2026
Bookmarks Festival of Books and Authors Bookmarks Festival of Books and Authors
Some book events are about looking for your next book, while others are about meeting the people who make those books possible. Bookmarks Festival of Books & Authors brings both together, creating a place where readers can meet writers, listen to their stories, and enjoy books with other people who love them. The festival has become the largest annual book festival in the Carolinas, welcoming more than 30,000 attendees each year and bringing together authors from different parts of the country.
The value of the festival comes from the simple connection between readers and authors. With talks, discussions, signings, and events for different ages, Bookmarks gives people a chance to experience books in a more personal way. The 2026 festival is also bringing well-known voices such as John Green for its opening keynote and Jodi Picoult for its closing keynote, giving readers even more reasons to come together around stories.
For Kravitz and Sons, being part of a celebration like this means more than simply putting books on display. It means giving our authors and their stories another chance to meet readers who may be looking for something new.
And speaking of stories worth discovering, An Ode to John and Irene and Their Enduring Love brings a deeply personal look at love, loss, memory, and the feelings that remain after someone important is gone. The book follows a man whose life changes after meeting a woman whose beauty, kindness, and grace slowly become a lasting part of his life. As they share happiness, hope, faith, illness, and loss together, the story asks a simple question that can stay with any reader: what happens to love when the person we love is no longer with us?
A Voice Written From the Heart
Some stories are written because the writer wants to entertain us. Others feel more like someone sitting down and finally saying the things they have kept inside for a long time. The author takes the second path. The writing is deeply personal, using poetic prose to talk about love, memories, faith, pain, and the difficult process of moving forward.
Instead of keeping the emotions far away, the author brings the reader close to them. The feelings of affection, grief, and remembrance are allowed to sit together, giving the writing a quiet and personal style. It feels less like watching someone else’s story from a distance and more like being invited into a collection of memories that still matter.
When Love Refuses to Fade
At the center of An Ode to John and Irene and Their Enduring Love are John and Irene, two people whose relationship grows from admiration into a deep and lasting love. Their time together includes moments of happiness and hope, but their journey also brings difficult trials that test their strength and devotion. Irene becomes an important part of the narrator’s life, not simply because of who she is, but because of the changes her presence creates in him.
The story becomes more emotional when illness and loss enter their lives. What began as a story about finding love becomes a story about learning how to live with its absence. The narrator has to face grief while holding on to the memories of the person who meant so much to him. Instead of treating loss as the final part of the story, the book looks at how memories can continue to shape a person’s life.
One of the strongest ideas in the book is that love does not simply disappear when someone is gone. The lessons, memories, kindness, and moments shared with another person can remain with us for years. Through grief and healing, the narrator learns that moving forward does not mean leaving the past behind. Sometimes, it means carrying the love with you and allowing it to become part of the person you are becoming. The book’s message of love continuing through memory, faith, and hope is also central to the publisher’s presentation of the work.
A Love Story Worth Remembering
Some books make you think, some make you smile, and some remind you of people you have loved yourself. An Ode to John and Irene and Their Enduring Love belongs to that last group. It is a quiet and emotional book for readers who understand that even when life changes, the love we share with someone can leave a mark that does not easily disappear.
An Ode to John and Irene and Their Enduring Love
A Poetic Reflection on Love, Loss, Memory, and Hope