Holland Literary Festival brings together local, independent authors for book-filled day

HOLLAND — Love to read and love local authors? Look no further than the Holland Literary Festival in Holland. 

The event takes place 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, at the Holland Town Center behind the Dutch Village at the intersection of U.S. 31 and James St. Bluestocking Bookshop will host the panels and readings with authors situated around the Holland Town Center. 

Bluestocking Bookshop owner Aimee Chipman said the dream of a Literary Festival was years in the making.

Longtime host of the Holland Writers Group, Chipman told Ottawa News Network that once the bookshop moved into its current location at the Holland Town Center last year, she and others from the Holland Writers Group just knew it was the time to bring the event to Holland.  

“The organizing team of authors that we have (for the event) has so many great contacts around Michigan and in the Midwest that we knew we could pull a lot of people in to celebrate reading and the self-published and independent authors that we have around,” Chipman said.

Featured at the free event are more than 70 local independent authors; local and independent being the key words that Chipman and the team behind the Holland Literary Festival wanted to focus on. 

“This is one of those events where your attendees are going to be presented with people they’re not going to see on the bestseller list who have every talent and skill that would have gotten them there, but they don’t have the backing of a publisher to do it, ” Chipman said. 

Giving their audience a choice in what they read, specifically the kids that come to the event, was also a huge decision in booking local independent authors for the event and something Chipman wanted to focus on as well. 

“There’s an absence of variety,” said Chipman. “You can walk into any bookstore and see the same 10 books on the bestseller list.” 

Chipman believes that choice is one of the things that can engender an early love of reading. The event gives its attendees the opportunity to not only choose something new to pick out, but also interact with the authors themselves. That access, Chipman pointed out, is not something that most kids get. 

A kids zone, with activities tied to many of the books that the local authors have written, also gives kids choice and the opportunity to find their next favorite book character. 

The event will host four different panels with themes such as “creatures and worlds,” which will focus on world-building as writers and everything sci-fi, horror and fantasy. Another panel will feature a local teacher who will be talking about how to make books appealing to young readers.

Author readings of various genres will be featured as well. 

At the event, the Herrick District Library and the Midwest Independent Publishers Association will both have booths, both of them being helpful resources for both writers and readers. 

For more information on the Holland Literary Festival, visit hollandlitfest.org. 

— Mallory Burt is a reporter for Ottawa News Network. Contact her at newsroom@ottawanewsnetwork.org.