Print will be alive and thriving at the Kentucky Book Fair this weekend

Print is dead. Oh, you hadn’t heard? Apparently neither have the 200-plus authors who will be selling and signing their books at the annual Kentucky Book Fair this weekend, nor their interested readers.

The Kentucky Book Fair was the first literary celebration of its kind here in the Commonwealth and has a rich history of supporting Kentucky authors— both well-known names like Wendell Berry, George Ella Lyon, Gurney Norman, and Frank X Walker along with first-time authors like Tanya Amyx Berry, Katy Yocom, and James Allen Riley.

Of special note this year are CNN’s Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta, promoting his book, “The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell Truth in America,” Steve Luxenberg, author of “Separate: The Story of Plessy V. Ferguson and America’s Journey from Slavery to Segregation,” and Rosemary Wells, children’s author and illustrator of the popular Max & Ruby series.

Whether I’ve been an author at the event or an interested wanderer among the tables, I love being there. For one thing, I can do my entire Christmas shopping in one afternoon and never have to think about getting within brake-screeching distance of a mall. Day-long crowds of over 2,000, many traveling from locations all over the state and region, are common at the Book Fair. It’s great fun and heartening to see patrons carrying around a bulging bag of signed books to take to the checkout.

With the Kentucky Book Fair’s move two years ago from Frankfort to Lexington came a commitment by Kentucky Humanities (formerly Kentucky Humanities Council)—they deserve our thanks and praise—to expand the event’s scope.

“In 2018, to highlight even more literary talent, the Kentucky Humanities staff agreed to extend the event into a week-long literary festival, with the Kentucky Book Fair becoming the culminating event,” said Sara Volpi, Kentucky Book Festival director. “In the week leading up to the Book Fair this year we organized six events, including a literary luncheon featuring several local literary legends at ArtsPlace; a screening of the documentary Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry at the Kentucky Theatre, with commentary from Berry’s wife Tanya Amyx Berry, and an evening of book-themed trivia at West Sixth Brewery. It’s been a busy week!”

“I truly believe the book fair is one of the best days in Kentucky,” added Bill Goodman, executive director of Kentucky Humanities. “Authors meeting and talking with readers, readers getting books signed and a picture with their favorite writer, and conversations between book lovers and local, regional and national authors.”

The Kentucky Book Fair will take place on Saturday, Nov. 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena on Ironworks Pike.

Jeff Worley is Kentucky’s current poet laureate.