The annual Red Dirt Book Festival, set Nov. 6-7 in Shawnee, will be a multi-faceted event, with author-presented programs and workshops, panel discussions and a banquet.
But one event at this year's Red Dirt will be author Billie Letts' keynote address 11 a.m. Nov. 7 in the Raley Chapel on the campus of Oklahoma Baptist University.
Letts is the aughor of "Where the Heart Is," a book chosen to Oprah's Book Club and later made into a major motion picture starring Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd. It went on to sell more than three million copies.
Letts is a native Oklahoman, born in Tulsa. She discovered the joys of reading and writing at a young age, but it wasn't until she was 55 that Letts tentatively showed a literary agent some of her work.
At the time, Letts had three full-gown sons with husband Dennis and was teaching at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Letts sent the agent a short story that grew into her first novel, "Where the Heart Is," which was published in 1995.
Letts' second novel, "The Honk and Holler Opening Soon," was published in 1998 and in 2004 was chosen by Oklahomans as the first selection for Oklahoma Reads Oklahoma, a statewide program that was held for several years leading up to the state's centennial.
"Shoot the Moon" was published in 2004. The novel takes place in the fictional Oklahoma small town DeClare. Featuring the Oklahoma town of Hugo, "Made in the U.S.A." was released in 2008 and both of these titles became New York Times bestsellers.
Letts and other Red Dirt Book Festival authors also will appear in the OBU Geiger Center 2 p.m. Nov. 7 for photos and book signings. Books also will be available for purchase at that time.
Program times, descriptions and locations and author biographies are available on the Red Dirt Web site at http://reddirtbookfestival.org/.
Support for the festival is provided by the Pioneer Library System, the Oklahoma Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as community support including the Shawnee Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma Baptist University and St. Gregory's University and many local donors and volunteers.
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Billie Letts to address Red Dirt Book Festival
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