The Montana Book Festival celebrates the written word and the literature of the West with myriad author signings, readings, panel discussions, exhibits, workshops, and special events Sept. 20-25 in downtown Missoula.
More than 150 authors are expected to attend this year’s event, including Maile Meloy, Greg Pardlo, Paula McLain, Sunil Yapa, James Lee Burke, Eileen Myles, Kate Bernheimer, Brian Blanchfield, Anne Hillerman and many more.
Readings at The Wilma feature Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gregory Pardlo and poet, novelist, performer and art journalist Eileen Myles, 7 p.m. Sept. 23; and celebrated Montana novelist and short-story writer Maile Meloy with Shobha Rao, winner of the 2014 Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Fiction, and Leigh Stein, whose debut novel, The Fallback Plan, was rated “highbrow brilliant” by New York Magazine, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 24.
The Top Hat hosts an Author Luncheon featuring Richard Fifield (The Flood Girls) in conversation with Paula McLain, The New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed novel, The Paris Wife, and the new historical novel Circling the Sun, 11:30 a.m. Sept. 24 ($30).
Other confirmed authors include Sunil Yapa, James Lee Burke, Kate Bernheimer, Brian Blanchfield, and Anne Hillerman, to name a few.
Tell Us Something, a storytelling event that explores “The Fork in the Road,” launches the festival 7-9 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Top Hat ($8-$10). This year’s schedule also features last year’s popular addition, Pie and Whiskey, 9 p.m. Thursday at Shakespeare and Co.; the inaugural Literary Death Match, 9 p.m. Friday at The Wilma; and the annual Poetry Slam, hosted by Tahj Kjelland, 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Top Hat.
Call 541-0860 or visit www.montanabookfestival.org for a detailed schedule.
A Youth Book Festival, 10:30 a.m. Sept. 23-24 at the Missoula Public Library, brings together a diverse group of authors, illustrators and musicians with interactive programs for children, tweens and teens. Call 317-2667 or visit www.missoulapubliclibrary.org for details.