Sonoma County Book Festival September 20, 2008

The Ninth Annual Sonoma County Book Festival is scheduled for Saturday, September 20, 2008 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Old Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa.

For this special day, the street between the two sides of the square will be closed to vehicles, and both sides will be aglow with the white canopies of more than seventy booths, many showcasing independent booksellers and publishers. Says Justin Higgs, the event’s Director, “It’s all about the delight of reading and writing – like a fashion show for books.” Admission is free and includes readings, panels, and activities for all ages.

The festival offers something for all book lovers, with a broad range of topics and genres represented, including mystery, poetry, children’s, thriller, debut fiction, writers teaching writing, history, travel, memoir, political discourse, teen/young adult, and general nonfiction. The square will also feature over 70 exhibitors, including authors, publishers, and book-related vendors.

Key highlights include famed fiction writer Cristina García, author of Dreaming in Cuban, The Agüero Sisters, and A Handbook to Luck; David Harris, author of the widely acclaimed study of the professional football business, The League. Gaye LeBaron will lead a panel on “Writing Truth: Local History”, and Susan Swartz will head a panel on “Women Writers with Experience.”

Jonah Raskin will lead a panel entitled “The Fame Game: The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Success,” exploring how fame has affected writers like Jack London and Richard Brautigan. Throughout the day, the main stage will feature non-stop poetry readings from 17 poets, including Judy Grahn, Terry Ehret, Julia B. Levine, and Stephen Kessler.

This year’s festival also offers a dynamic line up of speakers presenting up-to-the-moment political analyses. Highlights include Norman Solomon in conversation with Press Democrat Editorial Editor Paul Gullixson discussing Solomon’s new book, War, Media and Presidential Politics: 2008 and Beyond.

Susan Griffin, author of Wrestling with the Angel of Democracy, and Lisa Margonelli, author of Oil on the Brain pair up to talk about the political and social responsibility to our country and the world. Ken Kolsbun, author of Peace: The Biography of a Symbol will add an appropriate dimension to the event.

For kids, the Target Under-18 Tent will feature Megan McDonald, local author of the popular Judy Moody books, as well as other authors and kid-friendly activities. Artistic talent will include Katherine Tillotson, whose illustrative work includes Penguin and Little Blue and When the Library Lights Go Out (both written by Megan McDonald), and cartoonist Thomas Yeates, known for his work on Tarzan, Conan, and other comic books, as well as his own graphic novels. The spacious white tent offers young people the chance to sit or sprawl on the grass on the Square’s east side and listen to a host of readings.

The Art Bus will once again join the Book Festival to help celebrate creativity and the literary arts. This fully equipped mobile art studio will park adjacent to the Target Under-18 Tent.

The Literary Arts Guild produces the Sonoma County Book Festival, now a part of the new downtown Santa Rosa Arts District. Sponsors include Target, The Press Democrat, Arts Council of Sonoma County, City of Santa Rosa, KRCB, Clone Digital Print & Copy, Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, KNOB, KRSH, KXTS, O’Reilly Media, The Sitting Room, and The Sonoma County Library.

For more information, about the Sonoma County Book Festival and this year’s program, see www.socobookfest.org.

Official Website: http://www.socobookfest.org