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Canadian Library Month~ Canada

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read~ ongoing until Oct 3, USA

Hispanic Heritage Month~ ongoing until Oct 15, USA

Entries Accepted for the 2010 PBBY-Salanga Prize~ ongoing until Oct 23, Philippines

22nd Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava~ ongoing until Oct 26, Bratislava, Slovakia

The Art of Allen Say: A Sense of Place~ ongoing until Oct 28, Exeter, NH, USA

Picture Perfect: Art from Caldecott Award Books, 2006-2009~ ongoing until Nov 8, Chicago, IL, USA

National Young Writers’ Festival~ Oct 1 – 5, Newcastle, Australia

4th Annual Cybils (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards) Nominations Open~ Oct 1 – 15

The Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 1 – 31, Ireland

Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children’s Literature Awards Ceremony~ Oct 2, Boston, MA, USA

8th IBBY Regional Conference “Children´s Books: Where Worlds Meet”~ Oct 2 – 4, St. Charles, IL, USA

2009 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition of Children’s Books~ Oct 3 – Nov 1, Takahama City, Japan

Orange County Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 4, Costa Mesa, CA, USA

13th Poetry Africa~ Oct 5 – 10, Durban, South Africa

Children’s Book Week: Words and Pictures~ Oct 5 – 11, United Kingdom

TaleBlazers Festival~ Oct 5 – 30, Province of Alberta, Canada

6th International Literacy Conference~ Oct 7 – 9, Penang, Malaysia

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 7 – 11, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Inky Awards Shortlist Announced, On-line Voting Begins~ Oct 9, Australia

Latino Book and Book Festival~ Oct 10 – 11, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Monterrey International Book Fair~ Oct 10 – 18, Monterrey, Mexico

Frankfurt Book Fair~ Oct 14 – 18, Frankfurt, Germany

OGAMAS Aboriginal Literary Festival: What We Gather For Each Other~ Oct 15 – 17, Brandon, MB, Canada

56th Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 16, New York, NY, USA

International Conference on the Book~ Oct 16 – 18, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Américas Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature Winners Ceremony~ Oct 17, Washington, D.C., USA

SCBWI Tokyo Presents Writing for Children: The Picture Book with Author Holly Thompson~ Oct 17, Kyoto, Japan

CHARACTER COUNTS! Week~ Oct 18 – 24, USA

YALSA’s Teen Read Week: Read Beyond Reality~ Oct 18 – 24, USA

Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 18 – 25, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Library Exhibition~ Oct 18 – 25, Jakarta, Indonesia

Utan Kayu International Literary Biennale~ Oct 20 – 24, Bogor and Jakarta, Indonesia

14th Annual New England Conference on Multicultural Education~ Oct 21, Hartford, CT, USA

Rabbit Hill Festival of Literature: Creative Approaches to Biography and Historical Fiction~ Oct 22 – 24, Westport, CT, USA

Finnish Reading Association Conference: New Literacies-Reading and Writing with New Technologies~ Oct 23 – 24, Jyväskylä, Finland

Children’s Literature Council Fall Gala~ Oct 24, Los Angeles, CA, USA

IBBY Congreso Internacional Lectura~ Oct 26 – 31, Havana, Cuba

Book Week~ Oct 27 – Nov 9, Japan

National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) 19th International Conference~Oct 28 – Nov 1, Denver, CO, USA

Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 30, San Marcos, TX, USA

Children’s Literature Festival~ Oct 31, Keene, NH, USA

While searching for events to add to our Eventful World calendar, I came across this article entitled “A Nation Brought To Book: The literary festivals boom” by Cahal Milmo and Rob Sharp. In it the authors state:

“Literary festivals used to be humble gatherings of authors and fans. But now they are undergoing a boom, with new events opening and everyone from politicians to pop stars getting in on the act.

“Gordon Brown believes they are a sign of a new seriousness in Britain. Publishers believe they raise their writers’ profiles in a notoriously overcrowded market. And, most importantly, readers flock to them in ever-growing numbers with inquiring minds and open wallets.

“The literary festival scene is undergoing a boom akin to that in the music industry, with new events mushrooming around the country to compete with venerable annual showcases like Hay-on-Wye, Oxford and Cheltenham…Mr Browne said: “You might begin to ask whether the market is there to sustain so many literary events. I think as long as they are well organized and professional the demand is there.” ”

We at PaperTigers couldn’t agree more! The more literary events the better – especially those that feature events for children and young adults. What better way to turn children and young adults onto reading then by taking them to a literary festival? Big or small, it’s not the size of the event that matters but the excitement for reading that it generates.

I would love to know if any of our readers have attended NAMBOOK-007 The Nami Island International Children’s Book Festival. This annual, two-month festival takes place in Korea and will end on July 1, 2007. When I told my two children (ages 6 and 10) about Nambook-007 they were ready to catch the next flight to Korea. My son commented “it sounds like Disneyland for book lovers!”

There are lots of literary events happening throughout the summer, so check our calendar and see what catches your eye. Many of the festivals are held outside during summer months and have activities that will appeal to all ages. We always welcome your feedback, so let us know what the literary festival scene is like in your city. Do you have any events that are geared specifically towards children and their families? What festivals have you attended? Will you be attending something exciting this summer that we should all know about?