Attend the Literary Event of the Season – May 15, 2016
The 11th Annual Books in Bloom Literary Festival: a Celebration for Writers and Readers will be held on Sunday, May 15, 2016, at The 1886 Crescent Hotel and Spa in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
We look forward to seeing you there, rain or shine!
Events Schedule
Our Books in Bloom authors will be available for book signing and conversation before and after their presentations. Please join us in welcoming them to Books in Bloom and the Ozarks!
In the Conservatory
12:30 PM – 1:25 PM
Leo Mazow
Thomas Hart Benton: Painting the Sound
Leo Mazow’s presentation explores songs as subject matter in the art of the American Regionalist painter, muralist, printmaker, and educator Thomas Hart Benton (1889–1975). Many of the artist’s most important paintings depict musical performance and passages from folk songs like “John Henry,” “Wreck of the Old ’97,” and “Frankie and Johnnie.” With them, he found a means to preserve a quickly vanishing past. In Benton’s pictorial universe, it is through songs—and paintings of songs—that stories are told and history is recorded.
Benton also actively collected, performed, recorded, and distributed popular music. At the close of this illustrated lecture, Mazow and his vocal accompanist Brittany Stephenson—who together form the musical group The Coverlets—will perform several of the songs that provided themes for several of Benton’s best-known paintings.
1:30 PM – 2:25 PM
Amy Stewart
Forgotten History & Unlikely Heroines
Amy Stewart’s new novel, Girl Waits with Gun, is based on the true story of three extraordinary women: Constance, Norma, and Fleurette Kopp. In 2012, Stewart stumbled across a 1914 newspaper article about them and went on to uncover their amazing history through genealogical archives, court records, old newspapers, and interviews with family members.
Girl Waits with Gun is the first in a series about the Kopp women and their adventures in crime-fighting. Stewart will share photographs and stories about these extraordinary women and the fascinating historical background that shaped their world a hundred years ago.
2:30 PM – 3:25 PM
Thomas Perry
A Life of Crime: Reflections on Four Decades Writing Mysteries and Thrillers
Author Thomas Perry talks about the life of a professional writer. He will pass on some of the things he learned, thought, wrote, said, and wished he’d said during a lengthy career writing novels, short fiction, and television.
3:30 PM – 4:25 PM
Laura Lippman
Belief
Laura Lippman talks about how her decision to begin from a place of belief whenever she hears a story about sexual assault changed her life — and her work as a novelist. Lippman explains, “To be clear, I’m open to discovering I was wrong to believe, but I never regret that initial choice. And I would not hew to this standard as a member of a jury, or as a journalist. But as a person, I have found an important kind of peace by choosing to believe that sexual assault is seldom something people lie about.”
In the Readers Tent
12:00 PM – 12:25 PM
Radine Trees Nehring
The Writer’s World is Full of Sharks
Problems writers must deal with are increasing every month. Here are a few that may surprise you.
12:30 PM – 12:55 PM
E.A. Allen
The Mean Streets of Edwardian Mystery
“I write mysteries in one of the roughest neighborhoods in fiction — the Edwardian Era. Its mean streets are patrolled day and night by the guardians of the Sherlock Holmes legacy, and if you venture out at all, you can expect to be mugged with an invidious comparison or two. Still, I write Edwardian Mysteries. I do it as well as I can. I hope some day to do it even better than Sir Arthur. Let me tell you how I do it.”
1:00 PM – 1:25 PM
Talya Tate Boerner
What You Should Be Doing While Writing Your First Book
In today’s competitive market, a well-written book is not always enough to attract a publisher. Talya will discuss her personal journey to find a publisher as well as the essential tasks you should spend time on while you are writing your first book. From building a platform to attracting sponsors for your book launch, Talya’s ideas are fresh and creative.
1:30 PM – 1:55 PM
Sanderia Faye Smith
Mourner’s Bench
Sanderia Faye likes to say that every story begins somewhere. Ideally that somewhere imbues the story with meaning, brings characters to life and leaves readers “seeing” the story as if it were presented in vivid color on a big screen. In this talk, Faye will delve into the world of “seeing” as a sensory experience and place as character. Faye will read passages from her debut novel, Mourner’s Bench to show how she draws readers into her world.
2:00 PM – 2:25 PM
Dusty Richards
Write What You Love
Dusty Richards writes Westerns, at least in part because at age thirteen, his family moved to Arizona and he thought he’d arrived in heaven. Although his career path has included a variety of jobs, writing was always his passion. A frequent speaker at writers’ conferences, he generously shares what he has learned about becoming a successful author regardless of genre you choose. As he points out, there is no difference in writing any kind of fiction; “You simply change the sets, costumes and dialect.”
2:30 PM – 2:55 PM
Brooks Blevins
Murder in the Ozarks? Crime and Stereotype in an American Region
The trial of five men for the brutal murder of a drifter in the Ozarks in 1929 produced sensationalized press coverage around the nation. And for good reason. The story involved allegations of dismemberment and sexual assault, charges of imposture, and the testimony of a dead man. But the region itself — and the nation’s preconceived stereotypes of its inhabitants — became just as integral to the story as the alleged murderers and their supposed victim.
3:00 PM – 3:25 PM
Diane Les Becquets
Some Women Are Born Wild, Others Are Made
Within every woman lies a wilderness. This presentation will explore the backstory of Breaking Wild, including the author’s personal journey and discoveries, as well as those of her characters.
3:30 PM – 3:55 PM
Brian Biggs
In the Works
“It’s been almost a year since I had a new book out, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy. Late 2016 and early 2017 will see six new books that I’ve illustrated. I’m going to give a brief synopsis of my previous work for the uninitiated, and then take a sneak peek at the new book coming soon.”
4:00 PM – 4:25 PM
Mary Nida Smith
Heroes Beneath the Waves
Men who served in submarines join the service to sail the seas. The unknown world was more like a nightmare to many. Out of every twenty men signing up, maybe only six would qualify. Imagine working and living in a 300-foot long, 30-foot wide, three- story building with no windows and surrounded by technology. Hear about these men and this book.
Comments are closed here.