Chattanooga State Community College’s Writers@Work program, in partnership with the Southern Lit Alliance, will present the second annual YA-hoo Fest, Chattanooga’s only young adult book festival, on Friday and Saturday.
Featuring Rick Yancey, author of the bestselling The 5th Wave series, and 29 other well-known authors of young adult and middle grade literature, YA-hoo Fest will include a live taping of the podcast, First Draft with Sarah Enni; panel discussions with visiting authors; on-site book sales; author signings; food; local vendors; and live music.
All events will take place on the campus of Chattanooga State Community College, 4501 Amnicola Hwy.
The festival will kick off on Friday with a new event: an interactive live taping of the critically-renowned podcast, First Draft with Sarah Enni featuring Rick Yancey; Sarah Enni (Tell Me Everything), Cindy Pon (Silver Phoenix; WANT), and Justin Reynolds (Opposite of Always) discussing story-telling, playing games, and answering audience questions. Since its inception in 2014, First Draft with Sarah Enni has put YA author and host Sarah Enni in conversation with a range of other YA authors, essayists, podcasters, songwriters, and storytellers, including Veronica Roth (Divergent series), Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen series), and many others. Additional information about the First Draft with Sarah Enni can be found at firstdraftpod.com.
The live taping will be held from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the Chattanooga State Humanities Building. Tickets are $5, and can be purchased online at yahoofest.org.
The festival will continue on Saturday from 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., on the Chattanooga State campus. The Saturday events will begin with a keynote session with Jeff Zentner, award-winning author of The Serpent King, Goodbye Days, and Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee, and will continue with book sales, numerous panel discussions, and several author signings throughout the day. All Saturday events are free of charge in celebration of young adult and middle grades literature, the authors who write it, and the readers who love it. To register for Saturday’s events, please visit yahoofest.org.
A complete schedule of all events, including full festival lineup and information about visiting authors, can be found at yahoofest.org. YA-hoo Fest can also be found on Instagram as yahoo.fest, on Facebook as YAhooFestChatt, and on Twitter as @YAhooFestival.
For more information about YA-hoo Festival, contact Joel Henderson at 697-4403 or yahoofest@chattanoogastate.edu. To become a sponsor of the festival, contact Lynda LeVan at 267-6718.