10th Annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books Set for April 23-24, 2005 at UCLA

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 20, 2004--The 10th annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books takes place Saturday, April 23, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, April 24, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., on UCLA’s campus.

The two-day event celebrates and animates the written word through panel discussions, poetry readings, cooking demonstrations, book signings and music. The Festival affords book lovers the chance to meet best-selling authors, publishers and other literary figures. The hundreds of exhibitor booths, stage events and popular children’s characters keep it entertaining for all ages. General event information about the Festival is available at www.latimes.com/events or by calling 1-800-LA TIMES, ext. 7BOOK.

Admission is free, but tickets are required to attend author-panel discussions and lectures because of limited seating. Free tickets will be available at all Ticketmaster locations in Southern California starting Sunday, April 17, at noon until Thursday, April 21, at 5 p.m., or until all tickets have been distributed. A limited number of tickets will also be available on-site.

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Awards Ceremony The 25th annual presentation of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes is set for Friday, April 22, at 8 p.m., in UCLA’s Royce Hall. Tickets are required and go on sale Feb. 28 at UCLA’s Central Ticket Office.

The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, established in 1980, recognize outstanding literary achievements in biography, current interest, history, poetry, science and technology, fiction, first fiction, mystery/thriller, and young adult fiction. More information is available at www.latimes.com/bookprizes.

Festival of Books SponsorsTarget is a presenting sponsor of the 2005 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and Ticketmaster is a major sponsor. Additional sponsors will be announced as they are confirmed.

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books--one of the nation’s premier public literary festivals and the largest of its kind on the West Coast--was created in 1996 by The Times to promote literacy and to bring together those who create books with the people who love to read them. It’s presented in association with UCLA.

The Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing company, is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country and the winner of 35 Pulitzer Prizes. The Times publishes five daily regional editions including the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Orange and Ventura counties, the San Fernando Valley, and an Inland Empire edition covering Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Additional information about The Times is available at www.latimes.com/mediacenter.