3/21/06 Contact:
Connor Henton, 334/844-4948
David Granger, 334/844-9999 (grangdm@auburn.edu)
ALABAMA
BOOK FESTIVAL PREPARES TO TAKE OFF
AUBURN - The Alabama Book Festival will take place Saturday, April 22,
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Old Alabama Town in Montgomery. Free and open
to the public, the festival will offer book lovers of all ages the chance
to hear and meet nationally known regional and local authors, see lively
stage presentations, have books signed, listen to award-winning storytellers
and purchase new books.
“Alabama is a state that supports reading and loves books,”
said Jay Lamar, director of the Alabama Center for the Book. “The
festival is a chance to celebrate that.”
The festival will feature three areas for author readings and a dedicated
children’s area for storytelling, puppetry and activities, as well
as book signings, a publisher’s row, book arts and a presenter’s
block.
Among the more than fifty featured authors will be Pulitzer Prize-winning
journalist and best-selling nonfiction writer Rick Bragg, novelists Dori
Sanders and Pat Cunningham Devoto, Alabama poet laureate Sue B. Walker
and award-winning author Wayne Greenhaw. Children’s writers Faye
Gibbons and Tony Crunk also will be featured, along with storyteller Dolores
Hydock.
John Tayman, author of the acclaimed book “The Colony: The Harrowing
True Story of the Exiles of Mokokai,” and Jim Hansen, author of the
best-selling “First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong,” will be
among the special guests.
The Children’s Literacy Guild of Alabama will sponsor a book give-away,
and a book appraiser will be on site. Numerous state and regional publishers,
as well as printers and illustrators, will be present. Panels on special
topics will be featured and will include sports writing with Clyde Bolton
and “New York Times” best-selling writer Peter Golenbock, author
of the just released “Miracle: Bobby Allison and the Saga of the
Alabama Gang.”
The Alabama Book Festival will be held on the grounds of the South Block
of Old Alabama Town located at 301 Columbus Street in Montgomery. This
location provides plenty of free parking and a shaded, park-like setting
just a few blocks from the State Capitol.
The festival is presented by the Alabama Center for the Book in partnership
with Alabama Library Association, Alabama Public Library Service, Alabama
Reading Association, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Alabama State Council
on the Arts, Alabama Writers’ Forum, Auburn University, Children’s
Literacy Guild of Alabama, Montgomery Ballet, Montgomery City-County Libraries,
Network of Alabama Academic Libraries and Old Alabama Town.
Festival sponsors include the Montgomery Advertiser, Capitol Book and
River City Publishing, with special support from the Alabama Bureau of
Tourism and Travel and the Arts Car Tag Committee.
The Alabama Center for the Book was established in 2001 as the state affiliate
of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Headquarters and
staff are at the Center for the Arts & Humanities at Auburn University.
The Web site, www.alabamabookcenter.org,
features weekly updates of authors, presenters and sponsors. For more
information on the Alabama Book Festival, including details on all authors
and presentations, visit the Web site or call 334-844-4948.
Auburn University is a preeminent land-grant and comprehensive research
institution with more than 23,000 students and 6,500 faculty and staff.
Ranked among the top 50 public universities nationally, Auburn is Alabama’s
largest educational institution, offering more than 230 undergraduate,
graduate and doctoral degree programs.
(Contributed by Connor Henton.)
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