The Hot Springs Book Festival, which was canceled in September 2021 due to increased cases of COVID-19, has been rescheduled for April, the Garland County Library announced on Friday.
The festival was originally going to be held from Sept. 17-18, 2021, and was set to feature book signings by several popular authors, including many who are local.
The rescheduled festival will take place April 7-9 and include book talks, sellings, signings and other events at various venues, and feature authors David Hill, Corabel Shofner and Nate Powell, along with other yet-to-be-announced authors.
"This festival will celebrate authors with specific ties to Hot Springs and Arkansas," the release said.
All events are free, but registration is required. The public can register for each event through the library's website at http://www.gclibrary.com beginning Feb. 1.
The festival will begin Thursday, April 7, at Vapors Live, 315 Park Ave., with Hot Springs native David Hill, who will talk about his book "The Vapors: A Southern Family, the New York Mob, and the Rise and Fall of Hot Springs, America's Forgotten Capital of Vice."
"With a venue as fitting as The Vapors itself, you're invited to come enjoy a night of unbelievably true stories about Hot Springs and jazz from the Hot Springs Jazz Society," the release said.
Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show will start at 7:15 p.m. Festival shirts will be available to purchase as a fundraiser for the Literacy Council of Garland County.
Events for Friday, April 8, will be announced at a later date, the release said.
On Saturday, April 9, Corabel Shofner will talk about her children's novel "Almost Paradise," which features a quick trip through Hot Springs, at 10:30 a.m. in the library's auditorium. A book signing will follow.
Little Rock native Nate Powell will join the festival virtually to discuss his career as a graphic novelist. Powell is best known for his graphic novel "Swallow Me Whole," and his illustration of the March trilogy, the autobiographical series written by late U.S. Congressman John Lewis and Andrew Aydin.
The festival is presented by the Garland County Library, Literacy Council of Garland County, and NPC Adult Education.
Additional details will be announced in the coming weeks, according to the release. More information is available on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/hotspringsbookfestival.