Kentucky Book Festival

November 10 - 16, 2019

The Kentucky Book Fair was the first literary celebration of its kind here in the Commonwealth. The event has a rich history of supporting Kentucky authors—both well-known names like bell hooks and Silas House along with up-and-comers—while seeking out national bestsellers and inviting them to visit Kentucky. The Kentucky Book Fair was journalist Carl West’s brainchild, and a small volunteer committee helped to organize it for more than thirty-five years.

Historically, the Kentucky Book Fair’s home was in Frankfort, but it was moved to Lexington two years ago, and its production transitioned to Kentucky Humanities, where the staff brought the event to the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena. To further the impact and opportunity to highlight even more literary talent, the event was expanded it into a week-long festival in 2018. With that change, Kentucky Book Fair became the anchor for the Kentucky Book Festival, whose many events take place at venues across Lexington.

To see the 2019 Book Fair author lineup, click here. Learn more about Book Festival events by clicking the button above. Author applications will be accepted for the 2020 Book Fair in January.

Thanks to our generous sponsors:

And our partners:

Check out this recap from the 2018 Kentucky Book Festival, featuring clips from some of the exciting programs that occurred throughout the week. According to Jon Parrish Peede (Chair, National Endowment for the Humanities), "This is Kentucky's Book Festival in a way that's authentically here...and that's what I love about it...I love the honoring of local culture, but also bringing the world to Kentucky." Wendell Berry remarked from the stage last year, "Well, I think that the great service to us of the great books is that they give us permission to take serious things seriously...If they are well-written...they also give us permission to be delighted with delightful things."