The idea for the literary festival grew out of FloridaRAMA’s gift shop, which carries books by local authors, including Pye’s “Mummy Eats A Gummy,” and “Where the Florida Things Live,” written by Alice Absolutely and illustrated by Kostar.
FloridaRAMA initially reached out to some of those authors about participating in a small literary event. Interest quickly grew beyond those initial conversations, Baird said, prompting her to devote more time to organizing a larger festival.
“It happened very organically,” she said. “The community itself wanted it to happen.”
That response has continued as the event approaches. FloridaRAMA has had to rent additional tables because of the number of participating authors and vendors, and the venue has already heard from people interested in taking part in a future festival.
“So it’s not a one and done. We absolutely want to keep doing these,” she said.