by Blake Herzog
It’s said all the time that Prescott is a town full of writers, but they tend to not be the most visible of subcultures.
The job requires a lot of time spent indoors or at least engrossed in a laptop, building imaginary worlds or laboring to make the real world make more sense to readers. They’re usually absorbed in reflection or research, and it can be difficult to track them down unless you’re already plugged into the scene.
Unless you’re at Prescott Public Library’s Local Author Fair, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 2.
The library is holding its second annual event, with about 30 fiction, nonfiction and children’s authors expected to set up tables and banter with people of all ages hoping to meet their favorite writer or discover new reading gems.
More than 100 people attended last year’s debut, making their way through a maze of tables to chat with veteran scribes and new, up-and-comers about their work and art, giving each group a window into the world of the other.
It also was a prime networking opportunity for the writers.
The idea was sparked by those writing for the youngest readers, says Jennifer Kendall, lead librarian, youth services.
“I’d been thinking about it prior to COVID because we get in the children’s department a lot of local authors bringing in books, and so many of them want to read at story time,” she says. “And so, it started me thinking, how can we give these authors a place to share their book, possibly read some of it? And it occurred to me that an author fair would be a good forum for that.”
Sarah Willadsen, lead librarian for adult services, says applications to participate in this year’s event are up from last year overall and especially from children’s and young adult writers. Both years the library has received more applications than can be accommodated, so organizers will strive for a well-rounded selection of writers.
She says the author’s fair is being fine-tuned this year, shortened from a six-hour event that some participants found hard to sit through, and there won’t be any author readings because the acoustics and setup of the room made it difficult to hear some of the speakers.
The writers will be able to sell their books from the tables, and books by the three published authors on the library’s staff will be available for checkout.
Last year, Willadsen says, “A good number of writers, if they didn’t already have books in the collection, they actually donated their copies so we could add them. We have a lot of author books in ‘local author books’ that are in our collection. They have a sticker on the spine, a little gray sticker that says ‘local author.’ So they’re easily identifiable if you’re going through our shelves.”
Free admission
Admission and participation will be free to everyone involved, Willadsen says, to attract as many residents as possible.
“I really hope that our community comes out to support the authors as well because there is a really rich population of writers here. But I don’t know that people realize just how many authors are in Yavapai County, and this gives them an opportunity to see what we have going on here, and maybe try out a book that they might not have tried before.”
Kendall says she likes the collaborative nature of the event and how it brings writers from different genres and writing for different audiences.
“What I like about the activity is that it’s a collaboration between adult services and youth services. I like that Sarah and I get to work together on this project, and it’s just a goodwill gesture for the community to get the authors from the community to the library, and we get to meet them and we’re giving them a platform to support them in sharing their books,” she says.
For updated information visit www.prescottlibrary.info or the library’s Facebook page.
