Editorial Inspirations

Readers, authors, and publishers will gather at the various annual consumer book festivals, with reading, literacy, and local library systems reaping the benefits. The following book festivals are among the many scheduled to take place through July. Check festival websites for complete author lists and more details on participants, activities, and educational programs.

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA READING FESTIVAL
Ft. Myers, Fla., March 15
239-479-4636
kscholz@leegov.com
Ninth year. Authors: Melissa de la Cruz, Angelo Dundee, Jared Hodges & Lindsay Cibos, Carla Neggers, Wendy Corsi Staub (aka Wendy Markham), Susan Vreeland. Activities: Lunchtime Meet & Greet with Bob Morris; A Night at the Museum with James O. Born; writing workshop with Prudy Taylor Board; book signings; panel discussions; writing workshops; one free ‘zine for every teen; one free book for every child.

BROWARD COUNTY LITERARY FEAST
Fort Lauderdale, Fla., March 23-24
954-357-5954
Nineteenth year. Authors: Tasha Alexander, Gigi Anders, Jeffrey Archer, James Brady, Cecil Hayes, Stephen Hunter, Chip Kidd, Jennifer Valoppi. Activities: Novel Day for Students; Night of Literary Feasts; Lit Live! author appearances.

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS/NEW ORLEANS LITERARY FESTIVAL
New Orleans, La., March 26-30
504-581-1144
info@tennesseewilliams.net
Twenty-second year. Authors: Hal Crowther, Dan Menaker, Lee Smith and more. Activities: staged readings and productions of Williams’s work; master classes; celebrity interviews; theater and music events; food and wine tastings; a scholars’ conference; literary and other French Quarter walking tours; Tea with Tennesse; a Stanley and Stella Shout-off.

VIRGINIA FESTIVAL OF THE BOOK
Charlottesville, Va., March 26-30
434-924-6890
vabook@virginia.edu
Fourteenth year. Authors: Taylor Antrim, Jill A. Davis, Homer Hickam, Adriana Trigiani, Jacqueline Winspear, Martha Woodroof. Activities: Walter Mosley will headline a benefit; Mike Farrell will appear in another headline event; Business Breakfast with Eric Abrahamson; authors reception; fifth annual Links Celebration Brunch honoring the African-American literary tradition; high tea with Jan Karon; Crime Wave Mystery Luncheon with David Ignatius.

APRIL

FAY B. KAIGLER INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL
Hattiesburg, Miss., April 2-4
601-266-4228
catharine.bomhold@usm.edu
Forty-first year. Authors: Vicki Cobb, Gerald Hausman, Kimberly Willis Holt, Loris Lesynski, Pat Mora, James Ransome, Will Weaver. Activities: luncheon with Barbara Immroth; author discussion panels; workshops for educators and librarians.

ARKANSAS LITERARY FESTIVAL
Little Rock, Ark., April 4-6
501-663-4321
festival@arkansasliteracy.org
Seventh year. Authors: Tina McElroy Ansa, Ace Atkins, Kevin Brockmeier, Greg Brownderville, Jill Connor Browne, Carolyn Hart, Cecil Murphey, Sara Roahen, Susan Spicer, Rebecca Woolf. Activities: book appraisals by NPR’s “The Book Guys”; author party; children’s breakfast; “celebrity chef events; Pub or Perish open-mike readings by festival authors and local writers.

ALABAMA BOUND FESTIVAL
Birmingham, Ala., April 12
205-226-3610
lwilson@bham.lib.al.us
Tenth year. Authors: TBA. Activities: a day-long series of programs celebrating Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, featuring an appearance by Mary Badham, “Scout” from the 1962 film; preview of the documentary Our Mockingbird; music from the 1930s.

BORDER BOOK FESTIVAL
Mesilla, N. Mex., April 18-20
505-524-1499
bbf@zianet.com
Fourteenth year. Authors: Perla Batalla, Amy Costales, Alex Espinosa, Cristina García, Xavier Garza, Adalucía Quan, Quincy Troupe, Don Usner. Activities: panels; workshops; al fresco readings and music; a children’s storytelling tent; the 3rd annual Children’s Book and Pet Parade.

SOUTHERN KENTUCKY BOOK FEST
Bowling Green, Ky., April 19
270-745-5016
jayne.pelaski@wku.edu
Tenth year. Authors: Mitch Albom, Marc Brown, Harlan Coben, Kathleen Ernst, Gwynne Forster, Con Lehane, Vickie Stringer, Lizabeth Zindel. Activities: TBA.

NORTHERN ARIZONA BOOK FESTIVAL
Flagstaff, Ariz., April 25-26
928-380-8682
rbyrkit@nazbookfestival.org
Eleventh year. Authors: Sean Carswell, Lois Roma-Deeley, Jill Divine, Greg Pape, Tim Seibles, Miles Waggener. Activities: TBA.

LOS ANGELES TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS
Los Angeles, Calif., April 26-27
800-LATIMES, ext. 7BOOK
Thirteenth year. Authors: more than 450, TBA. Activities: author/panel discussions; children’s programming; poetry readings; cooking demonstrations; music; the 28th annual Los Angeles Times Book Prizes with master of ceremonies Gay Talese. Expected attendance: 140,000.

CHILDREN’S BOOKFEST
Fort Lauderdale, Fla., April 28
954-357-7406
Second year. Authors/performers: Diane Ferlatte, Ella Jenkins, Jaime Riascos, Antonio Sacre, Dovie Thomason. Activities: quality children’s performances; free arts and crafts; special storybook character appearances; free face painting; free books to the first 600 children; costumed character Geddy the Gecko; Puppets to Go; Moonlight Tales: Storytelling Under the Stars.

MAY

BOOKS IN BLOOM
Eureka Springs, Ark., May 4
870-423-5300
elderwind@carrollmadisonpubliclibraries.org
Fourth year. Authors: TBA. Activities: author talks, readings and signings, children’s activities, book sales, homemade refreshments.

ANN ARBOR BOOK FESTIVAL
Ann Arbor, Mich., May 15-18
734-662-7407
aabf@aabookfestival.org
Fifth year. Authors: TBA. Activities: literacy symposium; author reception; writer’s conference; book signings; panel discussions; children’s activities; music; workshops.

JUNE

CHICAGO TRIBUNE PRINTERS ROW BOOK FAIR
Chicago, Ill., June 7-8
312-527-8280
bookfair@tribune.com
Twenty-fourth year. Authors: TBA. Activities: more than 100 programs including author readings; panel discussions; cooking demonstrations; Chicago Tribune Children’s Alley; new, used and antiquarian booksellers. Last year’s attendance: 100,000.

NEW YORK BOOK FESTIVAL
New York, N.Y., June 27-28
323-665-8080
NewYorkBookFest@aol.com
Second year. Authors: Michelle Ferguson-Cohen, Nina Malkin, Riley Weston. Activities: book signings; vendors; panel discussions; face-painting; clowns; balloon animals; live music stage; food. Expected attendance: 25,000.

JULY

HOLLYWOOD BOOK FESTIVAL
Hollywood, Calif., July 11-12
323-665-8080
HollywoodBkFest@aol.com
Third year. Authors: Will Clarke, Michele Dominguez Greene, Jerry Heller, Adam Parfrey. Activities: book signings; vendors; panel discussions; face-painting; clowns; balloon animals; live music stage; food. Expected attendance: 50,000.

AUTHOR! AUTHOR! SHREVEPORT’S CELEBRATION OF THE WRITTEN WORD
Shreveport, La., July 18-19
llaird@authorauthorshreveport.com
First year. Authors: Jennifer Baumgardner, Danny Brown, Toni McGee Causey, Shelia Goss, Carolyn Jourdan, Deborah LeBlanc, Carmen Lee, Jewel P. Rhodes, Amy Richards. Activities: separate children’s area with special activities and a brown bag fairy lunch; author panels; keynote speakers; author meet & greet for autographs; fais do-do (Cajun literary ball).

HARLEM BOOK FAIR
New York, N.Y., July 19
212-348-1681
hbf@qbr.com
Tenth year. Authors: TBA: Activities: panel discussions; outdoor stage; Young Reader’s Pavilion; Wheatley Book Awards; BBQ Jazz & Author Lunch; Author Brunch; The HBF Antique Books Roadshow.

In September, I attended a few sessions of the Fall for the Book Festival in Fairfax, Virginia. I had heard about the event for the past few years and was extremely excited to finally be able to attend some of the sessions during the week-long event.

However, I now doubt whether I will attend again. The session I was able to attend was informative in both the subject matter and the publishing success. But I tried to attend more events than I succeeded in. With a schedule that had been printed earlier that morning, I dutifully entered Old Town Hall at a few minutes before the scheduled beginning of the session only to find out that the session’s time had been changed and the talk was just ending. With this having been the last session I could attend for the day, I left with a distaste of the festival.

Even so, the event that was successful (only because I had arrived at the location a half an hour early), included four Civil War authors who discussed the facet of the war and its focus on local history. Many of the authors discussed how they became interested in the subject matter as well as their research process.

Chuck Mauro focused his research on the portions of the Civil War that occurred in Fairfax City, allowing him to point out locals throughout his presentation. “When you’re writing about history, you’re really writing about what you would like to know,” Mauro said. “You’re satisfying your own curiosity.”

Ed Trexler studied local families and discussed the parade through Old Town Fairfax with President Jefferson Davis and 30,000 troops, which Trexler says was one of the largest Davis Parades.

Karla Vernon developed an interest in history through one of her children’s school projects. From that, she began studying the life of a particular character who sparked her interest. Dressed in Civil War attire, Vernon spoke of the timeline she was able to compile through various letters and other historical documents.

Don Hakenson, a local historical tour guide, grew up in Fairfax City. He remembered his third grade teacher reading stories each day about Virginian, and he looked forward to these times. He began to take mental notes of events in each story. “I did it for me. I did it for selfish reasons,” Hakenson said of why he wrote and self-published his books. “I sold every one of those books and it was the best decision I ever made. There are a lot of places where people lost their lives and that should not be forgotten.”

With a turnout of more than 20 people, this session was interesting and inspirational. I would have enjoyed attending more festival events. Maybe I will give them another try next year….