Pulitzer Prize winner, best-selling mystery writer headline Vegas Valley Book Festival

Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan and Charlaine Harris, whose best-selling Sookie Stackhouse mysteries inspired HBO's "True Blood," will headline the 11th annual Vegas Valley Book Festival.

Promising "100 Authors, 100 Events," the festival will take place Nov. 1 to 3.

Harris opens the festival at 7 p.m. Nov. 1 at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road.

Egan, whose novel "A Visit from the Goon Squad" won last year's Pulitzer for fiction, will speak at 3 p.m. Nov. 3, at downtown's Historic Fifth Street School, 401 S. Fourth St., where most of the festival will take place.

Three stages will present readings, music and poetry. A "Feasting of Wheels" food court will showcase local food trucks. Also on the festival schedule: panel discussions, book signings, workshops and art exhibitions.

There's even a flash fiction writing contest, along with the Las Vegas Writes Project's short story anthology, "Wish You Were Here," from Stephens Press, which is owned by Stephens Media, the company that owns the Review-Journal, one of the festival's sponsors.

Most of the events are free and open to the public. There also will be a series of eight book-related programs in advance of the festival.

In addition to the Review-Journal, the Vegas Valley Book Festival is produced by the city of Las Vegas; the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District; the Black Mountain Institute, University of Nevada, Las Vegas; the American Institute of Graphic Arts, Las Vegas chapter; and Nevada Humanities, a festival founder.

More information is available by calling (702) 229-5431 or online at www.vegasvalleybookfestival.org.