It’s the time of year when things get busier at the State Library of Louisiana. 

Soon, on November 2, 2024, the Louisiana Book Festival—the state’s flagship book festival—will take place. Hosted by the Louisiana Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Library of Congress, this year’s festival will be the twentieth edition, a milestone that wasn’t guaranteed when the first one was held in 2002. 

“We hoped it would catch on,” said Robert Wilson, assistant director of the Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana, who was hired to help start the festival. “There were two years it couldn’t happen. It hasn’t only survived. It’s thrived.” 

 “The Center’s goal is to promote literacy, reading, and local authors and publishers,” said Jim Davis, executive director of the center, who’s led the festival since 2008. “The book festival has more than helped us do that, and it’s recognized across the country as a go-to literary destination for visitors and authors.” 

“More than 21,000 people attended last year,” said State Librarian Meg Placke. “A great mix of new and returning authors and recurring programs attracts new attendees and keeps others coming.” 

“We also feature many aspects of Louisiana’s culture, such as food, music, and art,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, under whom the State Library operates. “In fact, the festival’s artwork is done by a different Louisiana artist every year.” 

The festival attracts about two hundred authors who take part in more than one hundred programs. An invitation to participate is one that many writers jump at, especially after they launch a new book. This year, for example, Steve Gleason, former Saints safety, and Jeff Duncan, a sports columnist with the Times-Picayune and the Advocate, will discuss A Life Impossible, which documents Gleason’s life before and after his 2011 ALS diagnosis. 

While this year’s presentations are still being finalized, other fest favorites are set to return. Featured authors will teach WordShops, writing workshops that focus on various genres, the day before the festival. One Book One Festival celebrates its fifteenth year; festival participants read a selected book in advance and come together to discuss it. This year’s selection is The Optimist’s Daughter, Eudora Welty’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, which begins in New Orleans during Carnival.  

The festival kicks off with the annual presentation of the Louisiana Writer Award. This year’s recipient—the twenty-fifth—is poet and author David Kirby. He and his wife, poet Barbara Hamby, will host a poetry workshop the day before the festival. 

Another highlight has been the inclusion of the National Student Poets, recipients of the country’s highest honor for young poets. This group of five students hailing from all across the United States returns to the festival for an unprecedented third consecutive year. 

“We’ve grown a book festival that Louisiana can be proud of,” Davis said. “We know of many Louisianans who use the festival as an opportunity to come home.”  

Louisianabookfestival.org.