Readers, writers and storytelling enthusiasts are gearing up for the Las Vegas Book Festival. This annual event, now its 22nd year, offers a day filled with book-related activities, panels and workshops for all ages.
“It’s Nevada’s longest-running literary festival. It’s been going on for 22 years and has gone through a lot of iterations,” says Maggie Plaster, deputy director of cultural affairs for the City of Las Vegas. “We have some great partners like Nevada Humanities and NV Energy that help us with the festival. It’s a really special community event for Las Vegas.”
As with years past, this year’s festival programming is rich with variety. The literary committee, headed by primary programmer Brian Garth, has been at work since the moment last year’s festival concluded, Plaster says, making a festival that has something for everyone—romance readers, history buffs, science fiction enthusiasts and more.
This year’s fest includes its share of big names, including The House in the Pines author Ana Reyes, They Want to Kill Americans author Malcolm Nance, and Terry McMillan, author of Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back.
“I’m always excited about the headliners, because I do read their books before they come to the festival,” says Plaster. “I hear that Rebecca Yarros has a huge fan following.”
The panel discussions look every bit as interesting, with a panel of female horror and thriller authors and a pinball panel moderated by Pinball Hall of Fame founder Tim Arnold.
But one panel, held in the aptly-named Empowered Tent, looks especially compelling: the Women Behind The Mic panel, moderated by Dr. LaJoyce Brookshire.
In the 1990s, Brookshire was the director of publicity at Arista Records, where she worked with big names like Notorious B.I.G., Sean “Puffy” Combs and Usher.
Although she helped create marketing strategies for these then up-and-coming hip hop artists, women like Brookshire were not always given credit for their contributions. The panel is named after the book she co-authored (with former Bad Boy Records marketing director Michelle Joyce), which focuses on the women who helped build the music industry, rewriting them into history through their stories.
“I am one of those women. We are the women who worked behind the scenes in the entertainment industry, with the most iconic artists and brands of all time,” says Brookshire.
Panelists Vida Dyson-Nash, Dr. Stone Love and Gwendolyn Quinn are all women who have made their mark and are ready to tell their own stories. Their experiences will provide invaluable insight into what it takes to get into the industry, how to stay there and the skills they’ve learned along the way.
It’s also a plus that all four have crossed paths in their professional and personal lives, which should make for a fluid conversation.
“It’s important because it’s time that young women get to see women who’ve done important work—that’s invaluable,” says Brookshire. “We are committed to teaching the next generation about careers in the entertainment industry as a viable option.”
LAS VEGAS BOOK FESTIVAL October 21, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., free. Historic Fifth Street School, lasvegasbookfestival.com.
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