The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books began in 1996 with a simple goal: to bring together the people who create books with the people who love to read them. The festival was an immediate success and has become the largest and most prestigious book festival in the country, attracting more than 130,000 book lovers each year.
Chris Abani is a Nigerian poet and novelist and the author of the award-winning books Song of Night and Graceland . He is a professor at UC Riverside and is the recipient of many literary awards.
Kim Addonizio is the author of two novels and five books of poetry, including Ordinary Genius: A Guide for the Poet Within. She has also received a Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships and a Pushcart Prize. She lives in Oakland and can be visited at www.kimaddonizio.com.
Sesshu Foster has taught composition and literature in East Los Angeles for 20 years. His work has been published in The Oxford Anthology of Modern American Poetry and the XCP: Streetnotes journal. Foster is the author of City Terrace Field Manual and World Ball Notebook.
Douglas Kearney, a Cave Canem fellow, received an MFA in writing at the California Institute of the Arts, where he now teaches. He has published and performed his work in a number of publications and venues. His most recent collection of poetry is Fear, Some.
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