APR.25-27: LOS ANGELES TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS RETURNS TO UCLA; OVER 140,000 BOOK LOVERS EXPECTED FOR CELEB SIGNINGS/READINGS, 300+ EXHIBITORS & MORE

Annual LA Times Book Prizes Kickoff the Grand LA Book Festival on Friday, April 25

posted by Don Rose

This weekend, the 13th Annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books returns to UCLA, the festival with the distinction of being the country’s largest celebration of the written word. For one weekend at the end of every April, people who love books gather with people who love to write, publish and sell books. There’s nothing like it anywhere.

Some numbers for you: 140,000 attendees! 450+ authors! 300+ exhibitors! 100+ author panels! 6 outdoor stages! 2 children’s areas! (This year, there is also a new feature, the Comix Zone, for people who love comic books and graphic novels.)

For even more literary fun and surprises, you can kick things off on Friday, April 25 for the 28th Annual Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. This special evening will honor some of the finest books of 2007 and their writers, and kicks off the Festival of Books on Friday, April 25. The 28th annual presentation of the Book Prizes will carry forward a tradition that has honored A. Scott Berg, Ray Bradbury, Robert Caro, Joan Didion, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gabriel García Márquez, Allen Ginsberg, Mark Haddon, Anthony Hecht, Seymour Hersh, Tony Hillerman, Christopher Isherwood, Ken Kesey, Milan Kundera, Ursula Le Guin, Doris Lessing, Robert Littell, Frank McCourt, David McCullough, Ian McEwan, Larry McMurtry, Tillie Olsen, Walker Percy, Ishmael Reed, Carl Sagan and W.G. Sebald, among many other authors. Click here to visit the Book Prizes web site.

Don’t miss the next exciting chapters of two extraordinary 2008 literary events — the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. Book Prizes: Friday April 25 at Royce Hall, 8pm. Festival: Saturday, April 26 • 10 am to 6 pm, Sunday, April 27 • 10 am to 5 pm, on UCLA's Main Campus. Admission to the Festival of Books is free. Parking is $8. Free shuttles to/from the festival from Lot 32 and 36; shuttle pickup near the intersection of Veteran and Kinross, just North of Wilshire Blvd.