Tucson Festival of Books 2023
Hi friends! Hope you’re doing well! What bookish things are you up to?
A couple of weeks ago, I made the drive from Phoenix down to Tucson to visit the Tucson Festival of Books! I had never been before, but it came highly recommended from the SCBWI Arizona group. And now, I can also give it a glowing recommendation. There were so many things to do and people to talk to, and it was completely free to attend. So, I figured I’d take a quick minute to share the most interesting things I found while I was there.
A little bit of fungus and a whole lot of science
There was a whole section of booths at the festival called “Science City” hosted by organizations dedicated to conservation efforts in water, mining, wildlife, farming, and more. The National Parks System was there with some really phenomenal displays about the kind of research work they do on the lands. Of course, I really enjoyed learning more about the parks since I’ve started working on the Junior Rangers Investigative Club series with Nathan W. Landrum.
One booth had a bunch of fungus specimens on display, including this gorgeous pink fungus. (I don’t remember what the name of it was, so if you remember, please let me know!)
My goal this year is to carry a sketchbook on me at all times and draw absolutely everything that I find interesting. I’m practicing watercolor as well, so this fungus felt like the perfect thing to sketch and play with! It was fun just to explore the different wavy shapes with my hand.
On the left side of the sketchbook are some watercolor sketches I made at a previous trip to the Phoenix Zoo. I’m not kidding when I say that I’m going to draw everything.
Books, of course
So many books. There were a ton of publishers to talk to - especially local Arizona publishers with books specifically about Arizona and the desert. That was particularly exciting to see.
An unexpected circus show
I didn’t expect an aerial rig to be set-up in the middle of the festival, but I was very pleasantly surprised nonetheless. Another thing that you may or may not know about me is that one of interests outside of art and writing is aerial circus! The Tucson circus school performed an Alice in Wonderland themed circus show that was just too darn cute.
So, that was my experience at the festival! Here is the Tucson Festival of Books website. If you happen to be in Arizona next year in early March, I highly recommend that you go check it out. It’s a completely FREE festival and there is SO much to do.
There was an extensive schedule of guest speakers that looked very interesting. Unfortunately, I was limited on time, so I just wandered around the booths and chatted with folks. However, I believe they have some video recordings of their speakers on their website if you’re interested in checking those out. I certainly will be next year when I attend again.
That’s all for now and I hope you’re having a wonderful day!