The 2023 Payson Book Festival won’t take place until July, but it’s never too early to get excited as organizers are welcoming dozens of authors and new additions this year .
The event will take place on Saturday, July 15th from 9am to 2:30pm at the Motherzal Hotel & Casino. In addition to local and in-state writers, members of Lim His Country His Artists are also participating.
This is a free event open to the general public.
This year, Payson Book Festival organizers teamed up with Limu Country Artists to celebrate literacy and the arts in the 8th Annual Book and Arts Festival for readers and art lovers of all ages, promote.
At the event, not only art exhibitions but also a kids zone for children will be held. The Kids Zone will feature on-demand storytime, a puppet show by Miss Her Susie at 10am and 11am, and an Art of Storytelling session.
Organizers estimate 700 visitors this year.
The Lim Country Chapter of Arizona Professional Writers (APW) partners with Payson Roundup Newspaper, The Post Net, and Lim Country Living to host the Payson Writers and Artists Festival.
Writers from across the state participate to sign and sell fiction and non-fiction books in a variety of genres.
Members of the Rim Country Artists (RCA) exhibit and sell traditional mixed media and fiber art. APW and RCA are non-profit organizations. Participating literacy organizations include the Gila County Library District, Rim Country Literacy, Southwestern Human Development, and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library Program.
The primary purpose of the Payson Book Festival is to promote literacy and showcase Arizona writers and artists. The festival’s mission is to enhance the love of reading by providing a friendly environment that fosters personal interaction between Arizona writers and readers of all ages. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to a local scholarship program.
“Collaboration with LIMU Country Artists recognizes complementary creative forces,” said one of the organizers.
Payson Book Festival, Inc. features writers from Rim Country and the Arizona area.
Some of the participating authors include:
• Originally from Rhinelander, Wisconsin, Charlie Seraphine has been a senior executive with CBS News, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, and Major League Soccer.
He managed radio stations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas and San Diego.
Among his many adventures are working as a university professor, living with monks in a convent, and helping convince David Koresh to release his children on the night of the shootout in Waco, Texas. It includes what happened. His first two books after retirement have 5-star ratings on Amazon. A Payson resident since 2019, he hosts a forum every weekday morning at KMOG and is working on two new books.
• Dito (rhymes with Cheetoh) Abbott once spent three and a half years animating a stop-motion music video for his band, Too Many Drummers, in his garage. Dito was born in Puerto Rico, raised in Saudi Arabia, and by the age of 27 had sailed around the world with his family.
After completing such an epic project, he figured writing a novel would be easy. he was wrong His debut YA his fantasy his adventure novel “Debunked” depicts his love for adventure, googly-eyed slime beasts, and legendary ironic swords. He now lives in Phoenix with his wife, children, and an invisible dragon named Clyde.
• Laurie Fagen is a ‘habit writer’ who has written for many years on news, videos, movies, documentaries and murder mystery plays.
Honorable mentions in the competition resulted in the publication of three anthology novels and her crime novel series, Behind the Mic Mysteries. ‘Fade Out’, ‘Dead Air’ and ‘Bleeder’ are available in e-book, print and audiobook. She is working on ‘Raw Image’, the first in her new series ‘Behind the Lens Mysteries’.
Fagen is a member of Sisters in Crime.
• Kathleen Kelly has worked as a registered nurse specializing in critical care and emergency medicine for over 30 years. She trained as a sexual assault forensic scientist and has worked with victims of violence. She is the Gila County Child Mortality Research Coordinator for the Arizona Department of Health. She has studied alternative therapies extensively and incorporates a richness of holistic approaches into her work as a medical intuitive. She believes her work will give each of her children a bright voice after her death.
Journaled over the years, her short stories celebrate the best in all of us.
• R Greg Miller – After 25 years of chasing bad guys on the streets of Los Angeles, Greg retired from the LAPD and started chasing toddlers around the house. Instead of dragging his combat bag into the trunk of his police car every day, he also started tossing his stroller and diaper bag into his SUV for “Daddy and Daughter Adventure Days.” Now the elderly street cop, whose daughter is working on a PhD, lives in the White Mountains. When he’s not building furniture or taking walks in the woods, he’s working on another entertaining novel that blends his personal experiences with history.
Book signings, book sales, children’s projects, presentations, live music, and dining are all held on hotel and casino grounds.
Arizona Professional Writers (formerly Arizona Press Women) are women and men who work as professional communicators, journalists, writers, novelists, poets, screenwriters, editors, journalism teachers, photographers, film producers, freelancers and public relations professionals. It is a non-profit organization consisting of Through APW, members develop their career skills, network with top professionals, and enjoy the friendships of their peers.
The Arizona Press Women was founded in Flagstaff by several female journalists in 1953, when female journalists were not permitted to join the Arizona Press Club. APW was chartered in 1954 and joined the National Federation of Press Workers (NFPW) shortly thereafter.
APW is currently organized into three chapters: the Southern Chapter in Tucson, the Central Chapter in the Phoenix Area, and the Rim Country Chapter in the Payson Area.
The Rim Country chapter was established in Payson in 2003. In addition to sponsoring the Payson Book Festival, the Lim Country chapter hosts monthly virtual meetings on Zoom. Meetings are attended by published authors and experts in other areas of professional communication as speakers, providing an opportunity to discuss and review member-owned books at the meeting.
APW offers college scholarships to high school seniors or college students who plan to major in communications at a college in Arizona, and the chapter offers scholarships to students at Gila Community College’s Payson Campus.
APW members are now women and men involved in various aspects of communication. Members include editors, newspaper reporters, TV anchors, radio announcers, freelance writers, public relations executives, screenwriters, novelists, poets, video producers, photographers, educators, students, and telecom company executives. included.
All about rim country artists
RCA’s mission is to promote all forms of art in Rim Country through exhibitions, performances, community engagement, education and collaboration.
Exhibitions and performances include art, photography, music, poetry, drama and dance.
Community involvement includes opportunities for public art, networking, nonprofits, businesses, and partnerships between artists.
Art education (workshops, projects by mentor artists, artists, students and teachers, professional development, etc.)
A collaboration to foster partnerships with art projects, shows, towns and businesses to promote the health and prosperity of Rim Country and build arts centres.
Rim Country Artists want to create landings and places to promote better arts throughout Rim Country. Payson is a central hub (only an hour north of Scottsdale), but the reach of members and RCA extends far beyond Pine, Star Valley, Heber, and hopefully into the White Mountain communities of Show Low, Snowflake and Holbrook. extends up to
As people from across the Southwest migrate to rural Arizona’s mountain towns, Payson and its frontier areas are poised to foster an inclusive and stimulating environment for artists and art lovers alike.
The deadline for registration for the Authors & Artists Festival is July 15th, so artists still have time to submit their applications. The deadline for entry applications is June 1st. For more information, please contact Elizabeth Fowler at elizaufowler@gmail.com or call 928-970-1825.
• This is a juried show. To be selected as an exhibitor, you will need to submit 3 photographs that are representative of what you plan to exhibit.
• Each artist must have their own setup in their assigned area. Each booth space is approximately 10′ x 10′, but sometimes larger. All hanging art must be presented on panels brought to the exhibition by the artist. No art is allowed on the walls. An easel is also an option.
• Each artist must provide their own table and tablecloth.
• Artists will provide a professional presentation and keep the area neat and clean during the show.
To help RCA’s scholarship fund, each exhibitor is required to donate their work to the show’s raffle.
Scan your completed application and email it along with three digital photographs.
If you prefer, you can email the photo file and then mail the printed application to Elizabeth, 239 W. Thompson Rd., Payson AZ 85541.
