Book lovers of all ages will be in their element during the Hamilton East Public Library’s annual author fair, set for 1 to 4 p.m. April 20 at the Forum Events Center, 11313 USA Pkwy. in Fishers.
The author fair will include about 60 booths featuring mostly individual authors and a handful of literary organizations, said Danielle Acton, HEPL adult program coordinator. This year marks the eighth author fair, she said, and the third as a spring event at the Forum Events Center.
“Prior to ’22, we had it in the fall,” she said. “It was called Oktoberfest and it was at the library and it was a lot smaller. When we brought it back post-pandemic (we expanded) because we’ve had such an interest — we get a lot of requests from local folks that say, ‘Hey, I’ve written a book. Can I donate a copy to the collection? Can I do a reading? Can I do a story time?’”
While they’d love to accommodate all those requests, she said, if they did, they wouldn’t have time for much else.
“That’s why we do the author fair once a year to showcase as many of those as we can all at one time,” Acton said.
Most of the featured authors are local, she said, including writers from Fishers, Noblesville and other communities in the greater Indianapolis area. More than 100 authors applied to participate.
“Our committee went through and scored everybody against the rubric and that’s how we know who could receive an invite,” she said. “It’s grown to be bigger and bigger, which is great, and that’s why we’re holding it off site.”
Among the authors featured at the fair this year is Fishers resident Tasha Jun, who will have copies of her first book, “Tell Me the Dream Again.” Jun said the book is a memoir of her experiences as a biracial Korean American.
“It’s essentially a lot of essays or vignettes from my upbringing and also from my mom’s life,” she said. “And so, kind of weaving between stories of her upbringing as a Korean immigrant and our relationship and then my own journey with embracing and then rejecting and then coming back to embrace my Koreaness, and how that impacts all facets of my life.”
Jun said that coming from two different heritages seemed normal when she was a kid, but later she felt as though she didn’t fit into either world.
“I think that started to change how I interpreted my normal,” she said “Wherever we went, whether it was in the U.S. or when we had traveled to Korea and — as a kid thinking, ‘Oh, I’m Korean,’ but then realizing while I’m there that I’m not seen as Korean, and so just kind of feeling like, ‘Gosh, I belong nowhere.’”
Jun said she wanted to illuminate that experience for others, noting that people of mixed heritage are among the fastest-growing demographics in the United States. She also hopes that people with similar backgrounds will be able to relate to her stories.
This is Jun’s first HEPL author fair, and she said she’s looking forward to it.
“I’m excited to do something with a library, and the library that I frequent the most with my kids,” she said.
For more about Jun, visit tashajun.com.
This year will mark comic-book author Jason Funk’s second time at the fair. Funk, an 18-year-old Fishers resident, has written three published comics, the first completed when he was 15. That book, called “The Bus Seat,” has a character with autism, much like Funk himself.
Funk’s second comic is “The Merchant of Misfortune,” and his third and newest book is called “Burger Quest.”
“It’s about Matthew Tobias, a young adult who wants to get a hamburger from a hamburger place,” Funk said. “But the hamburger place is all out. So, he goes on a quest to the mystical Burger Gardens to find a hamburger. He goes in the burger gardens (where) hamburgers grow on trees. Along the way, Matthew has to face a bunch of different obstacles such as, you know, mountains, volcanoes, goblins, trolls and even, like, a giant squid.”
Funk said having autism simply means that he’s different, but everyone is different in their own way.
“Everyone has different strengths and challenges, but you can overcome your challenges,” he said. “The same goes for being an author — you might have challenges doing it but those challenges are meant to be overcome.”
Funk’s writing process starts with hand-drawing his comic panels, which he then transfers to a computer and uses an illustrator program to digitally copy the artwork. Funk said he worked with an illustrator for his first two books, but “Burger Quest” is all his own and he’s excited to share it with readers during the author fair.
For more about Funk, visit funkworldhq.com.
Acton said the fair will be an open-house style with tables set up in the foyer and inside the main event space. Visitors can talk with various authors and learn about their writing journeys and about getting published, and of course buy books. New this year will be a series of author readings in a side room.
For more, visit hamiltoneastpl.org/hepl-local-author-fair-2024-coming-soon.
HEPL offers writing workshops
On the same day as the Hamilton East Public Library Author Fair, HEPL will host three free writing workshops at the Fishers Library, 5 Municipal Dr.
According to the HEPL website, the workshops are 10-11:30 a.m. April 20. They are free to attend, but registration is required and space is limited.
Workshops are:
- Writing is Rewriting: Fixing a First Draft with Myra Levine
- Turning the Tangible into the Intangible with John Hinton
- Character Creation
To register, visit hepl.libnet.info/events and click on April 20 on the calendar.
