About The Festival

In 2006, the first statewide book festival, The Equality State Book Festival, was held in Casper.  Four years later with two book fests now under our belts, we proudly mark the 24th anniversary of the Annual Casper College/ARTCORE Literary Conference by once again celebrating books, authors and the written word in Wyoming with two days of fun in Casper on September 24-25th. We hope you will join us for readings, panel discussions, book signings, craft talks, a banquet and a late-night poetry slam.  All events are open to the public without charge except for the author lunch and the Saturday evening Gala Banquet.

For details on the authors and events, please click on the appropriate tabs on this website.  To summarize, this year we are featuring 16 authors and illustrators, including but not limited to, Jack Gantos, Larry Watson, Jaimee Wriston Colbert, Zak Pullen, Gene Gagliano, Ravi Shankar and John Vernon.  To celebrate this year’s three Wyoming Arts Council fellowship winners, the Equality State Book Festival will also feature a reading by WAC fellowship judge Lee Gutkind and this year’s three WAC fellowship winners: Joel Burdess of Casper, Jayme Feary of Jackson, and Pam Galbreath of Laramie. They will be joined by Casper’s own Nina McConigley, winner of a 2010 Blanchan/Doubleday writing award from the Arts Council. She will read her fiction and serve as emcee at this event.  The ever-popular George Vlastos will emcee our Friday night poetry slam at Metro Coffee--this is an event you don’t want to miss!

While many of the sessions are taking place at The Goodstein Foundation Library at Casper College, you won’t find everything by staying in the library. Reading is everywhere, and we’re teaming up with the Tate Geological Museum at Casper College to bring you several panels and discussions. Join Zak Pullen, Ray Troll, and Russell Hawley for a fun-filled illustrator’s panel that gets at the big challenges of drawing prehistoric critters. Wyoming’s fossil fortunes get further exploration with Tom Rea, Ilja Nieuwland, and the Tate Museum staff as they talk about Andrew Carnegie’s dinosaur and the appearance of dinosaurs in popular culture. And, of course, don’t miss out on seeing Dee the Mammoth and interactive tours of the Tate Museum, too. You dig?

On Saturday, head to the Natrona County Public Library to support Wyoming’s budding young authors along with Gene Gagliano, the Wyoming State Reading Council and the Center for the Book, for the “Young Authors” and “Letters About Literature” awards.  About 36 students will be on hand to be recognized for their accomplishments. Cookies, snacks, and punch will be served.

On Saturday evening, join the Equality State Book Festival artists, staff, and honored guests at the Petroleum Club for a deluxe buffet and a fun keynote speech by notable children’s author, ALAN Award winner, and master of witty repartee Jack Gantos. Banquet tickets are $25 and can be purchased via the “register” link on this website. Deadline for purchase: Sept. 22nd. 

And finally, and most importantly, the Equality State Book Festival could not be THE premier event happening in Casper in September without emphasizing the following:

We’d like to thank the Natrona County Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) for their early, generous support, as well as UW/CC and the English department at the University of Wyoming.  In addition, we’d like to thank the Casper College Foundation for their continued faith in our event and the Wyoming Arts Council and the Wyoming Humanities Council for their support as well.  The Natrona County School District stepped up to the plate and welcome financial support came our way in mid-August.  Kudos also go to the Natrona County Public Library and the Tate Museum for their strong roles in the festival activities.  Finally, we’d like to express our appreciation to Casper College and ARTCORE for over two decades of steady support for an annual literary conference in Casper.

We hope to see you there,
Laurie Lye and Holly Wendt, Co-directors