Author Loren Estleman, the recipient of this year’s annual Kerrytown BookFest Community Award, will introduce the BookFest Michigan Treasures’ exhibit at the Ann Arbor District Library downtown location 7 p.m., Thursday, September 9.
Estleman will speak about what it means to be a writer-especially in Michigan. The Michigan Treasures exhibit focuses on award-winning Michigan authors and books and is organized by John MacKrell. A reception will follow Estleman’s short talk and harpist Deborah Gabrion will entertain.
The exhibit runs from September 3 through October 15 in the lower level of the downtown library.
Since the appearance of his first novel in 1976, Loren D. Estleman has written more than 65 books and hundreds of short stories and articles. An authority on criminal history, the American West, movies and Jazz, Estleman has been called the most critically acclaimed author of his generation. He has been nominated for the National Book Award and the Edgar Allan Poe Award, and has won the Shamus Award, the Spur Award, the American Mystery Award, the Outstanding Writer of the Year Award from Popular Fiction Monthly, the Stirrup Award, the Roundup Award, and the Western Heritage Award from the Cowboy Hall of Fame.
In 1997, he was the winner of the Michigan Author’s Award, and in 2007, his novel “Nicotine Kiss” was the winner of a Michigan Notable Book Award. His favorite writers are Jack London, Edgar Allan Poe, W. Somerset Maugham, Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Chandler and Edith Wharton. He graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 1974 and in 2002 EMU presented him with an honorary doctorate in letters. He writes full time and lives in Whitmore Michigan with his wife, the writer Deborah Morgan.
Later this year, an extensive collection of 32 short stories by Estleman featuring his detective Amos Walker along with the 20th Amos Walker mystery novel will be published.
Gene Alloway proprietor of Motte & Bailey bookshop in Kerrytown and president of the BookFest said Estleman not only finds time to write nearly two books a year, but also gives back to the area’s literary community, the BookFest and younger writers.
“He has been a rock for the Ann Arbor literary community and the BookFest,” Alloway said.
The 8th annual Kerrytown BookFest, (kerrytownbookfest.org), will be held 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday, September 12, at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market.
“The annual event celebrates those who create books and those who read them,” Alloway said.
This year the BookFest has a lineup of more than 30 authors, all with Michigan connections. Included are three National Book Award finalists, Edgar Award winners, Michigan Notable Award winners, a Caldecott winner and several Michigan Author of the Year winners.
Alloway said the primary goal of the Festival is to highlight the area’s rich heritage in the book and printing arts while showcasing local and regional individuals, businesses, and organizations. In addition to author-related events and signings, there are numerous children’s events, more than 100 art and book vendors, an edible book contest and the announcement of the book jacket design contest which saw local high school students redesign author Steve Hamilton’s award winning “A Cold Day in Paradise”.
As a special attraction, mystery writer and Edgar Award winner Doug Allyn of Montrose will interview the Kerrytown BookFest’s Community Book Award Winner, Whitmore Lake mystery and western writer Loren D. Estleman at 11 a.m. at the main tent at the BookFest.
Estleman will be available for interviews following both events.
The BookFest is sponsored by the Michigan Humanities Council¸ Ann Arbor Bank, The Grand Hotel, Kerrytown Market and Shops, MAV Development, WUOM Michigan Radio, WEMU Radio, Zingerman’s Foundation and the Ann Arbor Observer.