News & Announcements
Arkansas Literary Festival Offers Free Readings, Book Discussions, Panels and More at Seventh Annual Festival
Thousands of readers and writers will gather in downtown Little Rock for the seventh annual Arkansas Literary Festival on April 8-11 at the Central Arkansas Library System's Main Library and other downtown venues for free readings, book discussions, panels, and more.
Over 85 authors and presenters will present sessions at the Festival, providing a stimulating mix of readings, panels, special events, performances, and workshops. Sessions will include opportunities to meet the authors, book sales, and book signings. Presenters include best-selling and emerging authors and include a mix of international, national, and local authors. Best-selling authors include Christopher Rice, Jonathan Mahler, RM Johnson, Brock Clarke, Christian Lander, Laura Parker Castoro, Deborah LeBlanc, Trenton Lee Stewart, and Gina Wilkins. Marcus Sakey was nominated for a 2010 Thriller Award for his short story The Desert Here and the Desert Far Away, Lucha Corpi is a finalist for best mystery in ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Awards, and Anna Fields' Confessions of a Rebel Debutante was recently chosen as one of the top ten books of the year by the Southern Independent Booksellers.
Many featured Festival books are hot-off-the-press, with at least fifteen published after January 1, and 5 released in March or early April. Five more books will not be in bookstores by the Festival, but will be available at the event.
Special events during the four-day event include a cocktail reception with the authors, A Prized Evening, awarding of the Worthen and Porter Literary Prizes; a gathering of book club groups; and Spoken Word Live!, a poetry contest. Panels and workshops will feature topics such as comics and graphic novels; undead ladies: a confab on vampire, werewolf and zombie lore; the Oxford American Southern food issue; secrets to getting published; navigating the world of electronic books; and literacy for young children. Children's special events will include a storytime on the lawn on the Governor's Mansion, performances of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, Art to Go, and a concert by the Kinders. The complete schedule is available at www.arkansasliteraryfestival.org.
Programming and attendance at the 2009 Festival nearly doubled from the previous year, with nearly 5,500 people attending over 60 sessions. The Festival's mission is to encourage the growth of a more literate populace, and provides interesting entertainment for the entire family, free of charge.
Through the Writers In The Schools (WITS) initiative, the Festival will provide presentations by 14 authors for 16 Pulaski County elementary, middle, and senior high schools and colleges. The WITS initiative is sponsored by Wright, Lindsey, Jennings, in memory of Ike Scott.
Support for the Literary Festival was provided by sponsors including Department of Arkansas Heritage, Friends of Central Arkansas Libraries (FOCAL), Hendrix College, ProSmartPrinting.com, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Historic Arkansas Museum, American PEN Women, AEP Swepco, Christ Church and the Episcopal Diocese, Stonewall Democrats, Henderson State University, The Oxford American, Central High National Historic Site, Power 92 Jams, Arkansas Times, the Clinton School of Public Service, T. T. Tyler Thompson, Arkansas Library Association & the Booker Worthen Literary Prize Committee, the Porter Prize , the Betty Chamberlain Fund-Central Arkansas Library System, Arkansas Governor’s Mansion, the Capital Hotel, James Paul and Jane Beachboard, Buddy Johnson and Elizabeth F. Shores, the Clinton Foundation, Pulaski Technical College, and the Arkansas Humanities Council.
Founded in 2004 as a fundraiser for the Arkansas Literacy Councils, CALS adopted the Festival in 2008. Author! Author!, the cocktail reception with the authors, has a $15 ticket price. All other Festival events are free and open to the public. A group of dedicated volunteers assists Festival coordinator Brad Mooy with planning for the Festival. Gina Kokes is serving as Festival Chair for the 2010 Festival. Other committee chairs include Jay Jennings, Talent Committee Chair; Bettye Kerns & Darcy Pattison, Youth Programs Co-Chairs; Eric Paxton, Logistics Chair; Martha Perry, Finance Chair; Laura Stanley, Festival Guides Chair; and Clif Ford, Hospitality Chair.
For more information about the 2010 Arkansas Literary Festival, visit the Festival's website, www.arkansasliteraryfestival.org, or call 918-3098. For information on volunteering at the Festival, call 918-3095.