The fourth annual Book Festival will be a “real supermarket of writers,” UW-Eau Claire English professor and nonfiction writer John Hildebrand said of the writers scheduled to talk during the weekend.

Events will be held on campus and at central locations within the Chippewa Valley Friday through Sunday. Admission to the event is free.

The festival is important for two reasons, said Ruth Cronje, assistant English professor and Eau Claire Literary Arts Committee member.

“It’s a local opportunity to celebrate literary arts for an entire week(end). The caliber of writers are world class,” she said.

The event’s name was amended this year from the Festival of Trees to clarify its purpose. It is sponsored by the university, the Eau Claire Literary Arts Committee and the L.E. Phillips Memorial Library, 400 Eau Claire St.

Crossroad Books, 301 S. Barstow St., is the event’s official headquarters. Memorial Library’s programming and reference librarian Bess Arneson said the library will provide space for panelist discussions. It purchased books published by the featured authors and devoted a full page of its monthly newsletter to advertising the event.

Arneson said preparation for this year’s event began as soon as the conclusion of last year’s festival. However, the level of work pertaining to the event increased during the summer.

“(The committee) was working on it all year long,” she said, “because to get some of these authors, you have to know at least a year ahead of time to book them.”

Events include the Poetry Grand Slam at 7 p.m. Friday at Acoustic Caf‚, 505 S. Barstow St. Twelve poets will be featured who are the top poets from two previous October slams. Five audience members are randomly chosen to judge the three-minute poetry presentations.

“They read anything,” said Shannon Bodin, co-founder of the Grand Slam tournament. “We hear all different types and all different ages. The people that stand out are more performance oriented. They’re usually pretty humorous.”

The top four scoring poets will receive prize packages donated by area businesses. Normally, participants in regular slams receive Acoustic Caf‚ gift certificates.

“There’s really nothing like it in the area,” Bodin said. “The poets come because it’s one of the regular open readings in the area, and the audience comes because it’s a lot of fun to watch.”

Schofield Auditorium, the Schlegelmilch-McDaniel House, 517 S. Farwell St., the L.E. Phillips Memorial Library and the Chippewa Valley Museum will feature writers ranging from Cream City Review editor and Eau Claire alumna Beth Bretl to Hmong-American author Mai Neng Moua.

“It’s open to anyone who’s interested in writing or in reading,” Hildebrand said. “There’s some real talent around here.”

Those who won
Winners of the Young Writers’ Contest will share submissions on Saturday 3:45-5:15 in the Acoustic Caf‚. Five university creative writing students volunteered to judge poetry and prose submitted by elementary and middle school students (third grade to eighth grade).

Poet and children’s author Michael Dennis Browne, short story author Peter Ho Davies and fiction writer Andrew Sean Greer will discuss genre and style at 7:30-9 p.m. Saturday in Schofield Auditorium.

“A Backward Glance-Writing about your Life” will be held from 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Schlegelmilch-McDaniel House, 517 S. Farwell St. Writing instructor and spiritual director Elizabeth Andrew, journalist David Benjamin, novelist Ken Parejko and non-fiction writer Dave Wood will discuss how to craft memoirs, essays and novels reflecting life experiences.

Founder of the “Poetry Against War” campaign to counter United States’ policy in the Iraqi conflict, poet and translator Sam Hammill will host “Poetry, Translating, Publishing, and Poets Against War” from 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday in the Eau Claire Room at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library.

After that presentation, between 2-3:30 p.m., Cream City Review editor and Eau Claire alumna Beth Bretl, Wisconsin Academy Review editor Joan Fischer, Speakeasy editor Bart Schneider and Hamill, founder of the Copper Canyon Press will be featured. Panelists will discuss current issues in literature.

Simultaneously, “Reading and Discussion: Love, Sexuality, Spirituality and the Creative Process,” featuring Andrew and poets Bill Reichard and Sidney Wade will be presented in the L.E. Philips Memorial Public Library.

ÿFollowing those presentations will be Davies, Greer and Hildebrand, who will host “Fiction, Fact, Story” from 3:45-5:15 p.m.

Hammill will host a poetry reading 7:30-9 p.m. Saturday in Schofield Auditorium. Hmong-American author Mai Neng Moua will discuss Hmong culture and Hmong-American literature Sunday 2-3 p.m. in the Chippewa Valley Museum.