501-918-3025
calsfoundation@cals.org
calsfoundation@cals.org
Six Bridges Book Festival a Success!
September 22 through 29, book lovers buzzed around downtown Little Rock, meeting authors, hearing behind-the-scenes stories, and scooping up copies of books; during all this, there were many moments of connection, learning, and joy. Over 8 days, CALS hosted 35 free public programs (most of them at CALS locations); welcomed 5,600+ audience members and students; gave away 600+ books; hosted 50+ authors and illustrators, including three winners of the Pulitzer Prize and one winner of the National Book Award. Thanks to generous sponsors (and a single fundraising event), CALS raised $135,000+ to continue funding the Six Bridges Book Festival.
Thank you to everyone who attended our 21st Six Bridges Book Festival – your presence, enthusiasm, and love for literature made this year’s event a truly memorable one. We hope you left inspired, enlightened, and eager to continue exploring the world of books. Your support means everything to us, and we can’t wait to see you again at next year’s festival! – Drew Herget, 2024 Festival Coordinator
The Writers in the School (WITS) program is one that happens in conjunction with the festival but doesn’t get as much attention as it probably should due to the overall nature of the program. WITS places authors who are already here for the festival into classrooms around the city and allows students to interact directly with writers. When you ask young kids what they want to be when they grow up, so many of them say they want to be an author. But there’s so much more to understand about the process – from the writing and editing to being published and going on book tours. The writers help the students understand what their processes were like while also discussing their own books. The experience is rewarding for both the authors and the students! Some of the schools even created book clubs and the students read the books together to be better prepared for the authors.
Honestly, this program far surpassed whatever (high) expectations I already had: the students absolutely blew me away. The three classes in attendance were so engaged, asked so many smart questions. The four hours I spent at Central with the students and librarians filled me with hope and inspiration for the future of education and literature. -2024 Festival Author
If you missed the Festival, you can still read the books and watch some of the sessions. Here is a quick reference to all the books presented at the festival this year. Many of the sessions can be viewed on the CALS YouTube channel, with several more to come.
