*(LOS ANGELES, CA) — The Leimert Park Village Book Fair (LPVBF) will feature a distinguished panel discussion among writers for the runaway hit, “Empire,” on Fox Television.
Empire is one of television’s top rated new programs with over 16 million viewers.
“Empire” writer and producer Attica Locke (Black Water Rising, Pleasantville) along with co-producers and writers, Eric Haywood, Joshua Allen, JaNeika James, JaSheika James and Carlito Rodriguez from the show will discuss what goes on behind the scenes at the show.
The book fair will be held on Saturday, August 1, from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, located at 3650 West Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., in Los Angeles.
The “Empire” Panel, moderated by acclaimed author Tananarive Due (My Soul to Keep, The Living Blood, Blood Colony), will be a highlight of the book fair. Promoting 80’s style glitz, glamour, and the impact of Hip Hop culture in America!
The 1980’s: The Decade That Made Us will be the theme for the 2015 book fair. As such, theme related exhibits include a display of an 80’s classic car collection curated by the Petersen Automotive Museum, an exhibit of vintage 1980’s toys and a vinyl album display curated by the iconic Amoeba Music. The book fair presents “Writers and Their Typewriters,” featuring Ernest Hemingway’s personal typewriter, from Steve Soboroff’s collection. The LPVBF will also present an exhibit curated by Cornell University entitled, “Hip Hop Revolution: Roots, Rhythm, and Rage,” featuring more than 40 images by pre-eminent photographers that helped capture and record the Hip Hop movement.
The Leimert Park Village Book Fair (LPVBF) was voted “One of LA’s 5 Best Annual Book Festivals” by The Culture Trip, a one-stop digital platform for global culture and lifestyle. “We’re definitely proud of the fact that for nine years, we have brought a world class literary event to South Los Angeles. There’s no other event like this on the west coast.” said LPVBF Chairman Dr. Bernard W. Kinsey. Kinsey is a renowned art collector, philanthropist, and historian. His coffee table art book, The Kinsey Collection: Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey – Where Art and History Intersect, will be available at the book fair.
LPVBF will also commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Watts Riots with a panel discussion moderated by Starlett Quarles, host of the internet talk show The Dialogue. Distinguished panelists Johnie Scott, Tim Watkins, J. Stanley Sanders and Dr. Bernard W. Kinsey will discuss the growing racial tensions, economic disparities and other underlying causes that sparked the unprecedented events of the Rebellion.
A special screening to mark the 30th anniversary of the landmark film adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning book The Color Purple will be held on Thursday, July 30th at the Rave Cinema Baldwin Hills. Other screenings during the book fair include Krush Groove (1985), a mini Children’s Film Festival and acclaimed documentaries: The Angry Voices of Watts (1965) and Wild Style (1982) documentaries.
Authors from a variety of genres will converge on LPVBF’s stages meeting and interacting with attendees. Actress Garcelle Beauvais and Sebastian A. Jones (I am mixed, I am Awesome) will be joining the festivities at the Children’s Reading Corner, the Author’s Pavilion and Main stages will host, among others, former model and author Kathleen Bradley (Backstage at the Price is Right: Memoirs of a Barker Beauty), attorney and award-winning author Pamela Samuels Young (Anybody’s Daughter, In Firm Pursuit, Murder on the Down Low); and actress Erika Alexander and husband, screenwriter Tony Puryear (Concrete Park) will join the Comic Book Writers’ Panel discussion and on the Healthy Cooking (demonstration) Stage, celebrity chefs Alice Randall and Caroline Randall Williams (Soul Food Love: Healthy Recipes Inspired by One Hundred Years of Cooking in a Black Family ).
“With the support of festival partner, Baldwin Hills Crenshaw, our sponsors and numerous supporters, we are able to offer a full literary experience for the community,” said LPVBF Producer and Founder Cynthia E. Exum. “Panel discussions, book readings and signings, interviews, film screenings, special exhibitions, children’s activities, awards and honors, plus musical performances— this book fair has it all.”
For additional information on LPVBF’s events and activities, please visit www.leimertparkbookfair.com.
About Leimert Park Village Book Fair
Produced by Exum and Associates in partnership with Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, 2nd Supervisor al District, Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson, 10th Council District and former Councilmember Bernard C. Parks and staff, 8th Council District and the Department of Cultural Affairs. Sponsors include: Baldwin Hills Crenshaw, The Southern California Gas Company, Time Warner Cable, KABC-Channel 7, and Nielsen. Festival partners include: Writers Guild of America West, Cornell University, Petersen Automotive Museum, Amoeba Music, The Kinsey Collection, Post and Beam Restaurant, and Strategic Counsel PLC- Legal Services. Promotional Partners include: The LA Sentinel, KJLH Radio 102.3FM, Los Angeles Times, and Metro. The mission of LPVBF is to promote, encourage and advocate literacy, education and the love of reading throughout the Greater Los Angeles areas. LPVBF is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization dedicated to producing year-round educational programming, as well as to the presentation of events in collaboration with our partners, in addition to the annual summer fair for which the organization is named.
About Chairpersons Dr. Bernard W. and Shirley Kinsey
Philanthropists and Art Historians Dr. Bernard W. and Shirley Kinsey continue as honorary co-chairs to lead fund-raising efforts and facilitate in increasing the book fair’s brand awareness among the corporate community. The Kinsey’s are one of the most admired and respected couples in Los Angeles. They are known for their collection of African-American art, books and manuscripts that document and tell the remarkable story of African Americans triumphs and struggles from 1632 to the present. The Kinsey Collection: “Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey” has been on a national tour and seen by millions.
About Baldwin Hills Crenshaw
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw (BHC) is an 870,000-square-foot retail destination located at the intersection of Crenshaw Blvd. and Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. in Los Angeles, California. Anchored by Macy’s Sears and Wal-Mart, with over 100 specialty stores, state-of-the-art cinemas and dining options. Baldwin Hills Crenshaw is managed and leased by Primestor Development, Inc. Primestor is a full-service commercial real estate firm.
source:
Lisa Chance/ Kyle Avery Public Relations
[email protected]
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