Tens of thousands of people from across the country traveled to USC for the 18^th annual Los Angeles Book Festival on April 20^th and 21^st. Sponsored by The Los Angeles Times, this free, two-day event celebrates literature in just about every aspect and form.

Synonymous to an outdoor library, it allowed all the attendees to meet many of the world’s best authors, storytellers, musicians, filmmakers, photographers, entertainers, and more. Among them was Daniel Handler, perhaps better known by his pen name Lemony Snicket, the author of “A Series of Unfortunate Events.” Also partaking in the festival was Food Network’s “Top Chef” contestant Alex Guarnaschelli, and Margaret Atwood, author of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a book that some SDA seniors read in English.

Senior Breanna Schenkhuizen, the president of SDA’s Writer’s Block club, drove up to the LA Book Festival on Saturday with several other club members. “I had so much fun being with other people who loved words and books as much as I do,” she said.

The college campus was broken up into several different types of events. The hundreds of white-tarp booths were perhaps the most visibly noticeable.  Wrapping around the roads, they housed venders, authors, editors, publishers, and other small business representations. Whether one was looking to buy a hand-made leather-bound journal, have a copy of “Beautiful Creatures” signed, or get a Big Mac at, yes, the McDonald’s booth, it could be done.

In addition, nine outdoor “stages” also peppered the area, featuring exhibit-like performances from live cooking to slam poetry.

Perhaps the most anticipated, though, were the “conversations” that the festival held. There were dozens of them offered, in which a panel of four or so professionals would discuss, or sometimes debate, a topic with a moderator before a lecture hall of people. Though guaranteed seats were $1each, many people were able to see certain panels by waiting in stand-by lines before the conversation began.

Schenkhuizen found the “Writing for Teens and Tweens: Sagas and Series” conversation to be her favorite part of the entire day. “They [the authors] were really fun and engaging,” she said, “offering good advice and talking about the writing process.”

Next year, the Los Angeles Book Festival is scheduled to be held at USC again on April 13^th and 14^th, and Schenkhuizen hopes to be able to return.  When asked of her least favorite part of the experience, she could only say, “Probably that I couldn’t buy every book I wanted to. I never wanted it to end.”