South Coast Book Festival Returns to Lake Charles

The South Coast Book Festival is a unique event that celebrates and promotes literacy, books, and writing. SCBF, the largest literary festival in Southwest Louisiana, will be held from Thursday, September 12, 2024, to Saturday, September 14, 2024, at the Lake Charles Event Center. Festival attendees can look forward to presentations from award winning authors, book discussions led by local writers, book signings, and programming for adults and children alike.

This year’s festival line-up includes local educator, administrator, and motivational speaker Coach / Principal Ronnie Harvey; national best-selling author and award winning journalist, ReShonda Tate from Houston, Texas, who has been featured in USA Today, The Washington Post, Jet, People, Essence, and Ebony Magazines; Louisiana’s 2022 Youth Book representative for the National Book Festival Gayle Webre; and the “Pied Piper of Louisiana Music Traditions”, Johnette Downing.

The SCBF will kick-off at 5pm on Thursday, September 12th, 2024, at Lake Charles City Hall with an author talk from local author Coach / Principal Ronnie Harvey. Friday night will include a reception for participating authors, event partners, and sponsors. The Lake Charles Event Center will serve as host on Saturday the 14th. There will be a full day of festival activities including an opening reception and awards ceremony, and a community read activity featuring award winning titles Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? and Shadow and Bone.

Other activities scheduled for Saturday include a virtual author interview of award-winning author James Lee Burke, book talks from local authors, workshops in the Digital Learning Lab, and a Louisiana author exhibit. The festival will also include a Kids Zone featuring story time, authors Gayle Webre and Johnette Downing, arts and crafts, and giveaways.

The SCBF will also include a Marketplace where authors and vendors will promote and sell their books, services, and products. The event will offer a variety of other activities including adult crafts, writers workshops, book exhibits, and more. Visit our www.southcoastbookfest.org or follow South Coast Book Festival on Facebook for announcements and schedules.

"The South Coast Book Festival is a unique event for our area as it focuses on the literary arts. Everyone who comes to the festival will have the opportunity to learn about local and regional authors and meet other people who love literacy, books, and writing." ~ Rose Henny, Festival Organizer

During the festival announcement, an area student was recognized for being this year's festival bookmark designer! Check out Jacob Duplechin's artwork in the gallery below and be sure to snag one of his bookmarks at the festival!

About the South Coast Book Festival

The South Coast Book Festival (formerly the Southwest Louisiana Book Festival) was formed over ten years ago by community volunteers who wanted to enrich the community with more opportunities to engage in reading and literacy. The upcoming festival is a relaunch coordinated by the Literacy Council of SWLA, Inc., the City of Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish Public Libraries, and Visit Lake Charles.

The South Coast Book Festival is made possible by sponsorship from Walmart, the City of Lake Charles, the Arts & Humanities Council of Southwest Louisiana, the Lake Charles Event Center, and Visit Lake Charles.