All events are free to attend unless otherwise stated! Please give us a call if you have any questions or concerns, or if you would like to order one of the featured books for pick-up. For regular updates on Bards Alley events and book clubs, subscribe to our weekly newsletter at the bottom of this page!

The 2026 Cheuse Lecture:
​Stories of Sanctuary by Colm Tóibín
Thursday, April 23, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
@ SHerwood Community Center, 3740 Blenheim BLVD., Fairfax, va

Award-winning Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet Colm Tóibín is GMU's featured author for their 2026 Cheuse Lecture. Focusing on several of his most recent publications, including The News From Dublin: Stories and The Magician, Tóibín will be in discussion with German-born author, journalist, and literary critic Malte Herwig.

The event will take place at the Stacy C. Sherwood Community Center in Fairfax, and a book signing will follow the authors' discussion. Books will be available for purchase on-site, though if you are looking for a specific title of Tóibín's, we recommend calling the store ahead of time to order or place a copy on hold. Registration is required.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Colm Tóibín: Colm Tóibín is the author of eleven novels, including Long Island, an Oprah’s Book Club Pick; The Magician, winner of the Rathbones Folio Prize; The Master, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; Brooklyn, winner of the Costa Book Award; and Nora Webster, winner of the Hawthornden Prize, as well as three story collections and several books of criticism. He is the Irene and Sidney B. Silverman Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University and was named the 2022–2024 Laureate for Irish Fiction by the Arts Council of Ireland. In 2021, he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature.

Malte Herwig: Malte Herwig is a German-born writer, journalist, and literary critic. His articles have appeared widely in U.S., British, and German publications, including the New York Times, the Observer, Vanity Fair, and Der Spiegel.

Independent Bookstore Day 2026
Saturday, April 25

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Celebrate Indie Bookstore Day at Bards Alley, or pop in on your journey to several stores! In addition to simply celebrating indies around the world, Bards Alley will have a smattering of events and activities throughout the day.

This includes:
  • the 2026 NoVA+ Bookstore Passport Program: grab your passport from any participating bookstores (see the NoVA+ Crawl tab on our website!) and make your way to other stores in the northern Virginia and nearby MD and WV towns; the more you visit, the more likely you are to win prizes! Visit 10 or more shops and turn your passport in to any of them to be entered to win one of our grand prizes

  • the Libro.fm Golden Ticket hunt: find the Golden Ticket, win 12 free audiobook credits from our partners at Libro.fm! The Golden Ticket will be hidden somewhere inside the store; your only hint is that it will NOT be inside of a book, so don't worry about flipping through pages!

  • we'll have a puzzle table + lounge set up in our outside patio all day, weather permitting, offering beverages throughout the afternoon as we encourage you to chill with your book and work on a puzzle to unwind!

  • at 9:15AM: an audiobook walk, planned for a ~1 mile loop around Vienna; you'll meet at Bards Alley at 9AM and finish up at Caffe Amouri where owner Michael Amouri will be offering coupons for that morning for those who join the walk (RSVP TBA)

  • at 1PM: local author Emily O'Malley Liu will be signing copies of her fantasy romance novella Wine for Roses, a Beauty and the Beast reimagining with disability and queer rep

  • at 7PM: join horror authors Vincent Tirado and Andrew Joseph White as they discuss Tirado's brand new release You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom, a locked-room horror where demons clash with inheritance claims and a family faces their unraveling (RSVP req'd; check events below)

Indie Bookstore Day Signing:
Emily O'Malley Liu
Saturday, April 25, 1:00pm - 2:00pm

Debut author Emily O'Malley Liu will return to Bards Alley for Indie Bookstore Day with a signing table! Stop by any time between 1PM and 2PM to chat briefly with the author and grab a signed copy of her new book Wine for Roses. This is a lushly written world featuring a queer, slow-burn romance and complex characters fighting to overcome a curse that has perforated an historic, Victorian residence and its occupants.

This is a non-structured event; the author will be at a signing table for meet & greets only so it will not be like a traditional author event or conversation. Books will be available for purchase!​

​About WINE FOR ROSES: They say the stolen rose blooms best. When Ethan Keating Mendoza is hired as a gardener at an old Victorian residence in central Indiana, he has one clear mission: make the roses bloom. Ethan's life is roses--he's the son of a hedge witch and a partner in his father's rose growing business--but he has no magic himself.

The Kilbride estate is wild and overgrown. The roses have not bloomed in decades, and Ethan fears he may be in over his head. Worse still is Louis, the peculiar trustee of the property, who lives under a bloodthirsty curse that ties him to the garden. But Louis gives Ethan a chance, and Ethan is determined to do right by the suffering roses. As Ethan and Louis grow closer, Ethan becomes increasingly desperate to save the man he loves from the garden's curse.

But the garden isn't letting them go without a fight.

Crooked Steeple LIterary Festival:
Jeffrey Dale Lofton: ReD Clay Suzie
Saturday, April 25, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
@ Falls Church Presbyterian, 225 E Broad St., Falls Church, VA

Join us at Falls Church Presbyterian for their Crooked Steeple Festival, this time hosting Georgia author Jeffrey Dale Lofton to discuss the award-winning Red Clay Suzie, a coming-of-age story following a gay, disabled man living in the Deep South.

Bards Alley will be selling books at the event and Jeffrey will be signing books after his discussion. Registration is required; while free, donations are encouraged so Falls Church Presby can continue to host authors like this in the future.

About RED CLAY SUZIE: The coming-of-age story of Philbet, gay and living with a disability, battles bullying, ignorance, and disdain as he makes his way in life as an outsider in the Deep South—before finding acceptance in unlikely places.

Fueled by tomato sandwiches and green milkshakes, and obsessed with cars, Philbet struggles with life and love as a gay boy in rural Georgia. He’s happiest when helping Grandaddy dig potatoes from the vegetable garden that connects their houses. But Philbet’s world is shattered and his resilience shaken by events that crush his innocence and sense of security; expose his misshapen chest skillfully hidden behind shirts Mama makes at home; and convince him that he’s not fit to be loved by Knox, the older boy he idolizes to distraction. Over time, Philbet finds refuge in unexpected places and inner strength in unexpected ways, leading to a resolution from beyond the grave.

About the author: Jeffrey Dale Lofton hails from Warm Springs, Georgia, best known as the home of Roosevelt’s Little White House. He calls the nation’s capital home now and has for over three decades. He is a senior advisor at the Library of Congress where he is surrounded by books and people who love books—in short, paradise. He is a contributing editor for WELL READ Magazine and co-host of the Inside Voices podcast alongside author Robert Gwaltney.

Vincent Tirado with Andrew Joseph White:
​An Indie Bookstore Day Event
Saturday, April 25, 7:00pm - 8:00pm

Finish out Indie Bookstore Day at Bards Alley with a discussion between horror authors Vincent Tirado and Andrew Joseph White! They will be focusing on Tirado's most recent adult horror You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom, a chilling, twisted, locked room, demon-hunting family drama and fight for survival.

Copies of both of the authors books will be available for purchase during the event and a signing will follow their discussion. Due to their extensive backlists, if you are looking for a specific title of Tirado's or White's, we recommend calling the store ahead of time to order or place a copy on hold. Registration is required.

About YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN NICER TO MY MOM: When Papi Ramon, the patriarch of the wealthy Abreu family dies, he gives the family one last message in the will: “One of you is el bacà, the demon that I made a deal with. Get rid of them or you will be damned.” Xiomara, the uncontested favorite of Papi Ramon (and therefore the least liked in the family), watches as everyone dismisses this as the joke of a senile old man and demands the lawyer obtain the previous will Papi wrote.

While the lawyer drives back to his office, a storm breaks out, forcing the entire family—Xiomara’s aunts and uncles and cousins—to remain in the house. And the words of Papi’s will hangs over their heads even heavier than the rain clouds. Over the course of the night, scandal after scandal is revealed to the public about the family. Suddenly a tense few hours of surviving her family turns into a vicious night of recrimination, violence, accusations…and murder.

Xiomara is faced with an impossible task: uproot a demon and somehow kill it or excise the ghosts that linger within her own family.

And the clock is ticking...

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Vincent Tirado: Vincent Tirado is a nonbinary Afro-Dominican Bronx native. They ventured out to Pennsylvania and Ohio to get their bachelor’s degree in biology and master’s degree in bioethics. Their debut YA novel, Burn Down, Rise Up, was the 2022 winner of the Pura Belpré Award and a finalist for the 2022 Stoker Awards and 2023 Lammy Awards. Their sophomore YA novel was We Don’t Swim Here, and their debut adult novel was We Came to Welcome You.

Andrew Joseph White: Andrew Joseph White is the trans, autistic, and bestselling author of Hell Followed With Us, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, Compound Fracture, and You Weren't Meant to Be Human. Born and raised in the Shenandoah Valley, he received his MFA in creative writing from George Mason University and lives in Virginia with his wife and their antisocial cat.

Caboose Commons Women's Market
Sunday, April 26, 3:00pm - 7:00pm
@ Caboose Commons, 2918 Eskridge Rd., Fairfax, VA

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The Caboose Women's Market is back at the Caboose Commons location in Fairfax to feature local, women-owned businesses, artisans, makers, and more! Candles, jewelry, skincare, books, live music, tarot readings, and more will be available at this market, and it's a great opportunity to purchase a Mother's Day gift, grab something for yourself, and support women-owned business in the area.

Bards Alley will be on site with a collection of books, clothing, totes, and other bookish sideline items for the reader in your life. Swing by, shop Bards Alley's pop-up, and check out the other makers in the space! The market runs from 3pm until 6pm.

Fall for the Book's Spring Headliner:
​Kate Quinn
Thursday, April 30, 7:30pm - 8:30pm
@ Sherwood Community Center, 3740 Blenheim blvd., Fairfax, VA

New York Times bestselling author Kate Quinn is the Spring headliner for Fairfax's own Fall for the Book Festival. Readers who have ever wished they could live inside their favorite books will love Quinn’s latest novel, The Astral Library. Quinn is also the author of numerous historical fiction novels, including The Briar Club, The Alice Network, The Rose Code, The Diamond Eye, and more.

The event is free to attend but registration is required. The event is sponsored by Fairfax County Public Library and will take place at the Stacy C. Sherwood Community Center in Fairfax. Copies of her books will be available for purchase and a signing will follow her talk. Due to Quinn's large backlist, if you are looking to purchase a specific book, we recommend you call Bards Alley ahead of time to place an order or put a copy on hold.

About THE ASTRAL LIBRARY: Alexandria “Alix” Watson has learned one lesson from her barren childhood in the foster-care system: unlike people, books will never let you down. Working three dead-end jobs to make ends meet and knowing college is a pipe dream, Alix takes nightly refuge in the high-vaulted reading room at the Boston Public Library, escaping into her favorite fantasy novels and dreaming of far-off lands. Until the day she stumbles through a hidden door and meets the Librarian: the ageless, acerbic guardian of a hidden library where the desperate and the lost escape to new lives...inside their favorite books.

The Librarian takes a dazzled Alix under her wing, but before she can escape into the pages of her new life, a shadowy enemy emerges to threaten everyone the Astral Library has ever helped protect. Aided by a dashing costume-shop owner, Alix and the Librarian flee through the Regency drawing rooms of Jane Austen to the back alleys of Sherlock Holmes and the champagne-soaked parties of The Great Gatsby as danger draws inexorably closer. But who does their enemy really wish to destroy—Alix, the Librarian, or the Library itself?

About the author: Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of Southern California, she attended Boston University, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in classical voice. A lifelong history buff, she has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga and two books set in the Italian Renaissance before turning to the 20th century with The Alice Network, The Huntress, The Rose Code, The Diamond Eye, and The Briar Club. The Astral Library is her first foray into magic realism. She and her husband now live in Maryland with their rescue dogs.

Poetry Reading & Workshop with Jennifer Kronovet
Saturday, May 2, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
​​@ Mary Riley Styles Public Library, 120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church, VA

Join us at Mary Riley Styles Public Library for a reading and workshop with Arlington Poet Laureate Jennifer Kronovet. She will be sharing a selection of new work and lead a generative writing workshop designed for writers and non-writers alike! After listening to poems, participants will write their own through an exploratory, low-pressure exercise. Come if you’re a seasoned writer or newly poetry curious. All are welcome. If you can, please bring a notebook.

Bards Alley will be on-site selling copies of some of Kronovet's work (The Wug Test and Awayward), and she will be signing her poetry books after her talk and workshop.

About the author: Jennifer Kronovet is the author of two poetry collections: The Wug Test, which was selected for the National Poetry Series in the US, and Awayward. Using the name Jennifer Stern, she co-translated Empty Chairs, the poetry of Chinese writer Liu Xia. She also co-translated The Acrobat, selected poems of experimental Yiddish writer Celia Dropkin. She edits Circumference Books, a new press for poetry in translation that she co-founded.

Jennifer Kronovet is a teacher at Washington-Liberty High School in Arlington, and has taught at Washington University in St. Louis, Columbia University, Beijing Normal University, Brooklyn College, and LaGuardia Community College. A New Yorker, she has also lived in Curaçao, Guangzhou and Beijing in China, and Berlin, Germany. She currently serves as the Poet Laureate of Arlington County in Virginia.

Kwame Alexander & Cassidy Dyce:
​The Brainstormerz
Tuesday, May 5, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
@ Reston Regional Library, 11925 Bowman Towne Rd., Reston, VA

Join us at Reston Regional Library for a launch-day event with co-authors Kwame Alexander and Cassidy Dyce on their upcoming middle grade graphic novel The Brainstormerz: Money Talks. This is the start of a brand new series of three problem-solving besties and their humorous money-making schemes, great for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Jerry Craft.

Bards Alley will be on-site selling copies of The Brainstormerz as well as some of Alexander's other middle grade books. If you are looking to purchase a specific title, please give the store a call at (571) 459-2653 to secure a copy under your name. Alexander and Dyce will be signing books after their talk. No personalization available at the event. Registration is strongly recommended.

About THE BRAINSTORMERZ: Electric James, or Lex, as his friends call him, is finally turning ten, and that means one thing: he's getting a phone! And with the hottest phone on the market—the Apollo XL—he’s sure to become the coolest kid at Roberto Clemente Elementary School. But when his parents break the news that the Apollo XL is way out of their price range, Lex is crushed.

Luckily, he has his best friends DJ and Cass. Together, they’re the Brainstormerz—and they’ve never met a problem they couldn’t solve! All they need to do now is figure out how to raise the money for the phone themselves. How hard could it be? 
 
From the talented trio of New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander, Cassidy Dyce, and Eisner winning cartoonist Rashad Doucet, comes a hilarious and electrifying story about friendship, creativity, and the power of teamwork.

About the authors:
Kwame Alexander is an Emmy Award–winning producer, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over forty books, including the Newbery Medal–winning novel The Crossover; the Caldecott Medal- and Newbery Honor winning picture book The Undefeated; The Door of No Return; and J vs. K, which he co-wrote with Jerry Craft.

Cassidy Dyce is an up-and-coming author and founder of Writing Black @ The House which centers and uplifts Black creatives across all artistic mediums. Cassidy lives in Charlottesville, VA.

Nina Willner: The Boys in the Light
Wednesday, May 6, 6:30pm - 7:30pm
​​@ Mary Riley Styles Public Library, 120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church, VA

Join us at Mary Riley Styles Public Library for a discussion with author Nina Willner and her newest release The Boys in the Light ​which follows the parallel journeys of Company D and Eddie Willner, the author's father, as they are caught up on two sides of World War II.

Copies of the books will be available for purchase at the event, and Willner will be signing after her talk.

About THE BOYS IN THE LIGHT: At 16, Eddie Willner was among the millions of European Jews rounded up by Hitler's Nazis. He was forced into slave labor alongside his father and his best friend Mike, while his mother was sent to her death, and spent the next five years of his life surviving the death camps. Eddie and Mike become brothers, and depend on each other to survive the horrors of the Holocaust. 

Meanwhile in the US, boys only a few years older than Eddie were joining the Army and heading toward their own precarious futures. Once farmers, waiters, and coal miners, they were suddenly army officers and infantrymen, thrust into the brutal conflicts of WWII. Many of these soldiers were immigrants or first-generation Americans who felt compelled to defend the country they had come to call home. But, very few of them were prepared for the dangerous road ahead. 

The soldiers of Company D, led by Elmer Hovland, quickly became battle hardened and weary, constantly questioning whether or not the war was worth it. Eight months in, they got their answer when two emaciated boys stepped out of the woods with tattooed arms raised, Eddie and Mike. Elmer and his soldiers could barely believe their eyes as they finally came face to face with the human cost of Hitler’s evil. Elmer knew there was only one thing to do: rescue the boys and bring them back to life.

About the author: Nina Willner is the author of Forty Autumns, which PW called "a thrilling and relevant read” and which is still being feverishly read by book clubs five years post-publication. Prior to her writing career, Nina was a US Army intelligence officer, who served in Berlin during the Cold War. Following her career in intelligence, Nina worked in Moscow, Minsk, and Prague promoting human rights, children’s causes, and the rule of law for the US Government, nonprofits, and a variety of charities. She has three grown children and currently splits her time between Washington, DC and Istanbul, Turkey.

Cartoonist Sophia Glock: Before We Wake
Saturday, May 9, 6:00pm - 7:00pm

Join us at Bards Alley for a discussion with local cartoonist, writer, and graphic novelist Sophia Glock. She will be discussing her journey in art and the publishing world, focusing on her most recent graphic novel Before We Wake. This is an ethereal, paranormal romance that plays out between a waking life that feels muted and a world of lucid dreams that sparkles in full color. Glock is also the author of Passport, a graphic memoir that reveals her discovery as a teenager that her parents are agents working for the CIA.

Copies of both books will be available for purchase at the event, and Sophia will be signing books after her talk. Both books are considered young adult (YA) titles and are fantastic for adults and teens.

About BEFORE WE WAKE: With the dreaminess of Lore Olympus and the magic of The Girl from the Sea, here is an ethereal, paranormal romance that plays out between a waking life that feels muted and a world of lucid dreams that sparkles in full color.

Haunted by a recurring dream, Alicia borrows a book about lucid dreaming, and soon learns to take control of her sleeping life. She welcomes the arrival of her best friend's boyfriend in her dreamworld, and soon sparks start to fly. But then he admits, when they are both awake, that he remembers everything that happened while they were asleep. Suddenly, Alicia’s dream life has become as complicated as her waking one.

In this electrifying graphic novel, Glock whisks readers on a head‑spinning romantic dream odyssey, exploring the ways in which we hold ourselves back—and what it will take to let our wildest dreams come true.

About the author: Sophia Glock is a cartoonist and the author of the graphic memoir Passport. Her comics and cartoons have been published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Buzzfeed, Narratively, and Time Out New York. Her work has also been featured in various anthologies including, Ink Brick, Digestate, and The Graphic Canon of Crime & Mystery, Vol. 1. Her collection of comics Born, Not Raised was selected to be included in The Society of Illustrators Cartoon and Comics Art Annual 2016 and her short comic The Secrets in My Mother's Nightstand was shortlisted for The Cartoonist Studio Prize for Best Web Comic of the Year in 2016. She is also the author of The Lettuce Girl, SemiSolid, Over Ripe and Passport: Fig.

Vienna250 & Bards Alley Author Series:
Derek Baxter: The Forgotten World War
Sunday, May 31, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
@ Vienna Police Station Community ROom, 215 Center St. S, Vienna, VA

Join us for a Vienna250 celebration event with local author Derek Baxter as he discusses his brand new release The Forgotten World War, a look at how the American Revolution and the creation of a brand new country was truly a global effort, from the hills of Andalucia, to the lagoons of the Yucatan, and the palaces of southern India.

Bards Alley will be on-site selling copies of Baxter's book, and a book signing will follow his talk.

About THE FORGOTTEN WORLD WAR: Forget the Liberty Bell: if you want to truly understand the American Revolution, get a passport and visit the hills of Andalucia, the lagoons of the Yucatan, and the palaces of south India. In The Forgotten World War, Derek Baxter embarks on an adventure-filled quest across four continents to uncover the story of how Americans really won our independence. He discovers how the fighting in the U.S. was only one theater of a much broader conflict, in which an unlikely group of nations banded together to take on the mighty British Empire.

On the windswept island of Jersey in the English Channel, he finds out how France attempted a full-scale invasion. At an unlikely Fourth of July party in Spain, where he helps the descendent of a renowned Spanish general make a giant paella In India, he investigates one of the greatest victories of the Revolutionary War, when an army five times as large as any that Washington ever put in the field (and with considerably more elephants) annihilated the Redcoats. Baxter finds the human stories behind this long-ago conflict—sometimes with surprising results. 

The Forgotten World War delivers a powerful message, right in time for our nation’s 250th anniversary. America began only when peoples of different races, languages, and religions overcame mistrust and came together.

About the author: Derek Baxter is the author of In Pursuit of Jefferson. He is an alumni of the University of Virginia, which Jefferson founded, and is a lawyer in the Founding Father’s home state of Virginia. You can follow his adventures with Thomas Jefferson at jeffersontravels.com