LitFest Pasadena is Back!

Last year the inaugural LitFest Pasadena was a great success with hundreds of people coming to Central Park for a full slate of activities that made everybody's day.

 Petrea took this sweet photo:

This year LitFest Pasadena 2.0 Saturday, May 11, from 10 to 5 p.m. at Central Park will feature more than 80 renowned authors and performers and 40 exhibitors including some of your favorite publishers, bookstores and cultural institutions.

There will be a full day of readings, panel discussions, performances, book signings, children's activities, good food, better books and family-friendly fun, all aimed at promoting the literary arts.

One of the many panels will be a back-to-back powerhouse event with four world-class authors discussing their experiences writing in LaLa Land: Mona Simpson, Michelle Huneven, Jerry Stahl and Gary Phillips.

Among the performances: History Lit will present "Two Pictures in One," a half-hour play written by Paul Millet based on a short story by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

And children will delight in the Bob Baker Marionettes as well as many other performances and activities perfect for their age group.

Oh, and LitFest Pasadena is free!

You'll find a full schedule of panels, performances, children's activities and much more info at www.litfestpasadena.org.

Invite your Facebook friends!

WitFest: An Irreverent War of Words

The first WitFest -- L.A.-area authors, writers and artistes vying for top scores in an irreverent war of words -- will feature moderator Sandra Tsing Loh and panelists Jonathan Gold, Suzanna Guzman, David Kipen, Patt Morrision, Gary Phillips and Nat Read Thursday, Oct. 25, from 7 to 10 p.m.. in the ballroom of the historic Castle Green, 99 S. Raymond Ave. in Old Pasadena.

The competition promises to be filled with snappy questions and clever repartee. Wine and passed hors d’oeuvres will be provided. The creation of the inaugural Pasadena Prizes in Poetry and Prose, awarded to local high school students to encourage literary arts, will be announced.

Gold is an author and Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic; Guzman is an operatic mezzo-soprano and host of KCET’s “Open Call”; Kipen is a KPCC literary critic and founder of the lending library Libros Schmibros; Loh is an author, performance artist and NPR commentator; Morrison is an author and Los Angeles Times columnist; Phillips is a mystery writer; and Read is a public relations practitioner, author and stand-up comic.

“Some of the greatest wits in Southern California will be front and center for this rollicking evening,” said Larry Wilson, artistic director of LitFest Pasadena. “Anyone who loves literature and entertainment won’t want to miss it.”

Ticket prices are $75 each or two for $125; patron levels range from $250 to $5,000. Tickets may be purchased online here or by check. Checks should be made out to Pasadena Arts Council, with LitFest Pasadena in the memo field, and mailed to LitFest Pasadena, P.O. Box 93184, Pasadena CA 91109. Tickets are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.

Proceeds from WitFest will benefit the second annual LitFest Pasadena scheduled for Saturday, May 11, 2013, a free day of literary panel discussions, readings, theater performances, exhibitors, live music, children’s activities and more. Nearly 2,000 people attended the first LitFest Pasadena in May 2012.

For more information visit www.litfestpasadena.org or e-mail info@litfestpasadena.org.

Not Your Grandmother's Book Festival!

It's LitFest Pasadena and it's tomorrow, Saturday, May 12, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Central Park!

This is not your grandmother's book festival! It's irreverent, informative and incorporates theater, music, poetry and more.

There's a whole slate of activities:

• author readings and interviews from Lian Dolan at 10 a.m. to Pulitzer Prize-winner Jonathon Gold at 4:10
• 10 panel discussions throughout the day on topics such as Los Angeles Noir, Cookbooks in the Age of Epicurious and Writing in Collaboration: Creativity and Soul-Crushing Compromise
• more than 40 exhibitors including Pasadena Public Library, Prospect Park Books, Rare Bird Lit, Red Hen Press, Sisters in Crime L.A., UCLA Extension Writers Program and Vroman's Bookstore
• more than 25 authors signing their books just for you
• children's activities from storytellers to a Quiddich demonstration
• entertainment
• gourmet food trucks 

I'll be volunteering in the information booth, so be sure to stop by and say hi!

Larry Wilson, public editor of the Pasadena Star-News, wrote it up in his column today. You'll find it here and it will answer many of your questions and provide additional insights.

LitFest Pasadena is spearheaded by Larry; Jervey Tervalon, novelist and USC creative writing teacher; and Tom Coston, president of the Light Bringer Project and driving force behind the DooDah Parade.

LitFest Pasadena is a project of Pasadena Arts Council's EMERGE Fiscal Sponsorship Program.

I'll see you there!