Calling all book lovers! The Los Angeles Times hosted a two-day event on April 22nd and 23rd on the USC campus for all book lovers. The Festival of Books consisted of authors, poets, artists, musicians, and celebrities. The event had exhibitor booths where many different items were being sold as well as free books being given out and signings by authors. There was something for everyone!
The Festival of Books on the beautiful USC campus was amazing. I got to attend two panels and received lots of free merch which included: bookmarks, stickers, and way too many tote bags. The booths I visited were Briarwick Candles which sold candle scents based on your favorite book characters. The candles smelled amazing, and their booth was interactive and so much fun.
The Festival of Books had many different panels from young adult writing to fiction storytelling, and romance. I was lucky enough to have sat in on the Romance: Taking Pleasure in Pleasure panel. The speakers of the panel were Thien-Kim Lam, Kennedy Ryan, Meryl Wilsner, and they were interviewed by Maureen Lee Lenker. This panel dealt around sex and romance and how speaking about pleasure has been a topic that has been stigmatized and seen as taboo. The authors touched on how they felt due to many not understanding the way sex is incorporated into romance books, and how they all have their different ways of writing about sex where it is not seen as a bad thing but turned around to now be looked at in a positive way. Many romance books are written by men who continue to perceive women as objects and never put their pleasure first. These three authors are shining light and changing the writing game for good. With their books “Full Exposure”, “Before I Let Go”, and “Mistakes Were Made”, women’s gratification is being focused on in a positive way where women don’t have to be ashamed about wanting pleasure. The panel provided so much insight into sex, relationships, and writing and all three authors were given a big round of applause at the end.
The second panel I was able to attend was with actress, producer, entrepreneur, and founder of CholaWood Productions, Kate del Castillo. She was interviewed by television host and producer, Jessica Maldonado. Castillo talked about her acting career where many of the roles offered to her were that of the cleaning lady, or the maid. Being Mexican Castillo felt as if these roles were diminishing and stereotypical. This led her to creating her own production company Cholawood Productions where she stated she can write her own roles and write roles for other Hispanic women where they’re not being offered roles that contribute to Hollywood’s stereotype writers and producers.
The event was such a success, I left with six new books, a vinyl, and so many other bookish goodies. If you love to socialize about books, network, get your books signed by many well-known authors, and listen to live music, make sure to check out The Festival of Books when it returns next year at the USC campus in the heart of Los Angeles.
Links for all the information will be linked below as well as some pictures of my time there!