The seventh annual “Easton Book Festival,” Oct. 13 to Oct. 23, has 70 events at 10 locations with more than 100 authors.

There will be panel discussions, workshops, readings, storytelling, book expos and sales, a zine exchange, and poetry open mics. The event is free and open to the public.

Program themes include mystery, horror, science-fiction, memoir, poetry and politics.

Venues include Sigal Museum, Easton Area Public Library, Book and Puppet Company, Quadrant Book Mart, Connexions Gallery, Easton Farmer’s Market, and The Journey Home.

Lafayette College is lead sponsor.

Andy Laties, co-founder and ex officio director of the festival, says its mission is community development and expression:

“We don’t focus on famous authors or books by big publishing companies, but feature small or self-published books.”

Laties is co-owner of Easton’s Book and Puppet Co., an independent bookstore, “community living room,” arts events venue, and one of the festival’s locations.

He says the festival’s special project this year continues the tradition of bringing authors into schools:

“Easton has eight elementary and one middle school. We plan to give a book to each child in those schools, which will be over 5,000 books.”

Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich will present 16 assemblies at elementary schools. Jordan Sonnenblick will present eight assemblies at Easton Area Middle School.

The Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group (GLVWG) is presenting programs, including a game show, “A Dark and Stormy Night,” which the group has done at libraries and group homes.

Says GLVWG member Phil Giunta, “Three authors read from their works in three-minute rounds, and the audience picks the winner. We also quiz members of the audience with literary questions, giving books as prizes.”

Book festivals such as Easton’s are important for people to find out about local authors, who have to compete with the much larger resources of major publishers. “Discoverability is the biggest challenge for authors, who often have to rely on in person contact or word of mouth,” says Giunta.

E. Lynn Alexander, poet and co-vice president of the festival, says that an open mic in Easton’s Centre Square will kick off this year’s festival: “It is an event that has been well-attended. We welcome everyone, both experienced poets and people not used to performing at open mics. We want to include as many people as possible.”

Alexander’s favorite at the book festival is “Wicked Brew,” a Halloween-themed event Oct. 16, featuring music, poetry and an open mic.

Hearing poems read aloud adds an extra element. “People can share the experience together, and see what the person reading them is feeling. It creates a sense of community,” says Alexander.

Laties and his wife moved to the Lehigh Valley in 2017. “I saw that Easton was a festival town, but I wondered, Where is the book festival?,” Laties says.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Laties was children’s program coordinator for Printer’s Row Lit Fest, Chicago, which attracted 100,000.

“In 2019, the first year of the Easton festival, we had 200 authors with 28 tables. Then the pandemic hit. The second one was entirely online. It ran for a month, with events every night. Since then, we have always had a couple of things online,” says Laties.

The festival will present Lehigh Valley Zine Exchange, for small publications, Oct. 18.

You might think the Internet would have limited print works, but Laties points out, “These can be very frank and uninhibited. There are things you can’t do online.

“The Internet is not necessarily a safe space anymore. Things are surveilled and analyzed. With a zine, you are not subject to trolling and random insults, and in an exchange you can meet your neighbors in the real world,” Laties says.

“Easton Book Festival,” Oct. 13 - Oct. 23, various locations. Free and open to the public. Schedule: https://eastonbookfestival.com/

“Literary Scene” is a column about authors, books and publishing. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com