This weekend, a walk down the UCLA campus might feel like a stroll down Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, as a noticeable group of non-traditional authors ““ celebrities from the worlds of film, politics and sports ““ have gladly accepted their invitations to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.
But even more impressive is the list of literary superstars who will be in attendance.
“I’ll be like a boy walking down the Hollywood Walk of Fame coming across Bob Hope’s star,” said Joshua Ferris, a first-time novelist who will make his festival debut this weekend. “I’ll probably be starstruck ““ that’s the reaction I’ll have if I see anybody whose name I recognize or whose face I recognize on their book cover.”
More than 400 authors, 130,000 attendees and 300 exhibitors are expected to gather for the 12th annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Saturday and Sunday. The Festival aims to bring together the people who pick up the pens to write and those who pick up the pages to read.
These large numbers reflect the dynamic expansion of the festival, which has become the largest of its kind in the country and continues to expand and change every year.
“We have more booths this year than ever before, more sponsors, more authors, more panels and more activities than ever before,” said Glenn Geffcken, senior project manager for the Festival of Books.
Mark Bowden, an established author who is best known for his book “Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War,” will participate in one of this weekend’s 97 author panels, and has his own reasons for embracing the festival’s growth.
“One of the reasons I like (the Festival of Books) is it’s an opportunity to meet, see and talk to other writers and editors, so the more of them that come, the better,” Bowden said. “I think the larger the event, the more likely it is to attract writers and publishers.”
The festival was originally started in 1996 by a group of people at the Los Angeles Times.
“It was really based on the fact that we’re an institution based on the written word,” Geffcken said. “We felt that it would be a really great thing for us to do a major public literary event that gives back to the community, celebrates the written word, and obviously helps to foster and promote literacy.”
But even with so much expansion every year, it is still a selective process for an author to get to participate in the festival. It begins as a committee process the August before the event.
“(The committee) start(s) looking at our wish list of who we want, coming up with an invitation list, and then we invite those people and see who responds. In addition to that, we get pitched by hundreds and hundreds of authors and publicists,” Geffcken said.
“The event has grown to the point now where we do get A-list authors that will actually call us up and say, “˜Hey, can I be at your festival?’ which is a really great thing because it does show the stature that this event has risen to.”
Ferris, whose book “Then We Came to the End” hit shelves in March of this year, remembers receiving the prestigious invitation.
“They sent everyone a little bottle that looked like it was washed up. (It had) sand and a little wound-up flier and it was corked. It was really neat to receive,” Ferris said. “I was simply honored to be asked to any festival. I’m a festival junkie.”
Invitations also went out to such well-established authors as T.C. Boyle, Gore Vidal, Ray Bradbury and Arianna Huffington.
“(Bradbury and Huffington) have become kind of institutions within the Festival of Books,” Geffcken said.
Celebrities-turned-authors such as Dr. Phil McGraw, Tim Gunn and John Lithgow seem to be a welcome addition to the Festival of Books.
“(Celebrities) want to be at the festival and we want to have them at the festival. They certainly draw the crowds, and anything that gets people interested in the world of books, I think, is good. … It gets media interested in covering the event and the more coverage we get, the more attendance,” Geffcken explained.
“People might come out to see Dr. Phil or Tim Gunn, but then, while they’re here, they might see a lot of other authors that they hadn’t previously heard of and perhaps find authors that they fall in love with after that.”
Bowden, whose most recent book, “Guests of the Ayatollah: The Iran Hostage Crisis: The First Battle in America’s War with Militant Islam,” came out in 2006, also said he believes celebrities will enhance, not detract from, the festival’s purpose.
“Non-traditional authors are typically celebrities of one kind or another, so they draw crowds, and the more people who come, the better,” Bowden said. “It kind of makes it more fun ““ I like to see celebrities, too.”
Among celebrities attending the event is Academy Award winning actress Ellen Burstyn, who will be showcasing her memoir, “Lessons in Becoming Myself.” Even though she is well-recognized for her roles in “The Exorcist,” “Requiem for a Dream” and “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” Burstyn is not worried about her celebrity status overshadowing her writing.
“I imagine that a certain amount of interest is generated toward the book because I’m an actress … (but) my experience with readers is, once they get into it, they are drawn (in); the personal and spiritual stories have an impact on people,” Burstyn said.
Geffcken sees the trend of celebrity authors attending the Festival as a “gradual shift” rather than a dramatic one.
“One good example would be the Target Stage. They very gradually have ramped up the caliber of people that they book onto their stage. Now, Julie Andrews is kind of a regular. I mean, she’s pretty huge,” Geffcken said.
For Ferris, the gradual addition of more celebrities is a positive thing.
“I never go anywhere without celebrities. So, that’s a crucial, vital element,” Ferris said jokingly.
But the authors attending the Festival need not be celebrities to receive the red carpet treatment.
“We work really hard to make the experience to the authors very enjoyable and rewarding to them and it certainly results in them having respect and admiration for the festival,” Geffcken said.
Geffcken explained that word about the authors’ good experiences at the Festival of Books gets passed on to other authors.
“People in the world of books at some point in time want to come to the Festival of Books,” he said.
But the authors are only half of the equation. Attendees are treated to book signings, read-alouds and author panel discussions ranging in topic from “Dracula’s Children: Books with Bite” to “The Sunday Funnies.”
As a year of preparation culminates this weekend, Geffcken and his team are looking forward to another successful Festival of Books.
“We all feel very passionately about making this event be as good as it can possibly be and I think the university feels the same way,” Geffcken said. “I think it’s really good for UCLA and the Los Angeles Times but, more importantly, it’s good for Southern California.”
Ferris, also a former attendee of the festival, agrees.
“Reading is a solitary thing,” Ferris said. “When you can make a celebration out of it the way the Festival of Books does, it’s a great opportunity.”