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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2016)
S EPT . 24, 2016 • F LORENCE F ESTIVAL OF B OOKS 5 A Brief History BOOK FAIR EVOLVES OVER THE YEARS T he Florence Festival of Books has evolved into more than a book fair for authors and publishers. Here’s a little history. Since the first year was such a steep learn- ing curve, no major changes took place the second year. In response to several requests from authors who wanted to read from their books, we added a Reader’s Corner during our third year. We located it within the dis- play area, which turned out to be too noisy, and we didn’t have microphones available. We also didn’t publicize it enough, so there were few people to listen to the authors read. In the fourth year, we worked out those problems, and the Featured Readers was a grand success. We also added Friday evening activities — a Meet and Greet and a Keynote Speaker. We didn’t publicize the Keynote Speaker enough and ended up with a rather small audience for a really terrific speaker. So the following years, we’ve increased publicity and changed the Meet and Greet to be only for the book fair partic- ipants and their family members. Following last year’s success of introducing the Publisher’s Panel, we decided feature the other end of the writing world by offering an Authors’ Panel. It takes place on Friday, Sept. 23, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. The panel is in response to the many queries from attendees about how to become published. So plan to attend both the Author’s Panel in the afternoon and the Keynote Speaker, New York Times Best Selling author Phillip Margolin, at 7 p.m. We hope you attend both Friday and Saturday events and let us know what you think. That’s how we evolve and improve. —Judy Fleagle, Co-founder & Secretary Florence Festival of Books Florence author Burney Garelick offering her latest book at this year’s festival The sixth annual Florence Festival of Books will be providing the stage for an eclectic array of words when a plethora of authors from near and far offers its works to readers of all persuasions. Local author and entertainment writer Burney Garelick will be dis- playing four books, including her latest book, “Also Selected Short Subjects,” which is a collection of stories that includes a couple of eccentric octogenarian sleuths, four-legged friends, senior improvi- sations, proportional choices, lep- rechauns and the origin of a biblio- phile. Last year, Garelick published her novel “Big Dunes, Gold Doubloons, Coffee Spoons and Loony Tunes,” which she describes as a “rollicking ride over the Oregon dunes with Diva and her reluctant Gallic spouse.” Garelick’s first two books, “It’s Not Over. . . Mornings at the Met” and “Mew & Cry . . . Catcalls from the Box,” include reviews of Metropolitan Opera performances from seasons 2013-14 and 2014-15 as seen live on a big screen in Newport. If you’ve ever wondered what’s so grand about opera but have been reluctant to take the first step, you’re not alone. “That’s how I felt,” Garelick said, “until I took a deep breath, plunged in and became so entranced that I wanted to share the experience. Even if you’ve always loved opera, you’ll be amused by the reviews.” September in Florence is a time for turning leaves and turning pages. “Come by my table and take a gander,” said Garelick.
