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Free Vegas Valley Book Festival Open To All Nov. 4-8

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Parent Category: Non Hotel Press Releases

Category: City Of Las Vegas Press Releases

Enjoy Performances, Exhibitions, Activities, Book Signings, Special Appearances, Workshops

Everyone is invited to the eighth annual Vegas Valley Book Festival, the largest literature event in Las Vegas, Nov. 4-8. Most events will take place at the Historic Fifth Street School, located downtown at 401 S. Fourth St. A celebration of the written, spoken and illustrated word, festival events are free and open to the public. This community festival was founded on the simple premise of bringing together those who write books and those who love to read them. Almost 100 writers, primarily Nevada authors, will participate in this year’s festival. As in previous years, the festival will celebrate contemporary literature, fiction and non-fiction in all genres, with readings, panel discussions, book signings, workshops, poetry and spoken-word performances, exhibitions, children’s literature, comics and special events. The five-day festival will be hosted by the city of Las Vegas, Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, Nevada Humanities and the Las Vegas Review-Journal. For more information, call 229-5431 or go online to www.artslasvegas.org/vvbf/.

The book festival’s poetry night takes center stage at First Friday in the Arts District on Friday, Nov. 6, at 6 p.m. at the book festival stage located at Colorado Street and Casino Center Boulevard. Dayvid Figler and Mayor Oscar B. Goodman will open the evening’s “Sin City Sonneteer Spectacle” with original haiku poems. Then climb on board the Tanka Trolley with hosts Claudia Keelan and Jarret Keene as they lead an eclectic cadre of bards, spoken-word artists and performance poets, including Donald Revell and Elizabeth Quiñones, into the Downtown Arts District. “The Sin City Sonneteer Spectacle” will be a literary pageant on wheels, with stops at select art galleries and bars downtown. Listen to and observe the finest word warriors in Vegas as they share their celebrated verse with the masses.

Schedule of Festival Events and Highlights

(at the Historic Fifth Street School, unless otherwise noted)

Wednesday, Nov. 4, 7 p.m.
“The Art of Presentation”
Auditorium
Aaron Betsky, director of the Cincinnati Art Museum, Venice Biennale Architecture director 2008, journalist and author of a dozen books on architecture and the built environment, will take a critical and illuminating look at some of the extraordinary new museums and performing arts centers being built around the world. Co-presented by the KLAI JUBA Lecture Series, the UNLV School of Architecture Downtown Design Center, the American Institute of Architects and the city of Las Vegas.

Thursday, Nov. 5, 7 p.m.
Opening Keynote Speech
Auditorium
Kay Ryan, the Poet Laureate of the United States known for her compact poems that revel in wordplay and internal rhymes, is making her first appearance in Las Vegas. Cosponsored by the city of Las Vegas, Black Mountain Institute and Nevada Humanities.

Friday, Nov. 6, 6 to 10 p.m.
“The Sin City Sonneteer Spectacle”
Various locations in the Arts District
A literary pageant on wheels, with stops at select art galleries and bars downtown. Listen to and observe the finest word warriors in Vegas as they share their celebrated verse with the masses.
6 p.m. Kickoff with Mayor Oscar B. Goodman & Dayvid Figler, Book Festival Stage, corner of Colorado Street and Casino Center Boulevard.
6:30 p.m. Jarret Keene, Clark County Government Center, 500 S. Grand Central Pkwy.
7 p.m. Donald Revell, Atomic Todd Gallery, 1221 Main St.
7:30 p.m. Claudia Keelan, The Fallout Gallery, 1551 S. Commerce St.
8 p.m. Elizabeth Quiñones, Caxculthi Gallery, 1406 S. 3rd St.
8:30 p.m. Keith Brantley, Contemporary Arts Center, 101 E. Charleston Blvd.
9 p.m. Jeff Grindley, Tiffany’s, 1700 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
9:30 p.m. Josh Kryah, Dino’s, 1516 Las Vegas Blvd. S.

Saturday, Nov. 7, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Target Children’s Book Festival
Centennial Plaza
Free and open to the public.
Free books, costumed characters, exhibitions, hands-on activities, staged readings, theatrical performances, storytellers, informational booths, local authors, book signings and other special events of the day. Call 229-3515 for more information.

Saturday, Nov. 7, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Local Authors’ Fair
Frank Wright Fountain Courtyard
Fifty local authors exhibit, sign and sell their own published works — with short readings at the podium.

Saturday, Nov. 7, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Plaza Used Book Fair
Some of the valley’s best used booksellers set up shop in the plaza.

Saturday, Nov. 7

10 a.m.
“Four Paths to Children’s Literature”
Auditorium
Ellen Hopkins hosts a panel of children’s authors including Sharleen Collicott, Daria Snadowsky and Kristin Venuti.

11:15 a.m.
“Readers Choice” - Las Vegas Book Clubs Select
In a new program this year calling for local book clubs to recommend their favorite authors, Indu Sundaresan, Vicki Pettersson and Margaret Coel have been invited to the festival and will read from their works and talk about their lives as writers.

11:30 a.m.
“Illustrating Children’s Books” Workshop
Recital Hall of the Nevada School of the Arts, Historic Fifth Street School
Presented by Ellen Hopkins with the local chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers
and Illustrators.

12:30 p.m.
“Sudden Orpheus”
Auditorium
An experimental theater piece with poetry and puppets presented as a collaboration between puppeteer Ariel Goldberger and poet Leonard Schwartz with themes that are drawn from the Orpheus myth, the sculptures of Giacommetti and Schwartz’s poem, “The Sudden.”

1 p.m.
Urban Fantasy Workshop
Recital Hall of the Nevada School of the Arts, Historic Fifth Street School
For writers, with author Vicki Pettersson.

1:45 p.m.
Poetry in the Courtyard
Frank Wright Fountain Courtyard
Readings by local poets, coordinated by Claudia Keelan and Donald Revell.

1:45 p.m.
“Working with Literary Journals”
Auditorium
Richard Logsdon, Tina Eliopulos, Lee Barnes and Todd Moffitt, founders of the Red Rock Review, reading their own works and discussing issues related to publishing in literary journals.

3 p.m.
“City of Second Chances”
Auditorium
Cheryll Glotfelty, editor of Literary Nevada (UNR Press), reading the work of Susan Berman, will be joined by local authors Douglas Unger and John L. Smith in a lively Vegas-centric reading and discussion.

Saturday, Nov. 7
4 p.m.
“Las Vegas Writes: The Final Chapter of Restless City”
Auditorium
The seventh and final chapter of the serialized collaborative novel will be read by author Vu Tran. Contributing authors include Lee Barnes, John Irsfeld, Brian Rouff, Leah Bailly, John L. Smith, Constance Ford and Vu Tran. Edited by Geoff Schumacher. A book signing follows.

Saturday, Nov. 7, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival
Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road
The Comic Book Festival returns! This all-day event is hosted by the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District. Presenting some of the top names in the industry, including Cecil Castellucci, Matt Wagner, Deryl Skelton, Chris Staros, Michael Uslan and others. Panel discussions on the hour, films, workshops, book vendors, book signings, marketplace and other special events. Coordinated by Suzanne Scott.

Saturday, Nov. 7, 7 p.m.
An Evening with John L. Smith
“Amelia’s Long Journey: The Challenge of Writing What You Know”
Clark County Library Theater, 1401 E. Flamingo Road

Sunday, Nov. 8

Sessions & Readings

10 a.m.
“Education in the Neon Shadow”
Auditorium
Jami Carpenter, editor and educator, leads a discussion with panelists Kay Carl, Julie Newberry and Rick Watson, on the history of the Clark County School District, in celebration of its 50^th anniversary. The panelists will share memories of a school system in continual growth and change and the unique challenges that have confronted one of the largest school districts in America, contemplating, too, the future of education in the “neon shadow.”

11:15 p.m.
“Great Characters from Las Vegas History”
Auditorium
Geoff Schumacher, journalist and author; Michael Green, historian; Lorraine Hunt, performer and former lieutenant governor, and Jack Sheehan, author and humorist, in conversation about the iconic figures who shaped the history of Las Vegas and propelled it into the public imagination.

Sunday, Nov. 8, 7 p.m.
Closing Keynote Speech
Clark County Library Theater, 1401 E. Flamingo Road
E.L. Doctorow, one of America's most accomplished and acclaimed novelists of the second half of the 20^th century, closes the festival. Presented by Black Mountain Institute, Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, Nevada Humanities and the city of Las Vegas.

Other Vegas Valley Book Festival 2009 Highlights

Vegas Valley Book Fair Festival Exhibitions
“In Celebration of the Illustrated Word”
Six visual arts exhibitions celebrate language, text, words and the book as an object.

• • • “A Passion for Cookbooks: A Culinary and Cultural Tour from the Private Collection of Pamela Grogan, 1930s – 1960s.” Nov. 4-8, Historic Fifth Street School Auditorium. Open during festival hours. An exhibition featuring 50 American cookbooks though the decades - celebrating culinary achievement, book design, popular lifestyles and changing tastes.
    • “50 Books/50 Covers”
      The American Institute of Graphic Arts brings an exhibit of the 50 best-designed book covers in America in 2008 to the Historic Fifth Street School Auditorium Nov. 4-8. Open during festival hours. The exhibit is the result of an annual national competition recognizing outstanding design, concept, innovation and visual elements such as typography, illustration and information.
    • “Inscribed/Messages”

    A juried exhibition of works by 13 local artists, inspired by books and language, through Nov. 20, at the Clark County Government Center Rotunda Gallery, 500 S. Grand Central Pkwy. Curated by Catherine Borg. Opening reception Friday, Nov. 6, at 6 p.m.

    • “Drunk” An exhibit of original drawings produced by 26 local and national comic artists on the theme of bar stories. At the Atomic Todd Gallery, 1221 S. Main St., through Nov. 30. Produced as a hardcover book that will be released as part of the book festival. For more information, visit online at www.vegasdrunk.com.
    • “The Legends Behind Comic Books”
      An exhibit through Jan. 5, 2010, at the Sahara West Library Gallery, 9600 W. Sahara Ave., featuring the original drawings and comic strips from the collection of Michael Uslan, writer, producer and originator of the “Batman” movie series. Also features limited edition prints from the Marvel Comics archives. Coordinated by Denise Aileen Alvarado in collaboration with Every Picture Tells A Story Gallery and the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District. Michael Uslan will appear at the Comics Festival.
    • “Altered States: Artists Re-imagine the Book”

    An exhibit of works by artists who use the book as an object of departure to explore a host of social/political/cultural issues, curated by Joseph Shuldiner. Through Jan. 2, 2010, at the Reed Whipple Cultural Center, 821 Las Vegas Blvd. North.

Programming partners for the book festival include UNLV Black Mountain Institute, the UNLV School of Architecture Downtown Design Center, Nevada School of the Arts and the UNLV Creative Writing Department. Sponsors include Target^®, Nevada Arts Council, Barnes & Noble, National Endowment for the Arts, KNPR Nevada Public Radio, CityLife, Stephens Press and the local chapter of AIGA, the professional association for design – the festival’s creative branding partner.

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