11th Annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books Set for April 29-30 at UCLA Campus

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 12, 2006--The 11th annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will feature more than 90 author/panel discussions, author book signings, six stages featuring children’s programming, poetry readings, cooking demonstrations and music. Book lovers will be able to meet best-selling authors, publishers and other literary figures. Hundreds of exhibitor booths, stage events and popular children’s characters keep it entertaining for all ages.

The event takes place Saturday, April 29, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, April 30, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., on the UCLA campus.

Authors scheduled to participate include Dave Barry, Douglas Brinkley, Mary Higgins Clark, Robert Crais, Larry Flynt, Arianna Huffington, Chip Kidd, David Maraniss, Cokie Roberts, Dr. Laura Schlessinger and Sarah Vowell.

As part of the Los Angeles Times yearlong 125th anniversary celebration, the 2006 Festival of Books will have panels featuring Times editorial staff and a 125th anniversary-themed Times Pavilion.

The official poster of the 2006 Festival of Books features artwork by Marie-Louise Gay entitled “Castle of Books.” Gay has written and/or illustrated more than 30 books for children, and her books have been published in a dozen countries. She created “Castle of Books” in 2003 with watercolors, pencil, pastel and collage. The towering castle of books represents the magical place people experience when they immerse themselves in a good book.

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Awards Ceremony

The 26th annual presentation of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes is set for Friday, April 28, at 8 p.m., in UCLA’s Royce Hall. The event’s emcee will be author, analyst and political commentator Cokie Roberts. Tickets are required and go on sale Feb. 27 at UCLA’s Central Ticket Office, 310-825-2101 or https://www.tickets.ucla.edu/.

The Los Angeles Times Book Prize Awards, established in 1980, recognizes 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/events.

Festival of Books Sponsors

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 is presented in association with UCLA.

Target is the presenting sponsor of the 2006 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Borders Bookstores and Canada are major sponsors. Ticketmaster is the official ticket supplier of the event. Additional sponsors will be announced as they are confirmed.

General 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 23 at noon until Thursday, April 27 at 5 p.m., or until all tickets have been distributed. A limited number of tickets will also be available on-site during the event.

The Times, a Tribune Publishing company, is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country and the winner of 37 Pulitzer Prizes. The Times publishes five daily regional editions, for the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Orange County, Ventura County, the San Fernando Valley, and the Inland Empire of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The Times’ website, www.latimes.com., features 50,000 content pages, and is updated continuously with more than 3,000 stories posted daily. Latimes.com’s award-winning arts and entertainment section, calendarlive.com, offers an extensive range of entertainment news reviews and Southern California’s most comprehensive event listing. The Times also produces The Envelope, www.TheEnvelope.com, the entertainment industry’s most comprehensive, year-round awards show website.

Additional information about The Times is available at www.latimes.com/mediacenter.