LOUISIANA BOOK FESTIVAL HAS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE THIS SATURDAY

The 10th annual Louisiana Book Festival, a celebration of readers, writers and their books, returns 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, in Capitol Park in downtown Baton Rouge.

This milestone festival will feature presentations by local and national bestselling writers; panel discussions; activities for children and teens; and live music and food.

The 2012 festival attracted more than 21,000 attendees. As part of Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne’s and the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism’s yearlong salute to Louisiana music, the festival will feature author presentations on music-related books including Creole Trombone: Kid Ory and the Early Years of Jazz by John McCusker, Traditional Music of Coastal Louisiana: The 1934 Lomax Recordings by Joshua Caffery and Unconquered: The Saga of Cousins Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimmy Swaggart, and Mickey Gilley by J.D. Davis.

Other participating authors include Rod Dreher, Tom Franklin, Beth Ann Fennelly, Nathaniel Rich and Kent Wascom. For a complete list of participating authors with biographies, visit www.LouisianaBookFestival.org. 

After a yearlong hiatus the popular cooking demonstration tent is returning and will include demonstrations by chefs and cookbook authors such as Kit Wohl and Poppy Tooker.

A variety of writing WordShops are scheduled for the day before the festival, including a nonfiction writing session led by Rick Bragg and a songwriting class taught by singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier, whose The Foundling was listed as a Favorite Album of 2010 by the Los Angeles Time. Registration for WordShops is available at www.LouisianaBookFestival.org.

The 2013 Louisiana Book Festival will also be hosting Duck Dynasty’s Alan Robertson for a discussion of The Duck Commander Devotional.

Robertson will discuss his book at 11 a.m. in the State Capitol Senate Chamber. A book signing will follow at noon in the book sales and signings tent.

The Duck Commander Devotional, released Oct. 15, immediately went to the top of Amazon.com’s devotional, inspirational and hunting bestseller lists. 

The devotional comes in both brown and pink camouflage covers. It includes an inspirational message, Bible verses and a prayer for every day of the year along with the Duck Dynasty characters’ trademark humor. Several cast members contributed to the devotional, including Phil and Miss Kay, their sons Willie, Jase, Jep and their wives and children — and, of course, Uncle Si.

Alan, the oldest son of Duck Commander Phil Robertson and his wife Miss Kay, was a pastor for 22 years before returning in 2012 to the family’s duck call business — the subject of A&E’s mega-hit TV show Duck Dynasty. 

Alan is the only Robertson son without a beard. He and his wife Lisa have two grown daughters and two granddaughters. They live in West Monroe.

For more information or to volunteer, visit www.LouisianaBookFestival.org. Also look for book festival updates on Facebook and Twitter.