FIVE FUN THINGS TO DO AT THE SOUTH CAROLINA BOOK FESTIVAL

The 16^th Annual South Carolina Book Festival will be held on Saturday, May 19 (10am – 5pm) – Sunday, May 20 (12pm – 4pm), 2012 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center on 1101 Lincoln Street in Columbia. It is the biggest literary event in South Carolina. Here are five things you’ll want to do if you go:

1. Meet your favorite authors. How often do you get nearly six dozen authors together in the same place? There will be more than 70 authors attending, including Wendy Wax, Mary Alice Monroe, Pat Conroy, and me! Book presentations will be held in various locations throughout the weekend. In addition to hearing authors talk about their books, you can buy them while at the festival. I think Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million will be the booksellers so bring your membership card if you have one so that you can get discounts on all your purchases. And remember, books make great gifts! Discover new books by new and well-known authors and get your books personally autographed by the author. Exhibit Hall.

***FYI: For anyone interested, I’ll be speaking about Lowcountry folklore (ghosts and boo hags and more) at 2 p.m. on Saturday.***

1. Check out the cool exhibits. There will be 90 exhibitors including book dealers, publishers, antiquarians, writers groups, and more. Exhibit Hall. The Antiquarian Book Dealers Association of South Carolina will host a three-day appraisal fair. For $10, you can get up to three books appraised.
2. Spend a fun day with your kids or grandkids. There’s lots for them to enjoy. Check out the Children’s Pavilion featuring authors, storytellers, performances, and a summer reading station sponsored by Books-A-Million. Congaree Room. You can also opt to go on a Field Trip. On Friday, May 18, 2012, pre-selected second grade students will enjoy a morning with children’s authors
   featured at the SCBook Festival, including Kwame Alexander, Melissa Conroy, and Dinah Johnson. USC mascot Cocky and his student volunteers will greet the pre-selected second graders and present them with a small remembrance of their visit with the authors. This event is sponsored by the South Carolina Center for Children’s Books and Literacy of the University of South Carolina School of Library and Information Science and the SCBook Festival
3. Live and learn! Take a writing class. Master writing classes are taking place on Friday, May 18, such as “How to Get Published” and “Children’s Writing.” $.
4. Come to PARTY. Who doesn’t like a good party? The Opening Night Reception will be held on Friday, May 18, 7:00 – 10:00 p.m. at the Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library, Thomas Cooper Library, University of South Carolina, 1322 Greene Street. This annual event to kick-off the SCBook Festival is a reception with heavy hors d’oeuvres and bar, featuring SCBook Festival authors and presenters mingling alongside book enthusiasts. $. I plan to attend this awesome event and hope you will too. If you can’t make it or you just love to party, there’s another event: The Literary Vine on Saturday, May 19, 2010, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. at the Richland County Public Library, 1431 Assembly Street, downtown Columbia. Friends of the Richland County Public Library (RCPL) invites you to join them for an evening of wine, music and food to help raise funds for library programming.  Several SCBook Festival authors participating in the event.$.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit www.scbookfestival.org