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Featured writers or illustrators at the Grand Lake Area Literature Festival on Saturday at the Tri Star Career Compact:
"The Ellie McDoodle Diaries" by Ruth McNally Barshaw
"Library Girl" by Karen Henry Clark
"Pirate Queens" by Leigh Lewis
"Farming Strong, All Year Long" by Sherri Duskey Rinker
"The Widows" by Jess Montgomery
"Nothing is Little" by Carmella Van Vleet
"The Tornado Scientist" by Mary Kay Carson
"Brand-New Bubbe" by Sarah Aronson
"Tiger in My Soup" by Kashmira Sheth, illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler
CELINA - Readers, writers and literature aficionados of all ages will find themselves in good company at the second annual Grand Lake Area Literature Festival on Saturday.
The free event will be held 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. at Tri Star Career Compact, 7655 State Route 703, Celina.
The Auglaize-Mercer Arts Place Center, Tri Star and Wright State University-Lake Campus are working together again to hold the event, according to Chris Noble, a retired St. Marys English/language arts teacher and one of the event organizers.
The literature festival will feature 20 authors who will offer readings, book signings and presentations on their work throughout the day, she said.
Children author presentations will be held in the student union common room while adult author presentations will be held in the star room. Although many authors hail from Ohio, a handful of visiting writers will come from Chicago and Michigan.
In addition to the many authors, Noble said 75 students in grades 3-4 will be given the Reading Excellence Award, which recognizes students who have demonstrated significant improvement in their reading skills.
"Having been a teacher, (in) the earlier grades we engage children and be sure that they're feeling success and excitement about literature," she said. "Once you're defeated or you feel (like) a failure (when reading) it's hard for children to overcome that. We hope that the Reading Excellence Award will help to encourage children."
Also, three panel discussions will unfold in the star room, Noble said. A panel on writing for adults and how to get published will be held from 11-11:45 a.m.; illustrating literature, 1-1:45 p.m.; and writing for children, 2-2:45 p.m.
The workshops on illustrating literature and writing for children will be led by local author Michelle Houts.
Noble said Houts has been integral to the event, bringing in authors from across the Midwest and offering other support to the festival.
"Michelle obviously knows so many authors and she has been such a supporter of this and has worked very hard to help us to really have a successful festival," she said. "She has helped us to get the word out to authors that this is an opportunity."
One of the events Noble is most looking forward to is the visual storytelling workshop.
The workshop is intended for high school students who enjoy illustrating but want to strengthen their storytelling skills. It will be led by Bettie Boswell, an author and illustrator associated with the Mazza Museum of the University of Findlay.
"This is open to anyone who has experience with drawing specifically and interested in the storytelling process," Noble said. "We're hoping that this is something that will really appeal to high school students who are interested in storytelling and illustration."
The workshop will be first-come, first-served with 12 available spots. Signup will begin once doors open at 9:30 a.m., Noble said, and the workshop will run 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Kids will also have plenty of opportunities for fun at the literature festival. A craft room with free activities based on books by the featured authors will be open all day, and a themed scavenger hunt will also be held.
"The kids will really, really enjoy the author presentations in the afternoon as well as the other activities," Noble said. "I think (attendees) can anticipate some fun."
For more information, visit myartsplace.org or the Grand Lake Literature Festival Facebook page.
