This post was written by Hatchet reporter Elliot Greiner.

Awash with sun-screened crowds of families and stern-faced academics, the 13th annual National Book Festival monopolized the National Mall this weekend, harboring such literary celebrities as Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates and Don DeLillo.

Five large, genre-specific tents spanned genres of history, prose, poetry, fiction, mystery, science fiction, contemporary, young adult and children’s literature. This year the book festival, sponsored by the Library of Congress, attracted thousands of visitors from all over the continent.

Folk rocker Linda Ronstadt, of Tuscon, Ariz., promoted her new memoir “Simple Dreams,” and was embraced by questions of fellow Tucsonians during her interview in the Contemporary Life Tent. When asked about how she liked D.C., the singer complimented the District and its people, finding dissatisfaction only with the “phallic pillar” at the end of the Mall.

Novelists Don DeLillo and Margaret Atwood both yielded immense crowds that at times swelled out of their tents and onto the walkways. Equally massive were the lines to their autograph booths, which were not only over a hundred people strong, but also headed by persevering individuals who had spent their morning camped out in front.

Deviating from their normal theme of “Books That Shaped America,” the Library of Congress unveiled a new list this festival, with “Books That Shaped The World.” Festival-goers were asked to list what they consider to be the most important books of all time to a giant white board that hung beneath the tent, prompting responses ranging from The Bible and The Quran to “A Farewell to Arms” and “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

The two-day festival hosted over 100 writers, illustrators and poets for the annual event.