Leimert Park Village Book Fair Set To Celebrate Its 14th Anniversary

Areva Martin

LOS ANGELES – The Leimert Park Village Book Fair (LPVBF) is excited to announce civil rights attorney and media personality Areva Martin as its 2021 book fair ambassador. Martin is the author of AWAKENING: LADIES, LEADERSHIP AND LIES WE’VE BEEN TOLD.  In her book, Martin continues to explore societal norms for gender roles within America’s average working environment. She intends for this book to be the average working woman’s manual to breaking outdated generational gender roles.  

With a new weekend show on Tavis Smiley’s KBLA Talk 1580, called “Areva Martin Out Loud,”  Martin continues to be one of the nation's leading voices in media, covering topics such as law, race, politics, pop culture, celebrity, and breaking news! She has a unique way of blending her outstanding legal expertise with her passion for promoting inclusion, diversity, and equality within ALL environments!  

“We are thrilled to have Areva as this year’s Leimert Park Village Book Fair ambassador,” said Cynthia Exum, founder and executive producer of the LPVBF. “Areva’s work in the community is commendable, and she is a wonderful role model who leads by example! Exum added, “We also consider Areva one of our very own because she participated in the inaugural Leimert Park Village Book Fair as a first-time, self-published author. She is an amazing and gifted individual, and we are beyond delighted to welcome her back as our 2021 Book Fair Ambassador!"

For the month of October, the 14th anniversary of Leimert Park Village Book Fair (LPVBF) will celebrate National Book Month with a special virtual event, featuring one of America’s most acclaimed poets Nikki Giovanni on Saturday, October 16, 2021, in Los Angeles. Hosted by Jasmine Sanders, co-host of the nationally syndicated “DL Hughley Radio Show,” the virtual book fair will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The family-oriented event is based in the heart of Leimert Park, which is considered the center of the African American arts/intellectual scene in LA. For the virtual broadcast, book lovers will need to register for the online experience. For more information, visit www.leimertparkbookfair.com.  

Voted One of LA’s Five Best Annual Book Festivals,” the LPVBF has become a much-anticipated cultural tradition in the African American community.  It provides authors an opportunity to promote their newest work as well as meet some of their fans up close and personal.  

BEST SELLERS, CROWD PLEASERS & FAN FAVORITES

The virtual event includes a lineup of New York Times best-selling authors, “Good Morning America” book club picks, crowd-pleasers, and fan favorites. With a virtual event, the Leimert Park Village Book Fair is creating a literary broadcast experience, where through technology, fans can engage with their favorite authors with a touch of a button. 

Along with Martin, Jason Mott, a finalist for the National Book Awards, will talk about his buzz-worthy, New York Times Best Seller, HELL OF A BOOK, which has made many lists and book club picks, including “Good Morning,” USA Today and Entertainment Weekly – just to name a few. Another crowd-pleaser includes Victoria Christopher Murray, author of the novel THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN, co-written by Marie Benedict, an instant New York Times bestseller and “Good Morning America” Book Club Pick. It’s a remarkable novel about J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white in order to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation. Plus, Rob Kenner reflects on his work, THE MARATHON DON’T STOP: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF NIPSEY HUSSLE, the first in-depth biography of Nipsey Hussle, the hip-hop self-made mogul, artist, and activist whose transformative legacy inspired a generation with his motivational lyrics and visionary business savvy. For the love of Nipsey, THE MARATHON DON’T STOP also hit the New York Times Best Sellers List.

As for fan favorites, celebrity author Yvonne Orji, a stand-up comic and actress, best known as Issa Rae's BFF on the HBO series, “Insecure” shares the secret to living the life of your dreams in her new book, BAMBOOZLED BY JESUS.

And Tyler Merritt shares his experiences as a 6'2" dreadlocked Black man just trying to live his best life, some of those experiences are painful, some hysterical but all are real and relatable in his book, I TAKE MY COFFEE BLACK. Interestingly, Merritt’s viral video "Before You Call the Cops" has been viewed by 59 million people worldwide. Trisha R. Thomas gives viewers a reading from her latest offering, WHAT PASSES AS LOVE, a story about a young woman paying a devastating price for freedom in this heartrending and breathtaking novel of the nineteenth-century South.  Thomas is also the bestselling author of NAPPILY EVER AFTER, which has been adapted into a popular Netflix film.

Finally, talk radio host Dominique Baraka DiPrima of KBLA Talk 1580 offers a special reading from the work of her parents – that is, the late Beat poet/icon Diane di Prima; and acclaimed poet Amiri Baraka, considered the Father of the Black Arts Movement. DiPrima’s mother was the Poet Laureate of San Francisco, and her father was the Poet Laureate of New Jersey. 

In the “Kids Corner, “LPVBF takes its show on the global road! This year’s children’s program, hosted by Chudney Ross, will showcase two authors from Lantana Publishing, a London-based publishing company, dedicated to publishing children's books by authors and illustrators from diverse cultural backgrounds. Ross is the creator of Books and Cookies, a popular children’s bookstore and mobile literacy enrichment program. A fun-filled and engaging lineup is in store, featuring readings by Krina Patel-Sage, author of MY MINDFUL A TO ZEN and Michael Catchpool, author of SUPER JOE DOES NOT DO CUDDLES, as well as storytelling by librarian Binnie Tate Wilkin and a musical performance of “Ice Cream Songs” by Lionel Jean Baptiste!

Our children’s virtual program will end with special children’s author presentation with Don Tate, the award-winning illustrator of numerous critically acclaimed books for children who brings the reading of PIGSKINS TO PAINTBRUSHED: THE STORY OF FOOTBALL-PLAYING ARTIST ERNIE BARNES to life with illustrations from his computer. Barnes is so well-known as an artist that one of his paintings was featured in the opening credits of the TV show “Good Times,” and he was commissioned to create official posters for the Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics.  

THE LEIMERT PARK VILLAGE BOOK FAIR PARTNERS WITH THE BOOK FAIRES

And finally, unleashing the magic of fairies, LPVBF is excited to announce a partnership with The Book Fairies, an organization, based in London, that enlists its  “fairies” of volunteers to hide 100 books for a treasure hunt of the book fair’s participating authors throughout Los Angeles City and London.  For more information about The Book Fairies, visit www.IBelieveInBookFairies.com

For more about the Leimert Park Village Book Fair and to register to attend the virtual event, please visit www.leimertparkbookfair.com.