More than 150 authors and illustrators are expected to be in attendance for the Southern Kentucky Book Fest weekend of April 22-23, including New York Times bestselling authors J.A. Jance, Garth Stein, and Jay Asher, well-known for his young adult novel Thirteen Reasons Why.
“We are incredibly excited to be able to host this line-up of quality authors and illustrators this year,” said Sara Volpi, Literary Outreach Coordinator for WKU Libraries and Book Fest organizer. “There are authors for audiences of all ages and reading levels, and the event is free and open to the public.”
Held at the Knicely Conference Center, SOKY Book Fest weekend is full of author presentations, panel discussions, and book signings as well as the Kentucky Writers Conference featuring writing workshops on Friday, April 22 presented by several authors who will be at the main event on Saturday. Friday also includes Children’s Day, with hundreds of school-aged children and teens visiting presentations and getting books signed by favorite and newly discovered authors. Our Teen Writers Conference, now in its second year, is geared toward youth in grades 9 through 12, and each session is taught by a SOKY Book Fest author. For more information or to register, go to sokybookfest.org and click on Children’s Day/Teen Writers Conference under the Events tab.
Michael Morris, V.E. Schwab, and Michael Hingson are a few well-known authors who will be on hand at SOKY Book Fest. Bestselling picture book author Adam Rex, whose book The True Meaning of Smekday was adapted into the Dreamworks film Home, will be attending both days along with illustrator Lauren Castillo, whose latest work, Twenty Yawns, was written along with Pulitzer Prize winning author Jane Smiley.
SOKY Book Fest is a partnership of Barnes and Noble Booksellers, Warren County Public Library, and WKU Libraries. For more information, visit the website at sokybookfest.org or contact Book Fest organizer Sara Volpi at WKU Libraries at (270) 745-4502.