Hiram – Author and longtime Akron Beacon Journal columnist David Giffels will headline the first Western Reserve Book Festival at Hiram College on June 21, 2014.
The event, which will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Kennedy Center, will celebrate literature of Ohio’s Western Reserve, hosting dozens of area authors of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, young adult and children’s work. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet these authors, have bookssigned, purchase books and attend readings.
Giffels, the keynote speaker, is also a contributing commentator and essayist on NPR station WKSU in Kent. His books include “The Hard Way on Purpose” and “All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-Down House.” An acclaimed author and writer, his work has appeared in New York Times Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Esquire.com, ESPN, Grantland, Redbook and many other publications. He also was a writer for the MTV series “Beavis and Butt-Head.”
Additional authors will include Shelley Costa, Harmony Evans, Amanda Flower, Kevin Keating, Scott Lax, Kylie Logan, Michael Olin-Hitt, James Renner, Les Roberts, Debra Robinson, Stephanie Siciarz, S. Andrew Swann, Chris Akin, Paul Bauer, Gail Bellamy, Peg Bobel, Mark Dawidziak, Joyce Dyer, Jen Hirt, William Kerrigan, Wendy Koile, Lynn Metzger, Jennifer Morrow, Michael Olin-Hitt, James Renner, Brad Ricca, Robert Sberna, Jane Turzillo, Cinda Chima, James Bradley Clarke, Colleen Clayton, Leah Clifford, Jen Dutton, Julie Lindsey, Mindy McGinnis, Tricia Springstubb, Scott Tracey, Jeanne Bryner, Susan Grimm, David Hassler, Lesley Jenike, Philip Metres, Mary Quade, F. Daniel Rzicznek, Tom Batiuk and Eric Schmiedl. Additionally, several area journals and literary organizations will be represented.
The Festival, sponsored by the Friends of the Hiram College Library, the Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature, WKSU, and Barnes & Noble, is free and open to the public. There will be amplefree parking; several dining options will be available.
For more information, visit www.hiram.edu/wrbf or contact Hiram College Library Director David Everett at everettdd@hiram.edu or 330-569-5353. Hiram College is located at 11730 Garfield Road, Hiram, Ohio 44234.
