The second annual Southern Utah Book Festival will be held Monday, Sept. 15 through Saturday, Sept. 20.
The festival is free to attend and will include various book signings, a zine workshop at the Southern Utah Museum of Art, book markets, panels and more.
After going to book festivals in Arizona and Nevada, event founders Brent and Jen Potter decided it was time Festival City had one of its own.
“There was this literary community in pockets (of Cedar City), so it was mostly just gathering people and finding different resources and putting it together. We thought it would be great to have one here in this town and it was a nice way to just give back,” said Brent Potter.
Danielle Dubrasky, a book festival board member, explains why reading is still relevant to this day.
“It gives us insight into people’s lives that might be different from our own and we are able to understand more about the human experience. One of the strongest powers of literature is it reminds us of our humanity and empathy,” said Dubrasky.
Featured authors and presenters include the Utah Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director John DiAntonio, children’s book author David McMullin, poet Scott Edgar, filmmaker Jahanara Saleh and many more.
The festival seeks to create a community for people who appreciate and/or create literature. Despite not being as visible as the other art scenes in Cedar City, the literary scene is alive and looking for enthusiastic newcomers.
“There is this need to just get kids to start reading and to do it just for enjoyment,” Potter added. “We need to start them younger, get them to read more often and read for pleasure, not just because they need to read for information.”
For more information and a list of the Southern Utah Book Festival’s events, visit https://www.southernutahbookfestival.org/.
