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Pop culture, history, architecture and comics and are some of the themes being explored in the sixth annual Vegas Valley Book Festival planned for Friday and Saturday, November 2 and 3, in the heart of downtown Las Vegas.
Sponsored by the city of Las Vegas Office of Cultural Affairs and Nevada Humanities, this free two day event includes a full schedule of readings, book signings, art exhibitions, panel discussions, children’s programs, writing workshops and spoken word performances, concluding with a closing keynote address by acclaimed author Sarah Vowell, sponsored by the Las Vegas Review Journal.
More than 40 authors, journalists, poets and artists will participate in four main book festival events:
- Two days of sessions, workshops and book signings on November 2 and 3, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the historic El Cortez Hotel. These events are free and open to the public.
- A book festival themed First Friday on November 2, from 6 to 10 p.m. in the downtown Arts District centered around a book festival stage with spoken word performances, music, short readings / book signings by featured authors, used book vendors, a comics arena and special art exhibitions related to the illustrated word.
- The Target Children’s Book Festival November 3 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Lewis Avenue Corridor with a full range of children’s programs, performing arts events, free books, literacy events, children’s authors, book signings, food vendors, costumed characters, balloon artists, arts and crafts, book makers and more.
- “An Evening with Sarah Vowell,” the festival keynote on Saturday, November 3, at 7 p.m. at the Las Vegas Academy/ Las Vegas High School original auditorium followed by a closing reception at 9 p.m. at the Junior League’s Morelli House. These events are free and open to the public.
As the largest literature and reading event in the county, the festival this year will follow a number of tracks in contemporary literature with some sessions oriented to “Vegas centric” topics including Las Vegas Bauhaus, local celebrity culture, homelessness, opportunities and barriers to bilingualism and Las Vegas as a prism into pop culture.
This year’s festival will also see a number of special events including:
- A trio of champion slam poets, Amber Tamblyn, Mike McGee and Derrick Brown joining local poet Dayvid Figler on stage at First Friday.
- A literacy project with Las Vegas Academy students collaborating with acclaimed comics artist Kim Deitch.
- A free midnight architecture tour on Friday Nov 2, at 10 p.m. (after First Friday) on an open air double decker bus hosted by author Chris Nichols and Mary Margaret Stratton. Call 229-5431 to reserve a seat.
- An exhibition on “the art of comics” hosted by the Contemporary Arts Collective as part of First Friday.
This year’s keynote Sarah Vowell has published four bestselling books and is well known for her contributions on KNPR’s This American Life. Vowell’s book “Assassination Vacation” is a hilarious and haunting road trip to tourist sites devoted to murders of past presidents. She is also the author of “The Partly Cloudy Patriot” and “Take the Cannoli,” and “Radio On,” a diary of a year spent listening to American radio. The Boston Globe declares: “Vowell is, at heart, a storyteller. Her gift is one of cosmic inclusion – allowing the natural collision of intellect and personality, rigorous research generational quirks.”
Other featured authors include pop journalist Chuck Klosterman, cartoonist Kim Deitch, mid-century architectural historian Alan Hess, travel writer Tom Miller, journalist and preservationist Chris Nichols, cultural critic and novelist Norman Klein, local writer and journalist Matthew O’Brien, sociologist and author Kurt Borchard, RJ columnist and author Norm Clarke, author and restaurant critic Heidi Knapp Rinella, author and entertainment columnist Mike Weatherford and author and journalist Geoff Schumacher.
For more information including a complete list of author sessions, visit www.vegasvalleybookfest.org or call 229-5431.
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