6th Annual Chestnut Hill Book Festival this weekend

Posted 6/4/14

Local columnists Jim Harris and Hugh Gilmore at a recent Book Festival event. The 6th annual Chestnut Hill Book Festival and Speaker Series is coming to town with an array of activities and local …

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6th Annual Chestnut Hill Book Festival this weekend

Posted

Local columnists Jim Harris and Hugh Gilmore at a recent Book Festival event. Local columnists Jim Harris and Hugh Gilmore at a recent Book Festival event.

The 6th annual Chestnut Hill Book Festival and Speaker Series is coming to town with an array of activities and local authors that both kids and adults can enjoy.

On Sunday, June 8, the festival will kick off at the Fareway and the Chestnut Hill Hotel. An all volunteer committee has planned a two-part schedule; a series of authors spanning multiple genres and topics for the adults and a brand new Kidz Zone that encompasses activities related to stories and reading for children. There will also be time to meet each author, ask questions, purchase a book and get an autograph.

Authors attending the festival include: Nathaniel Popkin, a reviewer, essayist of architecture, politics and history and author of the novel “Lion and Leopard”; Yaba Blay, a Drexel University Professor and producer, publisher and author of the new novel, “{1}ne Drop,” who is also a voice of authority on such topics as race on the radio and in major newspapers; Suzanne del Gizzo, a Chestnut Hill College professor, author and board member of The Ernest Hemingway Foundation and Society, as well as editor of The Hemingway Review.

Hugh Gilmore, a novelist and columnist for the Local, will be moderating a panel along with Kevin Grauke and Katie Hagele entitled Creating the Writing Life, which discusses the ways authors can support and supplement their income to foster their creativity and writing. Grauke, a La Salle University professor, is the 2013 winner of the Texas Insititute of Letters Steven Turner Award for Best First Book of Fiction for his short-story collection “Shadows of Men.” Hagele is the author of “White Elephants” and “Slip of the Tongue.”

The Kidz Zone will take place around the fireplace at the Fareway and will feature Monica Carnesi, the author of the children's book “Little Dog Lost: The Trust Story of a Dog Named Baltic,” and Elisa Ludwig, an author whose young adult novels include the “Pretty Crooked” trilogy and “Coin Heist.” The Kidz Zone will have music, face painting, balloon characters and story telling.

The festival's planning committee consists of Hugh Gilmore, local author and columnist for the Chestnut Hill Local; Kathy Bonanno, president of Musehouse: a Center for the Literary Arts; Greg Welsh, owner of the Chestnut Grill; Kate O’Neill, events planner for the Chestnut Hill Business Association; and Marie Lachat, CHBF chair.

Sponsoring the event is Ron and Abby Pete of the Chestnut Hill Hotel, Bowman Properties, the Chestnut Hill Community Fund and the Chestnut Hill Community Development Corporation.

For more information on the festival please visit www.chestnuthillbookfestival.com or www.facebook.com/chbookfest.

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