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.

Jane Smiley is the author of more than 10 novels and four works of nonfiction. She is the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize and in 2001 was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Smiley's latest novel is Ten Days in the Hills.

S.E. Hinton is the author of several books including The Outsiders, one of the best-selling young-adult books of all time. In 1988, the American Library Assn. awarded Hinton its first Margaret A. Edwards Award. Her most recent title is Some of Tim's Stories.