Publishers Weekly's new virtual book publishing trade show, the U.S. Book Show, will feature Oprah Winfrey as its opening keynote speaker, and actor Keanu Reeves will speak on a panel about his new graphic novel. The news was announced this week in the New York Times.
Winfrey will give her keynote speech on May 25 at 10:45 a.m. ET, discussing her newest book, What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience and Healing (Flatiron), which is cowritten with Bruce D. Perry, a child psychiatrist and neuroscientist. Winfrey will also discuss her love for books and authors and offer her appreciation and encouragement for all those who support them. Reeves, creator and cowriter of BRZRKR, Vol. 1 (Boom! Studios), will join cowriter Matt Kindt and illustrator Ron Garney for a panel discussion moderated by PW senior news editor Calvin Reid. The panel will be held on May 25 at 3:00 p.m. ET.
The duo are only the latest celebrity speakers to join the Book Show's slate of leaders and literary luminaries, including Elizabeth Warren, senior senator from Massachusetts and 2020 presidential candidate; Ijeoma Oluo, author of the bestselling So You Want to Talk About Race and Mediocre; Top Chef executive producer and host and Taste the Nation producer Padma Lakshmi; Anthony Doerr, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of All the Light We Cannot See; musician and actor Stevie Van Zandt; and Brian Selznick, Caldecott Medal–winning creator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which was adapted into the Academy Award–winning film Hugo.
The inaugural U.S. Book Show will be live-streamed May 25-27 and be available on demand through August 31. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Boys & Girls Clubs of America in support of its literacy programming.
