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Raise a toast to the Las Vegas Valley Book Festival

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Illustration: Wes Gatbonton

We see that you’ve reached 10 years, Vegas Valley Book Festival. Congratulations, and thank you. Thanks for hosting a literary event in a community that’s often shrugged off by the rest of the world as culturally deprived. You place our creative and intellectual might on a pedestal, remind us who we are and inspire us.

It’s been a great ride, and we’ve grown up with you. There was that windy weekend back at the Henderson Pavilion when we lined up to have our books signed on a chilly day. And the poetry bus tour that plopped us into diverse galleries on First Friday. And that night when Sarah Vowell made us all laugh out of our seats. And who knew former U.S. poet laureate Kay Ryan was so funny?

The list goes on—John Irving, Tom Robbins, Rudolfo Anaya, Walter Mosley, Chuck Palahniuk—600 authors and speakers in all. My personal favorite? The actors’ reading of Salinger’s A Perfect Day for Bananafish at Don’t Tell Mama.

Happy Anniversary.

We look forward to the next 10.

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Previous Discussion:

  • The Women Behind The Mic panel focuses on the women who helped build the music industry, rewriting them into history through their stories.

  • Featured authors Terry McMillan, Malcolm Nance, Rebecca Yarros and Ana Reyes headline a free, all-ages festival that has something for everyone who loves to read.

  • "It’s super pulpy, gory crime stories. It’s bad people meeting bad ends.”

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