Kerrytown BookFest

Started in 2003, the Kerrytown BookFest is an event celebrating those who create books and those who read them. The primary goal is to highlight the area’s rich heritage in the book and printing arts while showcasing local and regional individuals, businesses, and organizations. Since 2003 we have been growing, sharing, and discovering more and more about the rich book culture in our region.

The BookFest features authors, storytellers, publishers bookbinders, book artists, book illustrators, poets, letterpress printers, wood engravers, calligraphers, papermakers, librarians, teachers, publishers, new, used, and antiquarian booksellers and many others associated with books and their diverse forms, structure, and content.

More information at kerrytownbookfest.org

This year’s  theme  is “Travels with Books”.

A special feature this year is our third annual Writer in Residence, R.J. Fox.  This teacher and author will critique manuscripts submitted ahead of time the day of the festival.  Contact Hart Johnson,  hartjohnson23@gmail.com, to reserve a slot.

Main Tent

10:30 – 11 a.m. 9th Annual Community Book Award Presentation to Washtenaw Literacy. Director Amy Goodman will accept the award, presented by board member Dallas Moore. Free coffee and donuts will be served in the Main Tent to help celebrate Washtenaw Literacy and kick off the day.

11:00 a.m.- Noon Under the Radar Michigan’s Tom Daldin talks about Michigan’s undiscovered gems.

12:15 – 1:15 p.m. The Quest for Identity Writers Desiree Cooper (Know the Mother), Kelly Fordon (Garden of the Blind), and Andrew Mozina (Contrary Motion) discuss their work with moderator and author Donald Lystra(Something That Feels Like Truth).

1:30 – 2:30 p.m. A Mysterious Sense of Place Mystery writers William Kent Krueger (Manitou Canyon), Hank Phillippi Ryan (What You See) andPatricia Abbott (Shot in Detroit) discuss the sense of place in their novels with author and moderator Carrie Smith (Silent City).

2:45 – 3:45 p.m. Travel through Time with author B.A. Shapiro, who discusses her novels The Art Forger and The Muralist with art historianEllen Longsworth.

4 p.m. Travel North with John Smolens as he discusses his writing and his latest novel Wolf’s Mouth with writer and moderator Benjamin Busch (Dust to Dust).

Kerrytown Concert House

11:00 a.m. – Noon Writing for Hire Join writers Casey Daniels (Irish Stewed) and Vicky Delany (Reading up a Storm), as they discuss the many ways to make a living writing. Both of them have written books “for hire” from TV adaptations to cozy mysteries to flashcards to Goosebumpsinstallments. They’ll discuss the state of publishing today with writer and moderator Barbara Gregorich (Guide to Writing the Mystery Novel: Lots of Examples, Plus Dead Bodies).

12:15 – 1:15 p.m. Stride’s Duluth Thriller writer Brian Freeman illustrates with photos taken on photo safari in Duluth, Minnesota, how he uses the setting to inform his Jonathan Stride novels. He’ll read a passage from one of them to show how his setting influences his writing.

1:30 – 2:30 p.m. Eating Wildly with Ava Chin, who discusses her book on urban foraging with bookseller and moderator Rachel Pastiva, the manager of Crazy Wisdom.

2:45 – 3:45 p.m. Travel the Lakes with Loreen Niewenhuis, who has walked around the entire Great Lakes. She’ll be interviewed by authorMaureen Dunphy (Great Lakes Island Escapes).

4 p.m. The ABCs of Washtenaw Literacy, an informative tour of the agency’s highly effective programs including a video and a presentation from learners.

Children’s Tent

11-11:45 a.m. the beloved Mother Goose shares nursery rhymes with the littlest BookFest visitors

11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Shanda Trent reads her new book Giddy-Up, Buckaroos

12:15 – 1 p.m. Writer Kristen Remenar and illustrator Matt Faulkner read their latest collaboration Groundhog’s Dilemma

1 – 1:45 p.m. author Kelly DiPuccio shares How to Potty Train Your Dragon

2 – 3;30 p.m. Storytellers Laura Pershin Raynor and Kayla Coughlinentertain listeners of all ages & share a craft.

3:30 – 5 p.m. writer & illustrator Ruth McNally Barshaw (Ellie McDoodle)leads a drawing workshop – “How to make a Lion from a 5″

Writer in Residence R.J. Fox, ongoing through the day.  Mr. Fox will critique the first twenty pages of your manuscript. For information and to reserve a slot, contact Hart Johnson at hartjohnson23@gmail.com.

The Edible Book Contest is open to anyone; entries can be dropped off beginning at 9:30 a.m. the day of the bookfest. More details to come.