Jeff Bezos donates royalties from ‘Invent and Wander’ to New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University

The New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University announced today that Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder and Executive Chair, will donate the royalties from his book, Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos, to the 2022 New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University.

Published in 2020 by the Harvard Business Review and Public Affairs Press, Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos includes an introduction from Walter Isaacson, co-chair of the book festival. The book features Bezos’ unique and strikingly original annual shareholder letters, plus numerous speeches and interviews that provide insight into his background, his work and the evolution of his ideas. Readers gain an insider's view of the “why” and “how” behind his success.

With this donation, the book festival’s team will be able to provide books by festival authors and other valuable classroom supplies, to every public school in New Orleans. These additional supplies are needed by so many amid the COVID-19 pandemic as schools navigate returning to in-person learning.

“Jeff is a staunch advocate for literacy in our country, especially when it comes to the youth of America, and we are extremely grateful to him for his generosity and ardent support for our book festival.”

- Walter Isaacson

“Jeff is a staunch advocate for literacy in our country, especially when it comes to the youth of America, and we are extremely grateful to him for his generosity and ardent support for our book festival.” His contributions will further our mission of hosting one of the nation’s premier literary events in New Orleans,” said Isaacson. 

The 2022 New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University, a new major literary event for the Crescent City, will kick off its inaugural weekend, March 10-12, 2022, on Tulane’s uptown campus. The three-day event will showcase nearly 100 national, regional and local authors. The author line-up for the 2022 book festival can be found here.

“This donation is a testament to the generosity of one of our generation’s greatest innovators, and also underscores the growing profile of The New Orleans Book Festival as it enters a twice-delayed inaugural year,” Tulane University President Michael Fitts said. “A gift like this continues to give year after year, and we are looking forward to many future book fests thanks to support such as this.”

Bezos’ donation will also help make Family Day at the Festival a reality. On Saturday, March 12, Family Day will focus on literacy advancement, feature readings and special literary-themed activities for the children of New Orleans and their families in a joint partnership with the city of New Orleans’ Office of Youth and Families and Scholastic.

“We are so grateful to Jeff Bezos for his generous contribution to not only the New Orleans Book Festival but the Greater New Orleans community.  His support of our efforts will promote the love of reading in our public school system and continue to advance literacy in New Orleans for children of all ages and their families,” said Cheryl Landrieu, co-chair of the book festival. 

Landrieu, the former first lady of New Orleans, is the co-founder and co-chair of the New Orleans Book Festival and has a long history of supporting strategic community initiatives in New Orleans, most recently focused on literacy and advocacy for the advancement of women and girls. Isaacson, the Leonard A. Lauder Professor of American History and Values in Tulane’s School of Liberal Arts, is an acclaimed biographer of numerous bestseller books.

For more information on the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University, please visit ​www.bookfest.Tulane.edu or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.