Children’s shows, book panel discussions, workshops, parties, poetry readings and many other events involving books are coming to the Eighth annual Easton Book Festival, Oct. 12 to Oct. 18.

Darrell Parry, president of the board of directors, Easton Book Festival, wearing a T-shirt that states “Read More Poetry” at a coffee shop in the College Hill neighborhood of Easton, says:

“We expect over 200 authors. There will be more than 100 programs with 14 venues, including author visits to schools plus virtual programs. They will visit every school in Easton, except high schools.”

There will be children’s events at the Easton Area Public Library. Many local authors will have booths Oct. 17 at the Easton Farmers Market and Oct. 18 at the Sigal Museum.

There will be open mics and readings at the Book and Puppet Co., the Quadrant Book Shop, and the Easton Public Market. There will also be an open mic Oct. 16 at Easton’s Centre Square.

Poetry will be widespread during the festival. Parry, a poet himself, says, “There is a huge poetry scene in the Lehigh Valley. Poetry is everywhere.”

Popular events are repeated yearly. “We find out what works and doesn’t work with our programs,” says Parry.

“The workshops and panel discussions change every year. We reach out to the community at large by social media, and people send in proposals.

“Visitors don’t have to register for events. You just show up. Everything at the festival is free.

“At the beginning there were just five of us,” Parry says, recalling the first year of the festival in 2019.

“We had to be at every event. Then COVID came in 2020. We were online as soon as the lockdown hit.

“We have gradually had a greater percentage of live events at the festival, but we have always had an online component. People come online from all over the country.”

There are poetry readings in the Lehigh Valley throughout the year, most of them also being open mics where anyone can perform their work. “Every venue has its own flavor based on the host,” says Parry. He also notes that there are classes and poetry events at area colleges and universities.

“I say to authors, if you want people to support your work, look at the poetry scene. It has all ages and all walks of life. It is inclusive, a safe space to share anything. You can talk about caring for someone with autism or abuse that you have suffered. We’re not here to judge you,” Parry says.

There is bonding between the local poetry and the local punk scene. They share many of the same venues.

“There is a lot of crossover with punks. In a lot of ways, we are them. You can see goth punk kids and old school academics all interacting in the same space. It is cool that way,” says Parry.

Many local poets have published books. Parry has one, “Twists: Gathered Ephemera” (Parisian Phoenix Publishing, 2023), but says that he is more interested in performing poetry than having it published.

“Easton Book Festival,” Oct. 12- Oct. 18, various locations:

https://www.eastonbookfestival.com/