Adults, teens, and kids of all ages, both readers and writers, take note: EVERYONE is invited to the region’s literary event of the season, the 2023 SOKY Book Fest!
This month’s festival will take place at the Knicely Conference Center off Nashville Road the last weekend of the month. The weekend event features 100 special literary guests whose books will be available for purchase on site, as well as numerous special presentations that can be attended free of cost. You won’t want to miss this year’s spectacular lineup, which includes celebrity authors, best-selling authors, award-winners, acclaimed poets and more! Actor, blogger, and best-selling author Wil Wheaton headlines the event along with best-selling Nothing to See Here author Kevin Williams, Kentucky Poet Laureate Crystal Wilkinson, I Survived series author Lauren Tarshis, and acclaimed children’s author poet, Charles Ghigna. A complete list of guests can be browsed at sokybookfest.org.
Here is a breakdown of the slate of activities scheduled for March 24 and 25:
Friday, March 24: Teen & Children’s Day – Starting at 9am Friday, attendees will get to meet award-winning authors and illustrators of picture books, middle-grade readers, and young adult novels, as well as have the opportunity to sit in on presentations during four blocks of time. Sessions begin at the top of the hour and will be geared toward specific age groups. Picture-book and middle-grade authors begin presentations at 9am; the teen author track begins one hour later at 10am. Books will be on sale in the meet-and-greet area all day, and students can have their purchases autographed. School groups comprise the majority of the attendance this day, but everyone is welcome to attend. Groups must pre-register, but individuals are not required to do so.
Saturday, March 25: SOKY Book Fest/Kentucky Writers Conference – On the festival’s signature day, book lovers of all ages will get to connect with authors, illustrators, and poets and may also attend free author-led presentations and panel discussions between 9am and 2pm. Friday’s authors for youth audiences will be in attendance again this day and will be joined by authors of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry for adults, as well. This portion of the festival does not require registration. The second component of the day is the Kentucky Writers Conference, which happens concurrently from 9am until 1pm. Those workshop sessions, led by a number of best-selling and successfully published authors, will be geared toward aspiring writers who want to hone their writing skills; registration is required for the writing sessions, and desk seating will be available, but some sessions fill up quickly, so register and arrive early if one particularly appeals to you.
The SOKY Book Fest is presented by the Warren County Public Library and Barnes & Noble Booksellers. An annual event for 20-plus years, the literary festival has been a true celebration of books, reading, and the power of literacy in our community and beyond for more than two decades! Schedule adjustments may need to be made closer to the day of the event, so for a full lineup and up-to-date schedule, confirm the author list and presentation times at sokybookfest.org. Also, watch for the tabloid insert in the Sunday, March 12 edition of the Bowling Green Daily News, and see it in a special spread in this month’s edition of Kentucky Monthly.
-submitted by Warren County Public Library
