What a month August will be! Summer vacations will be wrapping up, students will head back to school, and the Warren County Public will host ALL kinds of awesome author events! Three amazing authors will be joining us in August, and we would like to invite everyone to attend!
Starting it off mid-month, bestselling author Melissa Ferguson will visit the Bob Kirby Branch Library Saturday, August 17, at 3pm. She has penned a number of romantic comedies, including the latest one that came out in the spring How to Plot a Payback. Several of her writing pieces have been featured in The Hollywood Reporter, Travel + Leisure, Woman’s World, and BuzzFeed. While not writing clever, sweet, happily-ever-after romances, Ferguson enjoys a growing farmhouse lifestyle with her family in Tennessee, which she details on her blog, melissaferguson.com.
Not long after that presentation, acclaimed author Crystal Wilkinson will share stories, insights, and family recipes from her latest book, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts, Tuesday, August 20, at 6pm at the Bob Kirby Branch. Her appearance in Bowling Green is part of the National Book Festival’s “Roadmap to Reading,” an extension of the Washington, DC event put on annually by the Library of Congress. WCPL is one of only 15 Kentucky libraries selected to be a part of its statewide author tour.
Wilkinson, a former Kentucky Poet Laureate, is well known for her impact on contemporary literature. She is an evocative storyteller whose lyrical writing is heralded across the Commonwealth and beyond. She writes poetry, essays, and fiction, and this latest work is a culinary journey that has garnered much praise. Part memoir, part cookbook, it is an exploration of her family and their strong Black Appalachian heritage. It will be available for purchase at the event by Roebling Books, who will sell copies for Wilkinson to sign after the event.
The Roadmap to Reading is made possible by support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Humanities, with additional assistance from Chief Officers of State Library Agencies. The Kentucky tour was developed as a partnership with the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, the Kentucky Book Festival, the Kentucky Center for the Book, and Kentucky Humanities.
The month ends with the beginning of a new author series aimed at younger readers. Programs in the “Let’s Read” series will be hosted at the Capitol, and it will showcase talented high-profile authors and illustrators. School groups, classes, and parents can register to bring their students to one of two morning sessions. The first session will run between 9:30am and 11am; the second will run from 11:30am to 1pm.
If you don’t recognize the name of the first featured Let’s Read author, it’s quite possible that your child either read one of his popular books or watched one of the three seasons of his animated TV show on Netflix. Max Brallier, a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, has written more than 50 titles, including The Last Kids on Earth, Eerie Elementary, Galactic Hot Dogs, and Mister Shivers. He’s also a writer and producer for Netflix’s Emmy-award-winning adaptation of The Last Kids on Earth. He will be at the Capitol Wednesday, August 28.
Additional Let’s Read series programs will follow in the months to come, including the following:
- Tuesday, October 1 – Alicia Salizar
- Thursday, November 14 – Mike Lowery
- Wednesday, January 15 – Shelli Johannes
- February 11 – Svetlana Chmakova
- March 4 – Matt de la Pena
- April 28 – Kwame Alexander
To reserve a spot for your class or family, register through the library’s online calendar of events.
Hosting author events has become a part of library programming fabric, and we are very excited about those taking place this month! Take a look at the article on the opposite page to learn all about another great opportunity for book lovers coming in September – Back to Back Books – a new festival you won’t want to miss!
-by Ashley Fowlkes
Digital Content Manager
