jessica wilson
Louisiana has over four hundred festivals a year, including, prominently, a festival for every food you can think of—in this issue alone, we list ones for rice, oysters, sweet dough pies, and at least four different kinds of meat. Food for the mind and soul? We have that too. The fourteenth annual Louisiana Book Festival has everything a book lover (or festival lover) could want: writing workshops, author talks and panels, book signings, books for sale, and—of course—live music and food.
The Book Fest will feature more than 250 authors and panelists discussing their books and more than one hundred programs, including the likes of: local boys made good (M.O. Walsh), former governors (Buddy Roemer), Ernest J. Gaines Award winners (Crystal Wilkinson), rockstars (former Black Flag frontman Keith Morris), and not one but two Poets Laureate: Mississippi’s Beth Ann Fennelly and Louisiana’s Jack Bedell. (If you catch one, you get a wish, but they can only grant poetry-related wishes.) All this, of course, in addition to dozens more assorted authors, wordsmiths, scriveners, booksellers, and fans of the written word, filling venues across the city. Look for a full list of presenters and programs at louisianabookfestival.org.
If just attending isn’t enough, they’re also looking for volunteers, since it takes a small army to keep an event like this running smoothly. Literary helpers are needed to welcome presenters, escort authors, monitor rooms in the State Capitol, man festival information booths, and more. Lend a hand—you might get to rub elbows with one of Louisiana’s literary greats! Get more information and register at louisianabookfestival.org/volunteer.html.
