Last fall, Kalela Williams hit the ground running as the new director of the Virginia Center for the Book—she only had six months to organize the Virginia Festival of the Book, a process that usually takes well over a year. Williams came to the festival from Philadelphia, where she previously worked for Mighty Writers and the Free Library of Philadelphia. In her spare time, she’s writing her debut YA novel, The Tangleroot Papers, coming next year from Feiwel & Friends. Now, the 2023 festival is a week away, and boasts a lineup of bestselling authors and page-turners from the likes of Matthew Quick, Nyle DiMarco, and Rebecca Makkai. The Virginia Festival of the Book (vabook.org) takes place from March 23-26. Stay tuned for our festival coverage in next week’s C-VILLE.
Age: 44.
Pronouns: She/her.
Why here: I live in Staunton because it’s cute, small, and cool.
Worst thing about living here: The hills—they give you a challenging walk!
Best thing: The hills—they give you amazing vistas!
Favorite restaurant: My house. My boyfriend’s cooking could win a reality show.
Favorite hangout spot: Redbeard’s in Staunton. There’s always people you know and usually something fun’s going on.
Bodo’s order: Whatever my colleagues bring to the office. I like carbs, so I’ll take ’em any way I can get ’em.
Who is your hero: My ancestors. All of them.
Best advice you ever got: Bring a jacket.
Biggest lie you’ve ever told: I don’t need a jacket.
Proudest accomplishment: Getting a publisher.
Describe a perfect day: It would involve eating, hiking, writing, and drinks.
Do you have any pets: Three ridiculous cats: Courage, Trapezoid, and Wheatley.
Favorite writers: Oof, that’s a really tough one. I especially like works that engage with the past, whether it’s one’s own lineage or history in a broader sense, because that’s what I write. So I read a good bit of old letters and diaries, but in terms of more familiar authors, it’s perhaps Geraldine Brooks, Annette Gordon-Reed, Li-Young Lee, Nathaniel Philbrick, and Jacqueline Woodson.
Favorite book: If I had to choose, The Good Lord Bird by James McBride. The Age of Phillis by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers is also a big one for me.
Most embarrassing moment: I have this recurring nightmare that I go out in public with no pants on, and then I’m like, “Oh, wow, why did I think it was okay for me to wear this?” Or rather, not wear this. And in my weird dream, I’m sneaking around, trying to hide behind ferns and stuff. So I woke up in full “Gah!!!” mode the other day, relieved it wasn’t real, but you’d think I would’ve taken more care getting dressed. Nah. I put my pants on backwards, and didn’t realize it until the middle of my workday after a bunch of meetings. There I was, just strutting around with my back-pockets forwards. I should’ve found myself a ficus tree and planted myself there. (Ha! Planted. My jokes are another source of embarrassment.)
What are you listening to right now: Elevator music.
What’s a song you pretend you don’t like because it’s embarrassing that you love it: Maybe it’s a genre. I have a little soft spot for country.
Who’d play you in a movie: Amber Ruffin.
Celebrity crush: I don’t crush on celebrities anymore, but my girlhood loves include Cary Elwes (as you wiiiiissssh!), the boys in a short-lived ‘90s group, The Boys; the guy who played Lando Calrissian, and David Bowie in Labyrinth (but ONLY in Labyrinth. Outside of that? Meh).
Most used app on your phone: MS Outlook (sigh).
Last text you sent: “I have exploding head syndrome when I’m exceptionally sleep-deprived but aliens are new to me.”
Most used emoji: A heart.
If you could be reincarnated as a person or thing, what would you be: I would be a ridiculous house cat so that I could bask in the sun all day, demand that people rub my belly, then bite them for no good reason.
Subject that causes you to rant: Banned books.
Best journey you ever went on: A solo trip to Toronto, which I took because the Royal Ontario Museum had a special exhibition on blue whales: a skeleton AND its plastinated heart.
Next journey: Wherever my next writing research project takes me.
If not yourself, who would you be: No one. I love being myself because it always makes things interesting.
Favorite word: “Gah!”
Hottest take: Avocados are gross and olives are the devil’s eyeballs.
What have you forgotten today: Gah! Probably everything!