CWE CID
BookFest St. Louis
Left Bank Books and the Central West End Community Improvement District’s second annual BookFest St. Louis kicks off Friday night with "An Evening with Sally Field," where the actress will be discussing her memoir In Pieces at 7 p.m. at the Chase Park Plaza. More than 40 authors will make appearances at the one-day fest on Saturday, at panels and readings throughout the Central West End that celebrate fiction and non, poetry, memoir and more. Here’s what to know before you go.
1. All events except for two—Friday’s Sally Field keynote and the Wit and Wine with Gary Shteyngart at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Bar Italia—are free, but that also means seating is first come, first served. You can see a full schedule here. Saturday’s events start at 10:30 a.m.
2. All events take place in the Central West End. Here’s a map of the venues:
3. BookFest is kid-friendly. The St. Louis Public Library’s Schlafly Branch is hosting a Saturday-morning storytime with A. LaFaye, author of No Frogs in School, and Deborah Zemke, illustrator of The Absolutely, Positively NO Princesses Book. There will also be costumed characters—and photo opps—for young readers at this event, which starts at 10:30 a.m.
4. There’s something for pre-teens, too. The Schlafly Branch is hosting the panel “Windows and Mirrors: Seeing Yourself and Others in Middle-Grade Fiction” with authors Alex Gino (George and You Don’t Know Everything, Jilly P) and CWE resident Antony John (Five Flavors of Dumb and Mascot). They’ll be signing their newest books. This event begins at noon.
5. We asked BookFest organizers to tell us a fun fact about the fest. Here’s what they said: “The featured books tell stories ranging from circus tricks to magical powers, from 18th-century China to 21st-century America, from poverty in the Midwest to Hollywood and hedge funds...and so much more.”
