Left Bank Books, the Left Bank Books Foundation and Central West End will hold the first annual BookFest St. Louis on Saturday, September 23.
The festival will host a mix of local and internationally known writers, including Ann Leckie, George Hodgman and Charlie Jane Anders, and Sherman Alexie will begin the festival with a keynote address on Friday, September 22. Panels will highlight "the best of contemporary literary fiction, mystery, poetry, memoir, science fiction, young adult fiction and history." Family-friendly programming for children and middle readers will kick off the festival on Saturday morning, in cooperation with the St. Louis Public Library-Schlafly Branch. During the day, attendees will be able to purchase books, listen to live music and visit booths hosted by other St. Louis arts and literary institutions.
"We are so proud to be able to bring this event to life, and to be able to work with the incredible team at Left Bank Books to welcome so many interesting and important authors to our neighborhood," said Kate Haher, executive director of the Central West End CID. "Our neighborhood has such a rich cultural history, as well as an incredible active contemporary arts scene, and BookFest St. Louis will be a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase that to book lovers from the neighborhood, the city and throughout the region."
Located in the Central West End since 1977, Left Bank Books created the Left Bank Books Foundation in 2009 to promote and increase education, literary and cultural activities in the St. Louis area. "It was a natural fit for us to bring our mission of curating an intelligent and culturally diverse selection of books together with our deep commitment to the Central West End and St. Louis for this festival," Left Bank Books co-owner Kris Kleindienst said.