Books, books and more books

The love of books that has kept the Oil City Library afloat for more than 100 years will spill out into the street Saturday as the second annual Oil Region Festival of the Book takes place in the Central Avenue Plaza.

The event will feature nearly 20 local and regional authors offering a variety of book titles and genres from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. directly outside the Oil City Library. 

Attendees will have the opportunity to meet with the authors, purchase books and have them signed, and participate in the children's activities.

Authors signed up to participate in the event include the following:

• BJ Moore (Horror, Thriller/Suspense Fiction)
• Diane Scott Lewis (Historical, Romance Fiction)
• Charlie Cotherman (Nonfiction, Spirituality)
• Hannah Allman Kennedy (Literary, Northern Appalachian, Regional Fiction)
• Gina Burris (Children's Picture Books)
• Cathy Rybak (Children's Picture Books, Inspirational Fiction)
• Joy Wilsted
• LaTrobe Barnitz (Fantasy Fiction)
• Rafi Perez (Self-Help, Inspirational, Art Business)
• Corey McCullough (Fantasy, SciFi, Young Adult, Historical Fiction)
• Ryan Beichner (Children's Picture Books)
• K.L. White-Hartman (Children's Picture Books, Inspirational)
• J. Michael Boucher (Thriller/Suspense Fiction)
• Kimberly Miller (Romance Fiction)
• Patrick Barrett Jr. (Self-Help, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Memoir)
• Carrie Hohmann Campbell (Poetry)
• Julia Allman (Nonfiction, Inspirational, Self-Help)
• Jennifer Johnson (Self-Help, Nonfiction)
• The Watershed Journal Literary Group (John Pozza, Patricia Thrushart, Peggy Zortman, Byron Hoot, Wayne Swanger)

Bios on each author are available through the ORLA Facebook page. 

The festival will also include local food vendors, library card sign-ups, raffles, a book sale, and the Oil City Heritage Society sale outside and in the library's upstairs attic and theater space. Other groups slated to participate include YWCA of Oil City, Belles Lettres Club of Oil City, JP's Tickle My Ribs, Youth Connection, United Way of Venango County, Friends of the Oil City Library, Oil City Vineyard Church and Community Services of Venango County.

The day's guest speakers will be Hannah Allman Kennedy, author of "And It All Came Tumbling Down", and Amanda Pica, founder of local writing group "Writer's Flock". 
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Children's author Cathy Rybak will do a reading of her book "Pooch in a Pound."
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