The Equality State Book Festival celebrates books, authors and the written word in Wyoming with three days of festivities in Casper, Wyoming, September 18-20, 2008. We hope you will join us for readings, panel discussions, book signings, writing workshops, a banquet, and a late-night poetry slam. Publishers, literary organizations and library archives/special collections from around Wyoming and the West will be there at a day-long book fair. All events are open to the public without charge except for the workshops and banquet.

The festival continues the tradition of the Casper College/ ARTCORE Literary Conference, which has been bringing writers to Casper each fall since 1986. In 2006, we expanded, with a full-blown book festival. The Wyoming Book Festival, sponsored by the Wyoming State Library, followed suit in Cheyenne in 2007. In 2008 it's Casper's turn again. This year we will feature about 35 authors, including Alexandra Fuller, Gary Ferguson, John Gierach, Laura Pritchett, and many, many more. Between now and September, keep checking this site news on the writers, their work, and our events.

Four, two-day writing workshops offering Casper College continuing education units will be offered Thursday and Friday, Sept. 18 and 19. The low-priced, two-day workshops will run for two and one half hours each day. They'll be taught by faculty from the University of Wyoming's Masters of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing: prizewinning poet H.L. Hix, fiction writer Alyson Hagy, nonfiction author Beth Loffreda, and Wyoming Poet Laureate, essayist, folklorist and accordion player David Romtvedt. NOTE: Workshops are capped at 20 students each and may fill quickly; register early!

Anyone else with a book in print is welcome, too, to reserve a spot for a reading and signing at the book fair on Saturday, Sept. 20. Works from anthologies will be accepted for readings as well. Contact kcoe@caspercollege.edu for information. These slots are limited, however, and will fill on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration links for the workshops, the banquet, and for table rentals for vendors at the Saturday fair will be made available some time early this summer. Click on "Authors" for more on their lives and work; and click on "Events" for more on times and descriptions for all the different events we've got planned.

We'd like to thank the following sponsors for their generous support

• Casper College Foundation
• Casper Area Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Natrona County Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES)
• Natrona County School District

We're also applying for assistance from the Wyoming Arts Council, the Wyoming Community Foundation, The Wyoming Cultural Trust, and the Rocky Mountain Power Foundation. Finally, we'd like to express our appreciation to Casper College and ARTCORE for two decades of steady support for an annual literary conference in Casper.