The Decatur Book Festival announced Tuesday that Natasha Trethewey, the new poet laureate of the United States, will deliver the festival keynote address.

Trethewey, a resident of Decatur, will will speak Friday, Aug. 31, at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts at Emory University.

Book festival leaders announced the lineup of authors during a party at Eddie's Attic. Many of the same people gathered at the Decatur Community Bandstand June 7 to celebrate Trethewey's appointment as poet laureate.

Past keynote speakers have included novelist Jonathan Franzen, poet Billy Collins, novelist and humorist Kinki Friedman and Arianna Huffington, author and founder of the Huffington Post.

The festival will have a strong Decatur flavor, with several local authors appearing. Some of them are Mary Kay Andrews, Joshilyn Jackson and Amanda Kyle Williams.

Some of the national authors will be mystery writer Michael Connelly; Princess Diary author Meg Cabot; Kathy Reichs, producer of the TV show Bones; Tess Gerritsen, author of the Rizzoli and Isles novels; and Isabel Wilkerson, author of The Warmth of Other Suns.

About 300 authors will take part in the festival over Labor Day weekend. It started in 2006 and has grown to draw 70,000 to 80,000 people.

A full list of authors and other details can be found on the book fesival webpage.