Wednesday, April 18 - Festival of Books Preview

Tonight at 8 PM on KPFK 90.7 FM:  DAVID ULIN & LA Times Festival of Books.  It’s springtime in Southern California, and the colorful booths are popping up on the campus of USC for the 17^th annual Festival of Books, this Saturday and Sunday, April 21 and 22, all day, both days.  You can go to the LA Times website or grab your Sunday insert while listening in tonight on my reliably fun visit, once again, with your guide to the festival:  David Ulin.  He wrote The Lost Art of Reading and The Myth of Solid Ground: Earthquakes, Prediction, and the Fault Line Between Reason and Faith. He edited two prizewinning anthologies of Southern California literature, and is the chief book reviewer for the Times.  His novel, Labyrinth will be out in October.  Tonight David Ulin helps me run down the panels and speakers, and weighs in on the Book Prize, for whose celebration he will serve as Master of Ceremonies.  Program note:  Bibliocracy broadcasts live Sunday morning from the KPFK booth, with special guests including KPFK’s own Blase Bonpane, talking with me about his memoir, Imagine No Religion.  I’m followed by regular excellent public affairs programmers Ian Masters and Maria Armoudian, also live.  Come by the station’s booth (# 937) to watch, and to purchase CDs and jump drives from the Pacifica Radio Archives, t-shirts and more. Visit the Santa Monica Review booth (#993) to pick up a free copy of the newest issue of the magazine.  And check out the schedule for speakers and panels, including those featuring some favorite KPFK hosts, not to mention favorite writer guests:  Jon Wiener, Tom Hayden, Tom Lutz, Gustavo Arellano, Erin Aubrey Kaplan and more.  Hope to see you at Southern California’s biggest public celebration of reading and writing, civic literacy and thoughtful community.  KPFK is a media sponsor of this event.  Damn straight it is! http://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/.