Gathered at the 30th Los Angeles Times Book Festival on the USC campus on Saturday, packing up the sold-out panels and awaiting signatures of their favorite authors in a huge way.
Readings for the annual festival, screenings and panels with authors and other speakers. This weekend, more than 550 storytellers are expected to bring together in seven outdoor stages and 15 indoor venues.
It is too early to know how many people are attending the event as of Saturday noon. But on a rainy morning with sunshine, one organizer said the festival looked “super crowded” and estimated that by the end of the day, 85,000 people will attend.
At noon Saturday, more than 100 people gathered at the Eileen Norris Cinema theater to listen to authors Ea Hanks, Laurie Woolever, Sloane Crosley and Kareem Rosser discuss writing and handling grief with host Elizabeth Crane.
The author reflects on the nature and stages of grief in an hour-long panel. Many went through double losses – into their writing process thinking they would reflect on one loss, but just to cause another.
“Even if these five stages do exist, it’s so nonlinear.”
There are moments of humor in the writer’s tragic narrative. The crowd laughed as Crosley and Hanks laughed at the good Spotify playlist.
Crosley was in “Sadness is for people,” lost jewelry in the burglary until she was also forced to ignore the jewelry that lost her best friend and mentor to commit suicide.
Hanks, the author of “10”, is a memoir who travels alone on Interstate 10, trying to deal with the life and death of her mother and the death of her close friends. She is the daughter of Tom Hanks and his first wife, Susan Dillingham, who used the stage name of Samantha Lewes.
Hanks also shared some of her insights on the sad process.
“If someone was there and tried to write, then you knew it would be better,” Hanks said of “Suffocation” after receiving her first book deal. “It took a decade, so the catharsis of the publication…is about my creative recovery.”
The festival begins Friday night at the 45th Los Angeles Times Awards ceremony at the Bovard Auditorium at the University of Southern California. These awards recognize outstanding literary achievements and celebrate the author’s highest writing quality at all stages of his career.
The winners announced 13 categories in their works published last year. Find one List of winners.
Additionally, award-winning writer Pico Iyer received the Robert Kirsch Award for his lifelong achievements and celebrated the Innovator Award for his Innovator for promoting literacy, enhancing youth capabilities and raising awareness of important issues.
The ceremony opened with a speech by Times executive editor Terry Tang, and was hosted by Times columnist LZ Granderson.
“In a world that feels so confusing and painful now, this weekend gives us all the opportunity to find a sense of unity, purpose and support,” said Don.
