Attracting tens of thousands of readers each year, book festivals celebrate love of the written word with family activities and a mix of favorite authors and writers about to be discovered. Ranging in age from the venerable Los Angeles Times Festival of Books to the newbie Ann Arbor Book Festival, each of the 14 events scheduled between March and May has something special to offer book lovers. Complete schedules of activities and attending authors can be found at each festival's Web site.
ILLINOIS AUTHORS BOOK FAIR
Springfield, March 4—5
www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/library/whats_new/2005bookfair.html
(217) 558-2065
Ninth year. Authors: Taylor Bell, Fern Shumer Chapman, Dan Guillory, Dave Hoekstra, Alex Kotlowitz, Richard Lindberg, Sue Shanahan. Activities: book signings; workshops; panel discussions and readings; storytelling performances by Linda Gorham; children's activities; an on-site bookstore offering books by participating authors; appraisals of rare books by Tom Joyce of HGTV's The Appraisal Fair. Expected attendance: 4,000.
PLANO BOOK FESTIVAL FOR ADULT LITERACY
Plano, Tex., March 6
www.mattfrick.com/ftpsub/pbf/index.html
(972) 633-9603
Fourth year. Authors: Jim H. Ainsworth, Linda Bingham, Lillian Stewart Carl, Steve Copling, Cindy Daniels, Forrest Haskell, Laurie Moore, Bee Pederson, Marc Pittman, Frank Schaeffer, Jim Wilson. Activities: author readings and signings; panel discussions; book sales; storytelling, exhibits and children's events; authors' party featuring a publishing panel.
VIRGINIA FESTIVAL OF THE BOOK
Charlottesville, March 16—20
www.vabook.org
(434) 924-6890
Eleventh year. Authors: Joel Achenbach, David Baldacci, Bob Edwards, Linda Fairstein, Cathy Hankla, Rupert Holmes, Elinor Lipman, Sharyn McCrumb, Jon Meacham, E. Ethelbert Miller, Esmeralda Santiago, Alexander McCall Smith, Valerie Tripp. Activities: readings, panels and discussions with authors, illustrators and publishing professionals; Crime Wave luncheon; a conference celebrating Walt Whitman; StoryFest youth program; authors reception.
LEE COUNTY READING FESTIVAL
Ft. Myers, Fla., March 19
www.lee-county.com/library/ReadingFestival2005.htm
(239) 479-4636
Fifth year. Authors: Valerie Boyd, Sandra Brown, Enrique Cordoba, Jeffery Deaver, Janet Evanovich, Cassandra King, Christine Kling, Mary Logue, Joseph Pacheco, Michael Palmer, Maria Rado, Carlene A. Thissen, Trisha R. Thomas. Activities: book signings; panel discussions; writing workshop; roving storybook characters; storytelling; Internet-access computers; video gaming; teens' area with manga; free book for every child; free zine for every teen; and Science Fiction & Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Ben Bova.
BROWARD COUNTY LITERARY FEAST
Fort Lauderdale, Fla., March 19—20
www.broward.org/library/
(954) 357-5954
Seventeenth year. Authors: Mary Kay Andrews, Chris Bohjalian, Tim Dorsey, Jilliane Hoffman, Stephanie Kallos, John Searles, Mimi Sheraton, Jacqueline Winspear. Activities: Novel Day for Students; Night of Literary Feasts; and Day of Literary Lectures.
THE TENNESSEE WILLIAMS/NEW ORLEANS LITERARY FESTIVAL
New Orleans, March 30—April 5
www.tennesseewilliams.net
(504) 581-1144
Nineteenth year. Authors: Steve Berry, Poppy Z. Brite, Kaye Gibbons, Gavin Lambert, Laura Lippman, Sara Moulton, Cokie & Steve Roberts, David Simon. Activities: literary walking tours; literary panel discussions and master classes by leading authors, agents and editors; theatrical performances; music; and food events.
MUCH ADO ABOUT BOOKS
Jacksonville, Fla. April 1—2
www.muchadoaboutbooks.com/home.cfm
(904) 630-1703
Eleventh year. Authors: S.V. Dáte, Tim Dorsey, Darlene Eaton, Mary Anna Evans, Mike Freeman, Claire Matturro, Bob Morris, Sallie Ann Robinson, Jessica Speart. Activities: readings, presentations and talks in public schools, libraries and bookstores; keynote luncheon speaker Pat Conroy; expanded teens' and children's programming; festival's first poetry slam for teens.
ALABAMA BOUND: A BOOK AND AUTHOR FAIR
Birmingham, Ala. April 2
www.alabamabound.org/
(205) 226-3610
Seventh year. Authors: Tony Bolden, Vonetta Flowers, Faye Gibbons, Vanessa Davis Griggs, Jo Kittinger, Margo Manning, Debby Nakos, Han Nolan, Elizabeth Schafer, Billie Jean Young. Activities: Book signings and readings celebrating Alabama authors and their publishers.
ARIZONA BOOK FESTIVAL
Phoenix, April 2
www.azbookfestival.org/index.html
(602) 257-0335
Eighth year. Authors: Andrew Clements, Brad Dimock, Lisa Michaels, Linda Lael Miller, Pat Mora, Luis Urrea. Activities: stage presentations, panels and multicultural programs; rare and antique book appraisals; cookbook demos; children's activities and costumed characters.
SOUTHERN KENTUCKY FESTIVAL OF BOOKS
Bowling Green, April 15—16
www.sokybookfest.org
(270) 745-5016
Seventh year. Authors: Lorenzo Carcaterra, Sharon Creech, Sue Grafton, Lynn Hightower, Gregory McDonald, Teresa Medeiros, Jacquelyn Mitchard, Robert Morgan, Brewster Milton Robertson, Ann B. Ross, Camika Spencer, Lisa Tucker, Karen S. Zacharias. Activities: a children's day featuring author appearances, dramatic and musical performances, and a "make and do" room; for adults, book signings featuring nearly 200 authors.
BORDER BOOK FESTIVAL
Mesilla, N.Mex., April 15—17
www.borderbookfestival.org/
(505) 524-1499
Eleventh year. Authors: Sherwin Bitsui, Hector Carrillo, Denise Chávez, Joy Harjo, Benjamin Alire Sáenz. Activities: readings; workshops; Children's Storytelling festival; readings in French, English, Spanish and Native American languages; and Native foods celebration with music from the Americas.
NORTHERN ARIZONA BOOK FESTIVAL
Flagstaff, April 15—17
www.nazbookfestival.org/
(928) 774-9118
Eighth year. Authors: Jimmy Santiago Baca, Charles Baxter, Diana Gabaldon, Juan Felipe Herrera, Annie Proulx, Ron Querry, Tom Miller, Jim Simmerman, Miles Swarthout. Activities: held at a variety of historical and cultural locations in the city, events include readings, workshops, panel discussions and a musical "literary jam."
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS
Los Angeles, April 23—24
www.latimes.com/extras/festivalofbooks/
(800) LATIMES, ext. 7BOOK
Twenty-fifth year. Authors: Madeleine Albright, Ray Bradbury, Mary Higgins Clark, Eoin Colfer, John W. Dean, Jared Diamond, Sue Grafton, James McCourt, Alexander McCall Smith, Anne Perry. Activities: panel discussions; poetry readings; cooking demos; book signings; music and stage events; popular children's characters.
ANN ARBOR BOOK FESTIVAL
Ann Arbor, Mich., May 19—25
www.aabookfestival.org
(734) 662-7407
Second year. Authors: Nicholas DelBanco, Loren Estelman, Alexandra Flinn, Judith Guest, Anne Harris, James Tobin, Gloria Whelan. Activities: Literacy Symposium; panel on Michigan History; author reception; author readings and signings; children's activities; poetry readings and slams; Celebrity Spelling Bee.
