SBF Presents: “The Savannah Book Festival: A Family Affair,” An Interview with Claire Shaw

Even though she lives in Medfield, Mass., Claire Shaw has been an attendee of the Savannah Book Festival since its very first year. She and her daughters have become enthusiastic supporters of the Festival, as Literati members and dedicated attendees. The Festival has turned into a tradition for the Shaw family, a means of connection every step of the way, from calling to go over Book-It Tuesday announcements to staying at the Marshall House every year.

“We count down the minutes till Tuesday, and then we look up each author to decide who we’d like to see,” says Shaw. She and her youngest daughter, Jenny, will plan who they want to see, and then cross-reference when the lineup and time slots come out. They get to the Festival a day before it starts so they have time to plan.

Shaw started coming to Savannah simply to escape the cold weather up North but ended up returning because of her love of the Savannah Book Festival. She and her daughters have found a tradition, other than the holidays, that keeps them coming back to each other every year.

Shaw has always loved reading, having majored in both English and medieval studies in college. She finds herself returning to books that carry the same medieval and historical elements. One of her favorite books is “Lincoln in Bardo” by George Saunders, whom she fondly remembers seeing at the Festival in 2019.

The Savannah Book Festival has introduced her to debut authors she now follows. Shaw says, “I specifically remember going to a talk with two women who wrote about the USS Indianapolis, and they did such a wonderful job; I started reading the book right after.” These authors, Sara Vladic and Lynn Vincent, gave the closing address for the Savannah Book Festival in 2019.

 Shaw finds the Festival important not just because of the memories it’s created for her and her family but because of the work the Festival does to get people reading. Shaw says she finds the Savannah Book Festival so vital because “children and people need to be able to read and engage in critical thinking.”

Shaw and her other daughter, Linda, started supporting the Festival as Literati members because they saw how much good it did in the community and how much joy it brought to their family. It’s a tradition for them to fly into Savannah on Thursday, stay at the Marshall House, and walk over to the Book Festival on Saturday.

She and her daughters plan to read a couple of books before the Festival starts so that they’re prepared for the talks. They are excited to come back for the 2027 Savannah Book Festival and hear from the authors they diligently circled back months before. The Festival has become custom for the Shaw family, a way for them to connect to each other and the world around them.