The Oct. 3 Story Lane Book Fair and Market at the Reading Public Library is bringing together the best not only in local literature, but also nationally renowned authors as well. <\/p>\n
The book fair\u2019s organizers, Barrio Alegria and the Reading Public Library, announced Monday the celebration of literature will feature award winning authors from across the region and nation, including poet, author, and performer Javier \u00c1vila. <\/p>\n
\u00c1vila has published nine books of poetry and fiction and has performed his one-man show, \u201cThe Trouble with My Name,\u201d in over 100 cities across the country. <\/p>\n
\u00c1vila has received the William Aguilar Cultural Award from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education; 2016 Hispanic Leader of the Year Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce; the Poetry Award from Instituto de Cultura Puertorrique\u00f1a; and the Olga Nolla Poetry Award, among other accolades. <\/p>\n
\u00c1vila is slated to give his keynote remarks at 4 p.m. inside the library, after poetry workshops and a panel discussion on publishing for aspiring authors. <\/p>\n
Anthony Orozco, director of operations for Barrio Alegria, said having \u00c1vila and the other others to the book fair is a testament to the power of telling stories from diverse communities. <\/p>\n
\u201cBringing this sort of talent, especially during Hispanic Heritage Month in a city with such a proud Puerto Rican history, is really monumental,\u201d Orozco said. \u201cThis is more than a keynote speaker presentation, this is acknowledging where we are in our journey as a community and our abilities as literary creators.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00c1vila joins local award winning authors at the book fair, such as Lizette Epps, winner of the 2024 BookFest Book Awards\u2019 Non-fiction Category in Society & Social Sciences on Race, Class, Culture, & Religion; and Laurel Radzieski, who won the 2026 Halcyon Award for Poetry.<\/p>\n
Entry to the book fair is free and open to the public and will feature children activities in the early afternoon and a market with food trucks, performances, and local vendors selling their works and other items for bookworms of all interests. <\/p>\n
Story Lane starts at 1 p.m. inside the library, with the outdoor market beginning at 4 pm. While the library closes at 6 pm, the outdoor night market continues until 9 pm. Organizers remind attendees that on-street parking is free after 6 p.m. and the 4th & Cherry Streets Reading Parking Authority garage is conveniently located right across the street from the bustle of the market. <\/p>\n
Daniel Egusquiza, community engagement supervisor for the Reading Public Library, has been integral in crafting the book fair based on community input. <\/p>\n
According to Egusquiza, among the many reasons to read books is a special gem of the human spirit \u2013 recognizing the beauty of our lives and their potential. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen local authors write about streets, families, losses and small miracles they have experienced, they do more than tell a story; they give us a chance to encounter ourselves in language,\u201d Egusquiza said. \u201cPerhaps that is our obligation. Not merely to make room for books to be sold, but for our people to see our lives written down, passed on and understood.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Oct. 3 Story Lane Book Fair and Market at the Reading Public Library is bringing together the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[128,130,129],"class_list":["post-283588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}