The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books began in 1996 with a simple goal: to bring together the people who create books with the people who love to read them. The festival was an immediate success and has become the largest and most prestigious book festival in the country, attracting more than 130,000 book lovers each year.

Carolyn Kellogg is lead blogger at the Los Angeles Times book blog Jacket Copy, as well as a writer of book reviews. She blogs about books and more at www.CarolynKellogg.com. Her radio stories have been heard on NPR.

Patrick DeWitt's writing has appeared in The Stranger, Mean and the Minus Times, among other papers. Ablutions is his first novel. He lives with his wife and son in Portland, Oregon.

Jerry Stahl has written extensively for film and TV, most recently for the hit series CSI. His work includes the memoir Permanent Midnight, which was adapted into a movie starring Ben Stiller. Stahl's most recent novel is Pain Killers.

Wells Tower's short stories and journalism have appeared in the New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, and the Paris Review, among other publications. He received two Pushcart Prizes and the Plimpton Prize from the Paris Review. Tower's most recent book is Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned.