Twentynine Palms Book Festival returns with over 100 guest authors and new offsite events
This year’s Book Festival is bigger than ever with over 20 panel discussions going on all-day, every-day this weekend. The opening panel is at 9:30 a.m. Friday, and panels don’t stop until past 6 p.m. Get up bright and early on Saturday to hear about fantasy, sci-fi, and horror at 8:30 a.m. And it’s another busy day of panels past 6 p.m. Sunday is from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The panels include six special VIP talks. Brook Flagg will talk about her book covering the importance of the Mojave desert to the band U2. That’s at 2:30 p.m. on Friday. Then, at 5 p.m., Deanne Stillman will revisit her 2001 true crime novel titled, “Twentynine Palms,” about a double homicide that happened here in 1991. And at 6 p.m., Kate Sterlin will talk about her first book, “Still Life: Photographs & Love Stories,” which blends her photography and writing together.
On Saturday at 2 p.m., Obi Kauffman, who wrote and illustrated “The California Field Atlas” will talk about his new, illustrated manifesto about conservation. At 3 p.m., civil rights attorney, author, and Holocaust survivor Thomas Jacobson will talk about the changing face of prejudice in a digital age. Sunday at 12:30 p.m., Gerard Gibbons will talk about his Fight for Glory series and how sports unite immigrant communities.
This year also includes three off-site events. You’re invited to the Twentynine Palms cemetery at 7 p.m. on Friday for an atmospheric storytelling event. Noir in the Boneyard will include authors reading excerpts from their own crime and noir fiction works, full of mystery and suspense.
Don’t worry if spooky isn’t your style. There are live reading events on Saturday and Sunday as well that won’t have you scared of your shadow. Saturday at 7 p.m. is Voices of the Desert at The Palms in Wonder Valley. Several authors will share excerpts celebrating the Mojave Desert. Sunday at 1 p.m. is the Poetry Happy Hour at 29 Palms Inn. Several authors will share original work on multiple topics, also including the California desert. All three events are free but require a sign-up due to limited space.
And it wouldn’t be the Book Festival without the keynote book fair. It will run every day this weekend from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. It’s all happening inside the Twentynine Palms Community Center at 6547 Freedom Way, right next to Freedom Plaza.
