Each year, the Mesa Book festival hosts a wide range of panels and discussions for attendees to engage with the literary arts in whole new ways.
Programming
The 2023 Mesa Book Crawl will have A LOT of Activity. Check back to this page often as we will be updating panels, participants and more over time. Names listed in Bold are the designated moderator for a given panel.
Holiday Tree Reading
Benedictine University hosts a great holiday tree in their front lobby, which makes for a fantastic space to host readings with kids. Here is the schedule for who is reading to kids and whatr book they will be reading. Schedule is subject to change.
Reading 10:30am: Mesa City Councilmember Julie Spilsbury
Reading 11:30am: Mesa Mayor John Giles
Reading 12:30pm: Mesa City Councilmember Alicia Goforth
Reading 1:30pm: Mesa City Councilmember Mark Freeman
Reading 2:30pm: Mesa City Councilmember Jennifer Duff
Featured Room: Gillett Hall
The Big Room with space for 100+ attendees to comfortably sit and watch panels or other programming in store for the Mesa Book Festival.
10:00am: Lisa & Matt McMann, A Life in Writing- NY Times Best Selling author Lisa McMann and Monsterous Series author Matt McMann sit with moderator Sharon Skinner and talk about thier lives as writers.
11:30am: Showcase: East Valley Children's Theater-
1:00pm: Natalie Wright, An Independent Author Success Story- Award winning author Natalie Wright sits with Duncan Rittschof and talks about her climb, the work, and how she intends to grow her writing career momentum.
2:30pm: Award Ceremonies, 2023 Black and White Awards- join us and see who wins the 2023 Alan Black award for Fiction and the 2023 Priscilla White Award for Poetry. Hosted by Festival Director Bob Nelson.
4:00pm: Arizona Rennaisance Festival- who knows what will happen?
Main Street Patio/The Ben-U Nest
by the El Multi Tacos & Tortas Food Truck, Beanchain Coffee Cart and Holly Chaffle table.
Live Music: 10:30am-11:30am Roger Weidabach
Live Music: 12:00pm-12:30pm Mark Greenawalt
Live Music: 1:00pm-2:00pm Eddie Unplugged
Live Music: 2:30pm-3:00pm Mark Greenawalt
Panel Room 1: The Reader's Track
Panel: 10:00am: Comics- What Should We Be Reading
Description: Discuss the valley's locally made comics that people should be picking up.
Panelists: Russ Kazmeirczak, Marcus Campbell
Panel: 11:30am: It’s a Post GOT Fantasy World, What Fantasy Should Be on Your TBR
Description: What fantasy should people be reading today?
Panelists: August St Claire, Elenor Rose, JJM Czep
Panel: 1:00pm: Better Business through Reading- Great Books on Business
Description: Panelists talk about great business mentor texts.
Panelists: Lalit Kumar, Kelly Lydick
Panel: 2:30pm: Biographies- Compelling Books of the People that Influence Our Culture
Description: who's life story has made a great, well, story.
Panelists: Jamar Washington
Panel: 4:00pm: Your Best Reads of 2023
Description: What's in your read pile?
Panelists: Avily Jerome, Kelly Lydick, Brenda Stanley
Panel Room 2: The Writer's Track
Panel: 10:30am: How Can Writing be a Sustainable Career Financially?
Description: How exactly can you make money doing this?
Panelists: Brenda Stanley, Jamar Washington, Jeremy Broyles
Panel: 12:00pm: Writing Across Genres- A Talk on Diversification
Description: creating books across multiple genres... easy?
Panelists: Bruce Davis, Stephanie Contreras
Panel: 1:30pm: AI, Metaverse, Media Books: the Impact of Technology on Publishing
Description: How has technology impacted an age old form?
Panelists: JJM Czep, Eleanor Rose, Avily Jerome
Panel: 3:00pm: Book Banning- A Discussion on the Impact to Culture
Description: How does the act of banning books impact society?
Panelists: Jeremy Broyles, Lalit Kumar, August St Claire
Panel Room 3: The Hot Wire Track
Panel: 10:00am: Poets of the Arizona State Poetry Society
Description: Talk verse of all kinds with the state's official poetry society.
Panelists:
Panel: 11:00am: Scociety of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Independent Author's Panel
Description: These authors have built their own businesses. learn from them.
Panelists: Sohrab Rezvan, Beth Lewis, Dan O'Mahoney, Ginger Scott, moderated by Kathie McMahon
Panel: 12:00am: Mesa Public Library
Description: Talk books, the Stuffbrary, Seed Library, ThinkSpot and everything else your library has to offer you!
Panelists: The world's greatest Librarians
Panel: 1:00pm:
Panel: 2:00pm: SCBWI- PAL Author Showcase
Description: Welcome DaVon Sanders, Karen S Chow and others as they share their success stories and challenges as authors published by publishing houses.
Panelists: Karen Chow, Matt McMann, DaVaun Sanders, moderated by Todd Gordon
Panel: 3:00pm: SCBWI Illustrator Session - Jim Paillot: Art of the Book Presentation
Description: This presentation will provide an overview of the illustrator’s journey and working process, highlighting the ins and outs of creating art for children's books and will include a Q & A and portfolio reviews.
Panelists: Jim Paillot
Panel Room 4: Kids Need to Read
Thank you to Kids Need to Read for providing a FULL ROOM of children's programming all day long at the Book Festival. Bring the kids to engage in fun art activities and presentations through the day!
10 am -10:45 am: Kailie Pew
The Monster Above the Bed
11 am-11:45: Open art space
12:00-12:45: Eboni`e Fields
The Magical Hummingbirds Series
1 pm-1:45: Open art space
2 pm-3 pm: William Hart
Elephants Are Not Artists
3 pm - 3:30: Open art space
3:30-4:30: Katie Evans
Aunt Claire’s Pet Care Series
4:30-5:00: Room closed
Panel Room 5: The Publisher's Room
Looking to start a relationship with a Publisher? Panel Room 5 is your place to plan your visit. While we list the Publishers below, each publisher is managing their own process for seeing prospective authors. Apparopriate links to the information will be provided here. Additioanl overflow panels may be hosted here.
Panel: 11:00am: Bookish Places in the Valley
Description: Not just bookstores, but cool spaces that book lovers should know about.
Panelists: Christina Estes, Patrick Hare
Panel: 1:00pm: The State of Poetry in 2023
Description: Who’s writing and who’s reading.
Panelists: Marcus Campbell, Christy White, Patrick Hare
Publisher: 3:00pm: Brick Cave Pitch Hour
Looking to meet: Sci-fi & Fantasy Authors
Process details:
