At WI16, Booksellers Were Very Engaged By Ed Nawotka and Claire Kirch | Feb 26, 2021
Due to the pandemic, the American Booksellers Association’s annual Winter Institute went virtual this year. It attracted 1,971 participants, up from the 1,500 attendees at last year’s live meeting in Baltimore. The event, held February 18–20, offered panels focused on pragmatic bookselling issues such as finances, labor laws, neurodiversity in the workplace, and strategies for better engaging with e-commerce. There were inspirational talks from celebrities, including former president Barack Obama and bestselling author Brené Brown, as well as keynotes and appearances by poet Amanda Gorman, futurist Brian David Johnson, and novelists Lauren Groff, Colson Whitehead, and Viet Thanh Nguyen.