OKLAHOMA CITY – Book lovers will not want to miss a fun event being held at Oklahoma City’s Boathouse District.

The 2019 Oklahoma Book Festival will have something for all book fans ranging from book sales, live entertainment, poetry readings, craft activities and author presentations.

The Book Festival kicks off at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21, but the author presentations and panel sessions start at 10 a.m.

This year, visitors will have the chance to hear from the following authors:

• Scott Pelley, 60 Minutes correspondent and author of ‘Truth Worth Telling: A Reporter’s Search for Meaning in the Stories of Our Times’
• Anne Hillerman, award-winning mystery writer and author of ‘The Tale Teller’
• LeAnne Howe, Choctaw poet, fiction writer and author of ‘Savage Conversations’
• Brandon Mull, New York Times bestselling author of ‘Dragonwatch: Wrath of the Dragon King.’

Organizers say the festival will feature authors for all ages and a variety of genres.

“Because of the feedback from last year’s festival, this year we’ve added panels with authors who write romance and inspirational works,” Vicki Mohr said.

Other panels will feature children’s picture books, middle grade and young adult novels, mystery writers, non-fiction works, illustrators, historical fiction, true crime, bilingual children’s authors and comic books.

“The world of books is so diverse, we put together panels and presentations that will appeal to a diverse group of readers,” said Armstrong, director of the Oklahoma Center for the Book at Oklahoma Department of Libraries.

Final book signings will be held at 5 p.m. and the bookstore will remain open until 6 p.m.

“We’ve seen tremendous growth since our first book festival last year,” Mohr said. “We recruited about 50 authors to attend last year, and we now have more than 100 this year. In many cases, the authors and publishers came to us because they had heard of last year’s success.”

Attendance at the festival is free.