SoCo Book Festival Favorites: from Letterpress to Literacy, from Book Publishers to Book Mobiles

Teresa LeYung Ryan

I spent Saturday at the 12th Annual Sonoma County Book Festival in Santa Rosa's Courthouse Square. Book lovers young and old wandered along 4th Street from 10-4. Booths showcased local book sellers, self-published authors, indie publishers and small presses, as well as a public library sale. Several stages held professional panels, author talks and poetry readings.

Struck by the plethora of creativity in my county, I enjoyed chatting with people such as author/ photographer Thomas Cooper about his book Tankhouse: California's Redwood Water Towers From a Bygone Era. I ran into a former teaching colleague who connected me to a professional networking group; I got information from a local nonprofit to pitch a story to Petaluma Patch; I took pictures with fellow Redwood Writer, Teresa LeYung Ryan, writing coach and author of Love Made of Heart and Build Your Writer's Platform & Fanbase in 22 Days (ebook and print edition). Check out her blog's event recap.

Here are some of my favorites. If you couldn't make it to the festival, at least you can do a virtual tour:

Iota Press

Iota Press
"What draws you to letterpress?" the people at the booth asked as I browsed. The aesthetic, the antiquity, the physicality of each printed letter. Based in Sebastopol, Erick Johnson offers custom printing, as well as workshops in typesetting and letterpress. His Iota Quarterly ($30/year) features "poetry, yarns or graphics." The animated way he speaks clearly demonstrates his enthusiasm for the artful arrangement of words on paper. From his website: "I have an interest in the graphic powers of type and ink fused with literary art."

5 Bay Area Book Festivals for Fall

Something about a new school year and the change of seasons makes me want to curl up with a bunch of books. Well, okay, when don't I? Here's what's waiting on my bedside table: The Chelsea Whistle (MFA requirement); The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2010 (recent plane purchase--fabulous!); Betsy Was a Junior (nighttime read-aloud classic YA by Maud Hart Lovelace); Postcards (Annie Proulx short stories); & a couple of travel mags (Hemispheres and AFAR). How about you?

But maybe you're aching to get outside into that extended California summer to share your love of the written word with the greater world. Then check out these literary events that'll keep you in the know:

photo credit: David Grenell

47th ANNUAL BIG BOOK SALE: 
FRIENDS OF THE SF PUBLIC LIBRARY
Sept. 21-25, Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason Center, SF

Celebrate 50 years of the public library at the largest book sale on the west coast with over half a million books and media! All proceeds support the SF Public Library.
Hardcovers: $3-4, paperbacks: $2, kids' books: $1
All materials on Sunday are $1 or less
Member Preview Sale & Reception: Sept. 20, 4-8 p.m.


12th ANNUAL SONOMA COUNTY BOOK FESTIVAL 
Sept. 24, 10-4 p.m., Old Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa, FREE

Line-up includes authors Maxine Hong Kingston, Ann Packer, Belva Davis, Carolyn Cooke, Carol Edgarian, Steven T. Jones, as well as dozens of others. Renowned poets – including Jane Hirshfield, Al Young, Francisco X. Alarcon, Christina Hutchins, Jeanne Wagner and Leo Slominsky – will read.

Five panels include:
• The Sky is High and So Am I: Alternative Subjects
• Books: The Rumors of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
• Writing Local History with Gaye LeBaron
• Shots Happen: A Mix of Mystery Writers
• Writing for Film and Stage

Megan McDonald, author of the best-selling Judy Moody series, will kick off the kids' activities. In addition, there will be three panel discussions of Young Adult authors, including a panel on “Advice for Teen Writers,” and a Teen Poetry Slam with cash prizes!

FILIPINO AMERICAN INERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL
Oct. 1-2, 10-4, Civic Center: San Francisco Public Library & Asian Art Museum, FREE

Join the largest gathering of authors of Filipino heritage from around the world to celebrate Philippine culture through literature, visual arts, music and food!



12th ANNUAL LITQUAKE: SAN FRANCISCO'S LITERARY FESTIVAL
Oct. 7-15, including closing night Lit Crawl; Sausalito's Words on the Waves Oct. 15, 1-5
Don't miss the pre-festival panel, Art Through Story (see below), Thurs. Sept. 29, 7-8:30 p.m.

Surely one of the most extraordinary and eclectic literary events ever! They've got everything from Teen Quake: Not Your Mother's Book Club, to  A Little Off the Top and Over the Top (LGBT readings) in a Castro barbershop turned nightclub! From Re-Write: An Evening of Prose from Writers in Recovery to Writing in California's Prisons (the prisoners will not be present).

Words On The Waves will showcase the writers of the Sausalito houseboats and the North Bay literary sphere, featuring contemporary and historical readings, music and storytelling!
Private Houseboat Pier, Sausalito. Tickets: $30 in advance, $40 at the door

Art Through Story: New Alternatives for Getting Your Work to the World
This panel will discuss the value of and trends in inter-arts publishing; developing and selling your own publications; uses of social media, technology and cross-disciplinary story-telling; and other topics. Facilitated by Cindy Shearer, Program Chair for the MFA programs in Writing & Consciousness, and Creative Inquiry & Interdisciplinary Arts at California Institute of Integral Studies, Rm. 607, 1453 Mission Street, San Francisco.

10th ANNUAL BOOK ARTS JAM: regional celebration of book arts, print arts and paper arts
Oct. 15, 10-4 at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, CA

Created by Bay Area Book Artists (BABA), a group of independent artists bound together by a passion for the book arts, this celebration offers a behind-the-scenes peek at the creative processes, tools, and techniques used by book artists. Includes galleries of books, artist talks and slideshows, exhibitors and printers.

Check out Foothill College's print and book arts program, which includes professional certificates in book arts, print making and illustration. Oh, if I could do it all over again...

ALSO: Check out this week's events for Banned by the Bay, SF's celebration of Banned Books Week! Look for that post coming soon...