This year’s Kentucky Book Festival moves online with a series of virtual events starting Monday night.
Featuring more than a dozen pre-recorded and live events, it kicks off with a virtual conversation between novelist John Grisham, known for his legal thrillers, and best-selling author Kim Edwards, who has written books such as “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter.”
Staff of Kentucky Humanities, which puts on the festival, decided it was safest to make it virtual this year due to “the uncertainty of the pandemic,” according to its website.
Discussions tackle issues of craft, like how to get published, and crafting historical fiction, as well as subject matter, like Women’s Suffrage. The roster of writers also includes historian David Blight and award-winning Kentucky poet Frank X Walker.
The final day, Saturday, features sessions like “Understanding Appalachia: Journalistic Perceptions of a Region” with Matthew Algeo, Samantha NeCamp and Jeff Young (managing editor of the Ohio Valley ReSource, which is part of Louisville Public Media), as well as “Romance Writing” with J.R. Ward.