High season for book fairs and festivals: Midsummer's Harlem Book Fair highlights a year-round calendar of events.EVERY YEAR, THOUSANDS OF BOOKLOVERS GATHER AT FESTIVALS around the country to hear their favorite authors, buy more books and celebrate the solitary act of reading in a communal atmosphere. Those local and regional festivals, spaced throughout the year, are as quirky as the people who flock to them. Some cater to readers and would be authors, complete with writers' workshops, while others offer musical accompaniment for the literary exchange. There are festivals that honor African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. writers, Southern authors and children's literature. Festivals bring together mystery lovers and romance fans, fantasy readers and magical realists--the perfect place to find new favorite authors in all those disparate genres. Although authors of color may not be represented at every festival, a handful focuses specifically on writers from the African Diaspora. The Harlem Book Fair, for instance, celebrates its sixth anniversary this year. The festival, highlighting authors of African descent, runs July 20 through 25, on West 135th Street (between Fifth Avenue and Adam Clayton Powell Adam Clayton Powell can refer to:
New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . Visitors can find storytellers, authors, spoken-word poets and music. Folks who have attended in the past have had a chance to meet or hear bell hooks, Sonia Sanchez, Sheree R. Thomas and Omar Tyree. For more information on this year's festival, check the Web site at http:llwww.qbr.com/hbf2004/hbf04mainpage.htm. Other African American-themed events that are not full-fledged book festivals often have a literary component. The annual Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American folklorist and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance, best known for the 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Festival of the Arts
The Festival of the Arts, or simply Festival is a three day arts festival in Grand Rapids held on the first Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of June. and Humanities in Eatonville, Florida, is an example. It is not a summer event, but one traditionally held in the last weekend on January. As a celebration of the life and work of Hurston, a literary element is an important part of the event each year in her hometown. The festival now includes the Words and Voices Book Fair, with author events and discussions with national and local authors. Many of the authors involved have written biographies or histories about African Americans and African American culture African American culture or Black culture, in the United States, includes the various cultural traditions of African American communities. It is both part of, and distinct from American culture. The U.S. , a fitting tribute to Hurston's important work as a folklorist. Valerie Boyd, author of Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston (Scribner, January 2002) and Nellie Y. McKay For the singer, see . Nellie Yvonne McKay (born 1930 died January 22, 2006) was an American academic and author who was the Evjue-Bascom Professor of American and African-American Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she also taught in English and women's , editor of The Norton Anthology of African American Literature African American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. The genre traces its origins to the works of such late 18th century writers as Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano, reached early high points with slave narratives , with Henry Louis Jr. Gates (W. W. Norton & Company, January 2004), are two of the authors who spoke at the 2004 festival. The festival Web site is http://www.zoranealehurstonfestival.com. Literate travelers in the South might also consider the Southern Festival of Books in Memphis, October 8-10. It is one of many festivals held throughout the U.S. by state humanities councils. In addition to the typical readings, discussions and signings, the festival includes venues for songwriters, poets and playwrights and a schedule of children's events. Recent years have featured appearances by Stephen L. Cartel Randall Kennedy, Alice Randall and others. Nashville is traditionally the host city, but because of renovation work on its usual site, the event moves to Memphis this fall. It will return to Nashville in 2005. The slate of authors for 2004 was not final when BIBR BIBR Bay Islands Beach Resort (Roatan, Honduras) BIBR Backward Indicator Bit Received went to press, but it will be posted to the festival Web site by summer: http://www.tn-humanities.org/sfbmain.htm. The largest festivals have the budget to attract the upper strata of the literary world, including Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, who opened the Miami Book Fair International in 2003. The Miami festival will celebrate its 21st anniversary November 7-14, 2004. The festival has also featured other prominent African American authors, including Edward P. Jones Edward P. Jones is an African American author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Born in 1951, he was raised in Washington, D.C. and educated at both the College of the Holy Cross and the University of Virginia. , Walter Mosley and Colson Whitehead. Miami's role as one of the nation's gateway cities is reflected in the festival programming, which featured a number of authors of Caribbean descent, including Austin Clarke, Edwidge Danticat, Caryl Phillips and Nalo Hopkinson in 2003. The festival, held at Miami Dade College's Wolfson campus in downtown Miami, attracts 500,000 booklovers each year. Its Ibero--American Authors Program offers a full program in Spanish. Details on the festival are at the Web site http://www.miamibookfair.com/. The Baltimore Book Festival goes beyond books to incorporate music and theatre in the three day event. Baltimore's festival will take place September 17-19, 2004, in historic Mount Vernon Place. African American authors read and discuss their works on the Ripe Harvest Foundation Stage. In the Creativity Cafe the festival presents short story readings, poetry slams and writing workshops. Bands playing jazz, reggae and soul keep things moving, while the Baltimore Theatre Alliance produces dramatic and comic presentations throughout the weekend. Past festivals have included appearances by Lolita Files, Monique Greenwood, Victoria Christopher Murray and Tracy Price-Thompson. Log on to the Web site at http://www.bop.org/calendar/events/book_index.html. On the West Coast, The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Morning daily newspaper. Established in 1881, it was purchased and incorporated in 1884 by Harrison Gray Otis (1837–1917) under The Times-Mirror Co. (the hyphen was later dropped from the name). presents its Festival of Books on the last weekend in April at University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). at Los Angeles. The festival will mark its 10th anniversary in 2005 and includes author panels, as well as bands, storytellers, authors and poetry slammers on stage. A highlight is the 25th annual presentation of The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes on Saturday evening. Authors who have appeared at the event in previous years include Tina McElroy Ansa, Eric Jerome Dickey Eric Jerome Dickey (born July 7, 1961) is a best-selling American author best known for his novels about contemporary African-American life. Biography Eric Jerome Dickey was born in Memphis, Tennessee and attended the University of Memphis, where he earned a degree in , Tavis Smiley, Rebecca Walker and Paula L. Woods. More information on the festival can be found on the Web at http://www.latimes.com/extras/festivalofbooks/. Finding a Festival Near You The Center for the Book at the Library of Congress Web site, http://www.loc.gov/loc/ctbook/, has a listing of book and storytelling festivals around the nation. Here area few of the more prominent regional festivals not covered not covered Health care adjective Referring to a procedure, test or other health service to which a policy holder or insurance beneficiary is not entitled under the terms of the policy or payment system–eg, Medicare. Cf Covered. in the main story. Contact the arts and/or humanities council in your area to find out about local book fairs closer to home. Fall for the Book Fairfax, VA September 18-23, 2004 http://www.fallforthebook.org/ National Book Festival Washington, D.C. October 9, 2004 http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/ New York Is Book Country New York City October 1-3, 2004 http://www.nyisbookcountry.com/ St. Petersburg Times
The St. Petersburg Times is a daily newspaper based in St. Petersburg, Florida, that serves the larger Tampa Bay area. Festival of Reading St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg (often shortened to St. Pete) is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The city is known as a vacation destination for North American and European vacationers, as well as a politically important battleground in U.S. Presidential politics. November 6-7, 2004 http://www.festivalofreading.com South Carolina Book Festival Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the state capital and largest city of South Carolina. As of 2006, estimates for the population of the city proper is 122,819[1]. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a small portion of the city extends into Lexington County. Annually on the last weekend in February http://www.schumanities.org/bookfestival.htm (Black Issues Book Review has exhibited annually at several book fairs, including Harlem, Baltimore, Los Angeles and New York Is Book Country.) Bernadette Adams Davis is a freelance writer and playwright in Orlando, Florida. |
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