This in-person event is a part of the 2026 Virginia Festival of the Book and will take place at the shop.
Transitional stages and states of being on both sides of boundaries emerge as themes in these poets’ works.
Gbenga Adesina’s Death Does Not End at the Sea, longlisted for the National Book Award, is a book of voyages and exile, of voices of the living and elegies of the dead.
Amber McBride’s The Leaving Room, a National Book Award finalist, is a YA novel in verse, the story of a “Keeper” who ushers the souls of the young into a place beyond living and dying.
Blue Opening by Chet’la Sebree ponders the beginnings of the universe and life itself through motherhood, in a collection that gropes for meaning in life’s big unknown spaces.
For more information, visit vabook.org.
Order the Books Ahead of Time from New Dominion Bookshop
Shop local and support your community bookshop! You can order your books ahead of time for the 2026 Virginia Festival of the Book by filling out the contact form below. Please make sure that you list the book title(s) that you would like to order. We will give you a call when your order is ready. There is no need to pre-pay. We will collect your payment when you pick up your order or when your order is shipped. Books will also be for sale on-site at the event. (There is no need to place an order if you plan to attend the event and purchase books there in person.)