Photo and bookart by Schaduwlichtje

TOPEKA – Humanities Kansas recently awarded $9,755 to the Kansas Book Festival to support the 2021 event, which will occur September 18 on the campus of Washburn University.

“Humanities Kansas values storytelling for its ability to help us learn about what it means to be human and provide starting points for discussion,” said Julie Mulvihill, Humanities Kansas Executive Director. “The Kansas Book Festival offers an opportunity to celebrate local writing, encourage a love of reading, and start conversations on a variety of topics.”

Tim Bascom, executive director for the Festival, has this to add, “This grant is going to help us realize plans on several important levels. It will help us bring in headliner authors from out of state. It will also be a big help with our promotional costs.  And it will provide general stability.”

Bascom says the Festival will begin at 4 PM on Friday, September 17, with a kick-off presentation by the author Rebekah Taussig, whose wry memoir about coming of age while confined to a wheelchair–Sitting Pretty–won the 2021 Hefner Heitz Kansas Book Award from the Kansas Studies Center at Washburn.  And on Saturday, September 18, an additional 40 authors will make presentations that draw on recent books, whether young adult fantasies or nonfiction about Native American history, picture books about runaway chickens or poetry about living as a minority in the Midwest.

Humanities Kansas is an independent nonprofit spearheading a movement of ideas to empower the people of Kansas to strengthen their communities and our democracy. Since 1972, HK’s pioneering programming, grants, and partnerships have documented and shared stories to spark conversations and generate insights. Together with statewide partners and supporters, HK inspires all Kansans to draw on diverse histories, literatures, and cultures to enrich their lives and to serve the communities and state we all proudly call home. Visit humanitieskansas.org.

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