First Hot Springs Village Literary Festival set for Sunday

HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE — The first Hot Springs Village Literary Festival is set for 2- 5 p. m. Sunday in the Coronado Community Center, 150 Ponderosa Way.

This free event is sponsored by Friends of the Coronado Center Library, Hot Springs Village Writers and the Coronado Center Library.

Featured will be two sessions of panel discussions, a Build a Story activity, library tours, and booths featuring local authors, literary clubs and organizations. At the conclusion, a wine and cheese reception will be held, during which attendees can meet and greet the panelists and local authors.

The first panel discussion, “It’s a Mystery to Me,” will begin at 2: 15 p. m. Mystery writers will discuss the ins and outs of their writing. This session will be moderated by Janis Kearney, President Clinton’s diarist, author and publisher. Panelists will include John Achor, author of the Casey Fremont series set in Little Rock; Penny Richards, author of a historical mystery series set in Delight; and Chap Harper, a writer of suspense novels.

The second panel, “Where Didja Get that Idea,” is set for 3: 15 p. m. Panelists Jerry Jay Carroll, Robert Raines and Jeff Meeks will discuss how the ideas for their books came to them, how ideas developed in unexpected ways, and how their research was a crucial part of the process. This panel will be moderated by Mary Eliades, writer for the Hot Springs Village Voice.

Carroll is a Pulitzer- nominated journalist, New York

Times best- selling writer, and author of “The Great Liars.” Raines is curator of the Gangster Museum of America and author of “Hot Springs: From Capone to Costello.” Meeks is managing editor of the Hot Springs Village Voice and author of “They Answered the Call: World War II Veterans Share Their Stories.”

The Build a Story activity will give all participants chance to be an author. With only a beginning sentence, paragraph or topic, those attending will be asked to add to the storyline. Local writer, actor and director Jerry Davis will put all writings together in a book, and donate it to the Coronado Center Library.

For sale will be copies of the Hot Springs Village Cookbook, created by the Coronado Center Library as a fundraiser for future projects. All recipes are favorites from HSV residents. These community cookbooks are an excellent source for tasty, home- cooked meals, and can make great holiday gifts, too.

Call the library, 501- 9223555, for more information.