Thursday, 4/17/97 A good read The second annual Los Angeles
Times Festival of Books expands its literary offerings to meet a
surprisingly large fan base.
By Kathleen Rhames Daily Bruin Contributor Last year, when the
Los Angeles Times decided to present its first Festival of Books,
it expected an enthusiastic but modest turnout. Seventy-five
thousand people later, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books has
become the largest event of its kind on the West Coast, leaving
lawns trampled and book sales high. This weekend, it returns to
UCLA for two days of outdoor storytelling and book browsing that
proves Los Angeles is a city that is serious about literature.
"It’s almost like something magical happens at this festival," says
program director Claudia Luther. "People are just genuinely happy
to be out on a beautiful day, enjoying the different panels and
events." Featuring 240 authors and 64 discussion panels, the
festival offers a wide range of venues and literary events for both
children and adults. Book lovers can wander among nearly 300 booths
set up according to subject matter and areas of interest while
authors will get the chance to promote their books. Similar to last
year, there will be quite a variety of names to attract
festival-goers. Authors Michael Crichton and Mary Higgins Clark and
talk show host Larry King are just a few. And while the names and
subjects vary, so does the experience and talent. Many authors
bring with them years of professional experience in journalism,
radio and law that add depth to their writing. Two such authors are
Ciji Ware and Jonathan Kirsch. Although a fledgling novelist, Ware
has an Emmy, a Dupont and a Silver Gavel award already to her
credit for her work in television, radio and magazine journalism,
respectively. Her novel titled "A Cottage By the Sea" will debut
this weekend in the romance-fiction booth. "I hope readers come
away from our panel with a fresh view about the vibrancy and of
commercial women’s fiction," Ware says. "These novels really
resonate with readers and the stories are pertinent to our lives."
Kirsch, on the other hand, is an attorney and a book reviewer for
the Los Angeles Times. A participant in last year’s festival,
Kirsch will promote his book titled "The Harlot By the Side of the
Road," a work of biblical literary criticism. "The Bible itself was
the first book of Western literature," Kirsch says. "There’s a
commonality between the anonymous men and women who put the words
of the Bible down on paper and every writer you’ll see at the
festival of books. It’s that same urge to put words on paper and
share them with people that drives us to write." But while these
two authors couldn’t seem to have less in common, they do share one
important belief that has become the laughably ironic foundation of
the book festival. Perhaps because it is set to the backdrop of the
movie industry, Los Angeles is often criticized as culturally
backward when it comes to literary knowledge. However,
statistically it has proven to be the largest book buying city in
the country – even beating out New York. "A festival like this is
proof that there is no substitute for reading in terms of
stimulating the mind, despite the electronic world we live in,"
Ware says. "Being able to go the beach with a book, or sit in your
bathtub and read is still a joy and its a form that isn’t going to
die. The world of the printed page is with us and will be with us
for a long time to come." Kirsch agrees, adding that an important
element of the book festival is its dedication to eliminating the
myth that surrounds Los Angeles and its supposed literary
ineptitude. "Los Angeles is sometimes thought of as a culturally
superficial place," Kirsch says. "The reality is that it’s a very
rich place with a long literary tradition. The festival shatters
that myth and shows what a lively and deep book community this is.
And people who still subscribe to this myth are going to be shown
how wrong they are." And nobody knows this better than Narda
Zacchino, co-chair of the event. She has experienced first hand the
shotgun popularity of the festival. In just one year since it’s
debut, participation and sales for the festival have nearly doubled
in size. Although the festival is free to everyone, this year The
Times decided to distribute tickets to ensure that people will get
in to the panel they want to see. "Last year in every panel
discussion there were at least 100 people waiting in line to get in
who just didn’t fit into the room," Zacchino says. "A year ago we
had to call publishers and booksellers and ask them to come. This
year, without making one phone call, we sold our 100th booth four
months before the festival was set to take place." The size of this
event may seem a bit daunting, but this year organizers are
planning for a crowded house. The festival will dominate literally
the entire campus of UCLA, utilizing the spacious lecture halls of
Rolfe, Dodd, Schoenberg and the Ackerman Grand Ballroom, to name a
few. Discussion panels will be held inside, leaving the grassy
lawns for book signing booths and browsing around. There are some
new additions to the festival agenda as well. A multimedia area in
Collins Court will hopefully ignite new interest as will stage
events including live jazz performances and appearances from Larry
King and Charlton Heston. While the festival speaks to book lovers
of all ages, ethnicities and cultures, it seems that the people
most excited for this festival are the writers themselves. "We’re
all intelligent people who love a good story," Ware sums up. "And
we are good storytellers. I think it’s going to be great to hobnob
with all these famous authors and to meet some of the people in my
own field. It’s wonderful to make a commitment to reading and to
books." BOOKS: The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will be on
campus throughout the weekend. Authors include Michael Crichton on
Saturday at 2 p.m., Mary Higgins Clark on Saturday at 10 a.m.,
Jonathan Kirsch and Ciji Ware on Saturday at 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
For more information call 1-800 LA Times. L.A. Times Festival of
Books Page