LA Times Festival of Books

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is a free, public festival celebrating the written word. It is the largest book festival in the United States. Started in 1996, the Festival is held on the penultimate weekend of April hosted by the University of Southern California and features vendors, authors and publishers. Some of the events are panels with authors discussing a common subject, storytelling and performances for children as well as the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes [1]. Until 2010, the festival was hosted at the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, however, after University of California officials and event organizers disagreed on how to share expenses, particularly in light of the recent budget cuts to the UC system, the festival was moved permanently to USC. The event has typically been held during the last week of April, though it has been moved to the first week, to avoid a scheduling conflict with Fiesta Broadway. The next festival is scheduled for 21–22 April 2018, the 3rd weekend of April.

Claudia Luther, as special projects editor, helped create and launch, with Narda Zacchino, as associate editor and a vice president, the inaugural Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at UCLA. Richard T. Schlosberg III, as then, publisher of the Los Angeles Times was fully supportive of their efforts.

The annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books was held for the first time at University of Southern California on Saturday and Sunday, April 30 and May 1. Some of the authors included Patti Smith, Jennifer Egan, Mary Higgins Clark, Nancy Temple Rodrigue, Nick Flynn, and Dave Eggers.

The festival on Saturday and Sunday, April 24 and 25, had 450 announced authors, including Father Gregory Boyle, Lisa "Hungry Girl" Lillien, Meg Cabot, Mary Higgins Clark, Dave Eggers, James Ellroy, Daisy Fuentes, Louis Gossett Jr., Terry McMillan, Bernadette Peters, Jane Smiley, and Alice Waters.

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