Los Angeles Times Festival

The annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books has the sparkle of something new this time around — its venue. After 15 years at UCLA, the two-day festival has moved to USC. What remains constant are the oodles of authors, panels, readings, signings, cooking demos and plenty to interest young readers — not to mention dozens of exhibitor booths for publishers, bookstores, literary magazines and local organizations such as WriteGirl and 826LA....

There's going to be a whole lot of cooking going on at the 17th annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on the USC campus Saturday and Sunday. In fact, there's an entire stage devoted to it. Saturday will kick off with Ink's Michael Voltaggio at 10:30 a.m., followed by "Top Chef's" Gail Simmons at 12:30 p.m. Voltaggio will return to the stage at 2 p.m., along with Mozza's Nancy Silverton, to discuss the Southern California food scene with Los Angeles Times Deputy Food Editor Betty Hallock.

In an age when economic downturns and new technology pose huge challenges to the publishing world, public events — like the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books this weekend at UCLA — offer a different type of interactivity than can be found either on the page or screen. The book business has taken a beating in the national recession, and the latest figures from the Assn. of American Publishers are not encouraging: Sales dropped 1.8% in 2009 to $23.8 billion. E-books registered the biggest single gain, with sales of $313.

NEW YORK—There are author success stories. There's winning the lottery. And then there's Chad Harbach. A long-suffering, often-starving MFA graduate, Harbach spent much of his 20s and 30s working temp jobs so he could write a novel, sometimes with barely $100 in his bank account. He thought no one would ever read his book, titled "The Art of Fielding. " It featured, after all, some pretty ambitious literary writing, a prominent gay character and a baseball motif, all no-nos for anyone with aspirations to the fiction bestseller list.

Mystery writers can be a dark lot. "When I was growing up, I was always interested in those books, ‘Women Who Kill,' " Megan Abbott, author of "Bury Me Deep," intoned as her audience laughed. She chuckled. "Strange kid." Across the UCLA campus Saturday, there were writerly confessions — and not just from the authors of noirish mystery tales — and political musings. Celebrities reflected on their lives, poets read from their works and a person or two could be found strolling the grounds in costume.

When "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" first came out, publisher Dutton did not send Judy Blume around the country to talk about it. "There were no book tours!" she says. "I don't think they sent children's book writers on tour. " That was in the 1970s, when Blume had a string of hits for young readers, from small children to those grappling with adolescence. "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" (1970), "Then Again, Maybe I Won't" (1971), "Freckle Juice" (1971), "Deenie" (1973)

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sun. Where: USC campus Information: http://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will move its weekend-long celebration of the written word to the USC campus next spring after 15 years across town at UCLA, officials announced Wednesday. The change of venue to USC's main University Park campus south of downtown Los Angeles will offer a more central location, better access to public transportation, easier parking and the use of newly expanded university facilities for the annual event, leaders of the newspaper and USC said.

When "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" first came out, publisher Dutton did not send Judy Blume around the country to talk about it. "There were no book tours!" she says. "I don't think they sent children's book writers on tour. " That was in the 1970s, when Blume had a string of hits for young readers, from small children to those grappling with adolescence. "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" (1970), "Then Again, Maybe I Won't" (1971), "Freckle Juice" (1971), "Deenie" (1973)

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sun. Where: USC campus Information: http://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks

What do Sugar Ray Leonard, Judy Blume, Betty White, T.C. Boyle, Rodney King, Joseph Wambaugh and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have in common? They're just a few of the high-profile personalities appearing this weekend at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Now in its second year at USC, the 17th annual festival offers another robust two-day program of writers and celebrity authors unmatched by any other literary event across the country. More than 400 authors are scheduled to appear in panel sessions and on eight stages set up across USC's University Park Campus.

Years ago when Megan McDonald, the now-52-year-old author of the popular children's series "Judy Moody," was writing picture books for the 2- to 4-year-old set, a grandmother came through her signing line at an event in Florida. Clutched to the elderly woman's chest was a waterlogged, tattered copy of McDonald's debut, "Is This a House for Hermit Crab?" The woman proceeded to tell McDonald that because of her modest means, the book, which tells the simple story of a crustacean on a quest to find the perfect home, was the only one she owned.

Poets read to rapt audiences, and authors of fiction tried to explain the creative process. Celebrity chefs lured big crowds to sit under a hot sun, and mystery writers answered questions in SRO auditoriums. There was something for almost everyone at the 16th annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, held this past weekend on the USC campus. What follows is a sampling of reports on the festival from the Jacket Copy blog. Meeting Ginsberg Before she read a section from "Just Kids," punk poetess Patti Smith set up the audience to laugh.