Local Readers and Writers Converge on Author Alley at Loganberry Books

Author

Sat 7/2 @ noon-4PM

You can’t consider yourself a book lover in Northeast Ohio if Loganberry Books isn’t a regular haunt. For the last decade, that also means attending the Shaker Heights venue’s annual Author Alley. The literary-minded affair coincides with the annual Larchmere Festival, which this year takes place July 2 along Larchmere Boulevard.

Similar to speed dating, Author Alley is for voracious readers who will have the opportunity to meet and greet 50 authors with the hope of discovering something new and perhaps local. CoolCleveland talked to Loganberry Books owner Harriett Logan about Author Alley.

What exactly is Author Alley?

Author Alley is a celebration of local artists, including big national names as well as self-published authors writing in all genres living in Northeast Ohio. We want exposure for these authors. It’s networking both professionally for the writer as well as with their audience base, new fans and readers. It’s good for readers living in Cleveland not only to know who is living next door to them but to be introduced to new works of nonfiction, history, health, graphic arts and children’s books. We cover the gamut here in terms of who is invited, and types of materials and genres they’re working in.

There are so many local authors. How do you determine who participates?

We capped the event at 50, which is really the capacity we can hold. There are some years we’ll put people on a waiting list. That’s a huge response, really. We do try to keep it current, so we ask that the books being promoted are published in the last 16 months. We’re not bringing out books you’ve seen for like the last five years.

What’s the origin of Author Alley?

Perhaps part of its intent was to pull self-published authors together because many of them don’t have a history in publishing and haven’t found their audience yet. So they need some work to find that audience and a big festival is a more joyous event that will allow readers and authors to make connections.

How has Author Alley changed or evolved over the years?

The very first incarnation was in late fall indoors and that didn’t go as well. Then we took a year off, reinvented it and put it in the middle of summer outdoors in our driveway with a huge 70-foot book mural as the backdrop. We staged it during the Larchmere Festival, where there’s already a lot of activity and a lot of people on the street. That’s a long-standing event that has vendors, crafts people, artists, antique dealers, food trucks and kids activities. It’s a family event in which we celebrate what we do best, which is the written word.

In Northeast Ohio, Loganberry Books provides an epicenter of sorts for the literary scene. How would you describe what’s happening right now?

Literary arts in Cleveland are a rich and blossoming field. We have nationally renowned authors who live here. We have people discovering their voices. We have young people moving to urban rust belt centers because it’s cheaper and interesting and gritty and real. They’re looking for something to sink their teeth into in terms of an American voice.

To continue that point, what does Loganberry Books provide Northeast Ohio?

A profitable bookstore is both a community meeting ground as well as a spark of innovation and imagination for readers. People who discover us generally discover a book they’ve never heard of as well. You probably wouldn’t have discovered that book browsing online because you’re looking for what you already know, which is not what happens when you browse a physical bookstore.

So what you’re saying is long live brick and mortar stores?

Yes, thank you.

loganberrybooks.com

Shaker Heights, OH 44120

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