, Nov. 1.
Hundreds of book buyers shopped their way through titles that included national politics and history, food and beverage, memoir, biography, fiction, culture, children’s and young adult stories during the fair, held at the National Press Club.

A shopper flips through a copy of author Tim Alberta’s book, American Carnage. 
Dorothy Butler Gilliam, author of Trailblazer, chats with a guest during the 2019 Book Fair and Authors’ Night on Friday, Nov. 1. Gilliam was the first African-American female reporter at The Washington Post.

Author Andrea Chamblee holds the press badge belonging to her husband, John McNamara, during the 2019 Book Fair and Authors’ Night. McNamara was killed in the 2018 shooting at the Capital Gazette. Chamblee finished the book he’d been working on, titled The Capital of Basketball, and attended the fair. 
Meryle Secrest signs her book during the 2019 Book Fair and Authors’ Night on Friday, Nov. 1, 2019. 
Marlin Fitzwater, who served as White House Press Secretary for six years under U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, signs his latest work during the 2019 Book Fair and Authors’ Night. 
The National Press Club held the 2019 Book Fair and Authors’ Night on Friday, Nov. 1, 2019. It featured 100 authors under one roof. 
Cookbook authors, including Cathy Barrow (When Pies Fly), enticed guests with tasty treats to highlight recipes from their books. 
Estella Chung autographs a copy of Marjorie Merriweather Post: The Life Behind the Luxury, during the 2019 Book Fair and Authors’ Night. 
Guests delighted in meeting the more than 100 authors who gathered during the 2019 Book Fair and Authors’ Night on Nov. 1. 
Joan Biskupic, author of The Chief, discusses the book with a guest during the 2019 Book Fair and Authors’ Night.
Guests say they enjoyed the fair, which gave them a chance to connect with their favorite authors while discovering new ones. “It felt great to be at an event in which there was such excitement about books,” said one patron. “And from so many people, too.”
The one-on-one connection with guests and fellow authors topped the experience for authors, they reported. “I loved meeting and chatting with people who stopped by, answering their questions, and sharing tidbits about research or special facts for the books,” said one author.
The National Press Club Journalism Institute partnered with landmark local bookseller Politics & Prose to coordinate the 2019 event.
If you are an author or publisher who would like to receive information on future book events, please join our contact list.
