
Best-selling authors and AULA MFA faculty Tananarive Due and Gary Phillips presented their works during the Leimert Park Village Book Fair.
The Leimert Park Village Book Fair, a much-anticipated cultural tradition in the community, took place on Saturday, August 19, 2017. Best-selling and award-winning authors and MFA faculty Tananarive Due and Gary Phillips read their works during the festival alongside a long roster of brilliant writers, dreamers, and celebrity headliners. Due read from her latest novel Ghost Summer and Phillips read from his latest The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories Of Conspiracy Noir.
The Leimert Park Village Book Fair was voted “One of LA’s Five Best Annual Book Festivals” which is a testament to the hard work and support of the community. It was founded in 2007 by Cynthia E. Exum with the goal of promoting literacy and education in Los Angeles. The Leimert Park Village Book Fair was inspired by a project in February 1999 when Ms. Exum partnered with Our Authors Study Club, Inc. to present a ‘Festival of African American Authors’ at Los Angeles Southwest College. Its success in drawing 10 authors participating for an audience of 40 inspired the idea of creating an annual literary event. Today, the Annual Leimert Park Village Book Fair attracts over 200 authors, poets, spoken word artists, storytellers, performers, and literary/educational exhibitor participants – and boasts an audience of over 5,000.

AULA, an exhibitor at the Leimert Park Village Book Fair, talked to writers about i2p’s online writing courses and the MFA program’s Literary Journal Lunch Ticket.