Author Showcase and Book Festival [for Women Authors]

Schedule

Sat Jun 01 2024 at 11:00 am to 03:00 pm

Location

2689 Rosselle Street,Jacksonville,32204,US | Jacksonville, FL

Join us for an Author Showcase and Book Festival, because Readers Are Leaders!!
Are you a reader? Then you’re a leader! So join us for our third annual Author Showcase and Book Festival for Women Writers on June 1 as we celebrate the words, the wisdom, and the leadership of women and other underrepresented communities from the First Coast. Their words are leading us to a new future where diversity and critical thinking are celebrated.
WHERE
We’ll be meeting at CoRK Art Studios East, through the entrance off Roselle Street. Meet authors, grab a coffee and cheesecake, listen to readings, bring your kids to the Children's reading room, listen to panelists, enjoy book- and art-making workshops, or participate in several panel discussions. It's going to be grand!
WHY
At a time where the words of women, BIPOC, and LGBQTIA communities are literally being suppressed—we are offering the community an opportunity to meet face-to-face with a diverse group of authors, listen to their words, and celebrate their work.
WHO
We’re delighted to support the River City Readers literary campaign sponsored by Mayor Donna Deegan, so our focus this year is on literacy and leadership. River City Readers are Leaders! Our featured leader and speaker is State Rep. Angie Nixon, who recently opened a bookstore in Jacksonville along with her daughter. She will be speaking about the importance of access and representation of diverse books in all communities.
FEATURED AUTHORS
Our featured author is Jacksonville literary star Jennifer Chase, who recently published a book of love letters to Jacksonville. Jennifer's an author, poet, songwriter, musician, playwright, and professor, and we can't wait to hear her read, accompanied by a special musical guest, cellist Holly DeCardenas. We are also featuring local authors Pushpa Devi, author of The Lucky Lotus; Sharon Goldman, author of the children's book The Land of No: A Story of Positivity; and Sherri Jones, author of Finding Sherri. We will also hear from our partners Casey and Kati from Rebel Readers Florida and get a special presentation of readers from our latest Anthology edition, “And Justice for All.”
BOOKSTORE PANEL
Did you know Jacksonville boasts FIVE women-owned independent bookstores, including State Rep. Nixon? She will be speaking on a bookstore-owners panel with Desiree Bailey of San Marco Books and More, Vanessa Nicole of Femme Fire Books, Rona Brinlee of The BookMark and Dana Shutters of Happy Medium Bookstore. They will focus on how as women they have filled in the gaps in our current systems to ensure book access and representative content for all.
FUN WORKSHOPS AND ACTIVITIES
In addition to the panel, we’ll have a children’s reading room, a rotation of authors reading from 11-3, a book-making workshop by Hope McMath, a book illustration art workshop with our Zora Neale Hurston Fellows Teresa Cook and Emily Mitchell, a Young and Published Panel featuring our young authors, and much, much more.
BOOK GIVEAWAYS
Register to get free tickets for our raffle and giveaways on the hour. Sponsor FemmeFire Books will donate some fab books, and, the authors will each provide one copy of their books for the raffle. We're also grateful to our sponsors, Chamblin’s Bookmine Uptown, Root Realty, The Friends of Willow Branch Library, and Femme Fire Books.
FOOD AND FUN
PLUS, FOOD TRUCKS! Compass Eatery and Foodie Stop have already commmitted, and we are working on more. Meet us afterwards for a beer at Bold City Brewery!
We hope you’ll join us for a day of community, ideas, art, and literacy—because readers are leaders, and we need more great women leaders, changing the thinking of our world!
Learn more about the Florida Freedom to Read project HERE .
Learn more about the issue of banned books from Pen America HERE.
Learn more about gender imbalance in publishing here:
"Since the conception of the VIDA Count, " Amy King and Sarah Clark, VIDA's board of directors, wrote in a blog post, "one of the most common excuses leveled at our numbers has been that fewer women submit work, or, more brazenly, that women submit less marketable work. Now, it’s becoming clear that women and nonbinary people may “drop out” rather than attempt to fight a losing battle for justice, or to have to be in the company of men who abused them, or know their gatekeepers are more likely to side with their abuser in order to themselves benefit from these unbalanced power dynamics."

Where is it happening?

2689 Rosselle Street,Jacksonville,32204,US, United States

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

Host or Publisher Women Writing for a Change, Jacksonville

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