The annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will be held at University of Southern California’s University Park Campus on Saturday, April 22, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, April 23, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The event began in 1996 with a simple goal: to bring together the people who create books with the people who love to read them. Since then, the festival has grown into a vibrant celebration of all of the arts. Each year, over 150,000 people come to USC to experience a gathering of writers, poets, artists, filmmakers and musicians like no other. This is the largest festival of its kind in the U.S. and is The Times’ annual gift to the city.
Among the many speakers and topics are:
• Stan Yogi and Laura Atkins, co-authors of “Fred Korematsu Speaks Up,” at “Fact or Fiction: Activism for Kids in a New Political Era,” Sunday, 11:30 a.m., Hoy Stage, Signing Area 6
• Velina Hasu Houston, associate dean of faculty development and recognition, director of the MFA program in dramatic writing, resident playwright, and professor at the USC School of Dramatic Arts; Kip Fulbeck, author of “Mixed: Portraits of Multiracial Kids,” “Part Asian, 100% Hapa,” and “Permanence: Tattoo Portraits,” and creator of the multimedia Hapa Project; and Duncan Williams, associate professor of religion and director of the Ito Center at USC, author of “Camp Dharma: Buddhism and the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II,” editor of “Hapa Japan” and founder of the Hapa Japan Database Project, at “Hapa: Mixed-Race Identity and Representation,” Saturday, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., Wallis Annenberg Hall, Signing Area 10
• Sarah Kuhn, author of “Heroine Complex,” the first in a series of novels starring Asian American superheroines, at “Science Fiction and Fantasy from All Angles,” Saturday, 2 to 3 p.m., Hoffman Hall, Signing Area 1
• Joe Ide, whose debut novel is “IQ,” the first in a series following a young black detective, at “Crime Fiction: Walking the Line,” Sunday, 3 p.m., Seeley G. Mudd 123, Signing Area 4
• Kate Maruyama, author of “Harrowgate,” at “Fiction: Slightly Surreal,” Sunday, 12 p.m., Seeley G. Mudd 123, Signing Area 4
• Yumi Sakugawa, author of “I Think I Am in Friend-Love with You,” “Your Illustrated Guide to Becoming One with the Universe” and “There Is No Right Way to Meditate,” in “Nonfiction: The Home DIY Revolution,” Sunday, 12 to 1 p.m., Annenberg Auditorium, Signing Area 3
• Amy Uyematsu will read from her poetry collection “Basic Vocabulary” with bass accompaniment by Taiji Miyagawa, Sunday, 2 to 2:20 p.m., Poetry Stage, Signing Area 5
• Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times education reporter and former Tokyo correspondent and bureau chief, at “How to Navigate Education in California,” Sunday, 2:30 to 3:10 pm., L.A. Times Central
• Jen Yamato, Los Angeles Times film reporter, at “Diversity in Hollywood,” Sunday, 3:40 to 4:20 p.m., L.A. Times Central
• Kimi Yoshino, Los Angeles Times morning assignment editor for Metro and key editor of The Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of corruption in bell, at “Trumponomics: California Business Under the New Political Order,” Saturday, 2:30 to 3:10 p.m., L.A. Times Central
Free admission. Some events require tickets. For a complete schedule, visit http://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/.