Festivals

Alaskan Authors Head to National Book Festival

The Alaska Center for the Book selected authors Michael Engelhard and Debbie Miller to represent the state at the 2025 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. on September 6.

Engelhard’s Arctic Traverse, A Thousand-Mile Summer of Trekking the Brooks Range was published by Seattle’s Mountaineers Books in April 2024. The author released three books last year, the memoir Arctic Traverse (Mountaineers); an essay collected What the River Knows (Hancock House); and No Walk In The Park:Seeking Thrills, Eco-Wisdom, And Legacies In The Grand Canyon under his own imprint Corax Books. For more about how this author juggled three books in one year, see our June 2024 interview with him. Photo below provided of the author at book signings for his 2024 titles:

The environmental picture book Glaciers are Alive by Debbie Miller was illustrated by Jon Van Zyle. The book introduces young readers to the wonders of glaciers and was published by Charlesbridge in May 2023.

The National Center for the Book’s 2025 Great Reads from Great Places program features books and authors representing the unique literary heritage of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and Northern Marianas.  Since 2002, each Affiliate Center for the Book has selected a book written for children or young adults that reflects local literary talent and topics. In 2022, a selection for adult readers was added to the program.

“We are thrilled to showcase these two captivating books that highlight Alaska’s amazing natural wonders at this year’s National Book Festival,” said Patience Frederiksen, president of the Alaska Center for the Book, in her announcement of the 2025 selections

Representatives from the 56 affiliates of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress will staff tables promoting their book selections and state programs at the 2025 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. on September 6. Great Reads selections will be sold at the festival and placed on the permanent list of honored titles on the Library of Congress’s Great Reads from Great Places webpage.

More information about the National Book Festival can be found at https://www.loc.gov/events/2025-national-book-festival/ (photo from 2024 festival courtesy of LOC).

Book Publishers Northwest News is an all volunteer news site for indie authors and publishers located in the Pacific Northwest. Have a story idea? Submit it via the article form on the website or email us if you are a subscriber.

SABF Celebrates Creativity in May

The Seattle Art Book Fair (SABF) returns May 10 and 11, 2025, to Washington Hall. This free festival features artists and their books, book design, and independent publishing. This year’s fair will include more than 85 exhibitors, classes and presentations, and book-inspired art on display.

SABF defines art books, also known as artist books, as creations which use the medium of publishing or manufacturing a book as an artistic practice. Volumes seen at SABF can be handmade, offset-printed, letterpressed, photocopied, screen printed, or risographed.

The event celebrates creativity on many levels, with artists and their books using narrative, poetry, photography, and illustration to convey their message. Talks, activities, and installations from members of the arts community will take place throughout the weekend. A “launch party” will be held on Friday, May 9. To learn more, check SABF’s website at https://www.seattleartbookfair.org/ (home page of website shown below).

SABF is held at Washington Hall, 153 14th Avenue, in Seattle.

Additional West Coast art book fairs in 2025 include the LA Art Book Fair (May 15-18, 2025), Vancouver Art Book Fair (July 4-5, 2025) and the San Francisco Art Book Fair (July 11-13, 2025).

Book Publishers Northwest News is an indie news site devoted to the publishing scene in the Pacific Northwest. We welcome story suggestions! Use the contact form on the website https://bookpublishersnw.com/contact/.

DogEar Festival Returns in April

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art’s (BIMA) popular DogEar Festival returns to the island on April 4-6, 2025. Celebrating all things related to the unique art forms of Artists’ Books and printmaking, this immersive three-day event brings together artists, community, curators, scholars, and creatives for lectures, hands-on printmaking, a whimsical Edible Book “Chompetition,” a pop-up print market, a concert with the Bushwick Book Club, and more.

Alongside this year’s festival, BIMA’s current Artists’ Books exhibition, Power of the Presses, examines the creative potency of printing as a hallowed art form.

Events at DogEar include a lecture on Lushootseed alphabet. Power of the Presses offers more events at the museum before and after DogEar Festival.

DogEar festivalgoers can try hands-on art projects, enjoy live music, learn more about bookmaking as an art, and take home broadsides, posters, and zines by talented regional artists and printmakers.

The DogEar Festival is held at BIMA, located at 550 Winslow Way E, Bainbridge Island, WA. The festival starts at 5 pm to 8 pm on Friday, April 4, and runs 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday, April 5 and 6. DogEar offers a variety of activities for all ages. With the exception of the concert on Friday night, all activities, exhibitions, and presentations are free. Learn more at www.biartmuseum.org/events/dogear-festival-2025/.

Visitors can print their own memorabilia or visit Saint Rita’s traveling bookstore during the DogEar Festival.

Publishing Conferences and Book Fairs in 2025

Start marking the calendar with conferences and book fairs of interest to indie authors and publishers.

IBPA Publishing University: This year’s three-day conference will take place May 15–17, 2025 at the Intercontinental Saint Paul Riverfront in Saint Paul, MN. It will feature hands-on sessions, workshops, and other educational opportunities for independent, hybrid, and author publishers, as well as university and association presses. The Independent Book Publishers Association is in the process of finalizing the schedule. To find out more, check https://www.publishinguniversity.org/.

 U.S. Book Show: Formerly known as Book Expo America (BEA), this conference takes place in May 2025.  No details posted yet on the website but sign up for further information at https://usbookshow.com/.

Looking to sell books at book fairs? Connect with readers? Here’s a few ideas for the Pacific Northwest:

Get Lit! Festival, April 10-13, 2025; Spokane, Washington. The state’s “longest-running annual literary festival” (as per organizers) offers four days of readings, writing workshops, craft classes, panel discussions, literary happy hours, virtual events, and a book fair. Find more information at https://inside.ewu.edu/getlit/.

Worldcon 2025, August 13-17, 2025; Seattle, Washington. A giant international science fiction and fantasy convention that shifts cities every year, Worldcon is coming to Seattle. Applications for dealer tables and for author participation in panels are currently being accepted at https://seattlein2025.org/.

Portland Book Festival, November 8, 2025; Portland, Oregon. Run by Literary Arts, this festival offers spaces for authors to meet readers and sell books. Sign up for information at https://literary-arts.org/about/programs/portland-book-festival/.

We’ll be adding information on other book festivals and conferences as these become available. Staging an event of interest to indie authors and publishers? Send us the information at bpnwnews at aol.com.

Bainbridge Island Book Festival Launched

The owner of Eagle Harbor Bookstore, several Bainbridge Island authors, and enthusiastic readers have launched the Bainbridge Book Festival. The inaugural event takes place this October.

Nicola Yoon, the New York Times bestselling author of One of Our Kind, will be the keynote speaker at the Launch Party, October 4, at the Stan Pocock Legacy Rowing Center. Tickets, which support the nonprofit festival, will be $125 and include a copy of One of Our Kind. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.bainbridgebookfestival.org/.

The remainder of the Bainbridge Book Festival will take place October 5, 10am to 4pm.

Festival Saturday author events are free and open to all. These talks will take place at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (auditorium), the Bainbridge Island Senior/Community Center, and the Stan Pocock Legacy Rowing Center. The full list of participating authors can be seen here: https://www.bainbridgebookfestival.org/2024-festival/festival-saturday/.

Further information about the festival can be found at https://www.bainbridgebookfestival.org/. Bainbridge Island is located in the Puget Sound and can be reached from the mainland by bridge on the Kitsap County side and by ferry from Seattle, WA.

Thank you to Eagle Harbor Bookstore for the information on the festival. Screenshot from festival website. Have an event of interest to independent publishers and indie authors? Send it to bpnwnewnews at aol.com.