Recently authors took a spin around a book festival; gave a keynote address highlighting queer literature; and held a book launch event.
Riding in Style
The Wordplay Literary Festival took place at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis on July 8. The festival featured a panel inspired by the picture book Where We Come From (Carolrhoda). Three of the book’s co-authors took a ride via golf cart to their tent. (Clockwise, from top l.): Sun Yung Shin, Shannon Gibney’s daughter Marwein Corvah, Shannon Gibney, and John Coy enjoy a ride around the festival.
The ‘Big Gay’ Read
On June 20, the Ann Arbor, Mich., District Library partnered with local bookstore Booksweet for the Big Gay Read, centered around themes in National Book Award-winning author Malinda Lo’s (r.) Last Night at the Telegraph Club (Dutton), which was the event’s official book selection. The festivities included drag king performances, a staff discussion, and a keynote from Lo. Here Lo and Booksweet co-owner Truly Render show Lo’s YA novels A Scatter of Light and Last Night at the Telegraph Club.
Surf’s Up
Sally J. Pla celebrated the launch of her middle grade book The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn (Quill Tree) with an event at Warwick’s bookstore in La Jolla, Calif., on July 11. Pla (front row center, in black) held a conversation and signed copies of her book. The novel follows neurodivergent tween Maudie as she spends the summer surfing at the beach with her father while trying to keep a harrowing secret.
