Author and NPR commentator Sandra Tsing Loh will moderate the very first "WitFest" -- where LA-area authors vie for top scores in a war of words -- on Oct. 25 at the Castle Green in Old Town Pasadena.
The competition promises to be filled with snappy questions and clever repartee." according to the press release. "Wine and passed hors d’oeuvres will be provided. The creation of the inaugural Pasadena Prizes in Poetry and Prose, awarded to local high school students to encourage literary arts, will be announced."
Panelists will be:mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzman, host of KCET’s “Open Call”; David Kipen, KPCC literary critic and founder of the lending library Libros Schmibros; mystery writer Gary Phillips; KPCC host and LA Times columnist Patt Morrison; and Nat Read, public relations practitioner, author and stand-up comic. Special guest is Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold.
The event is a fundraiser for LitFest Pasadena, scheduled for May 11, 2013. LitFest is a free day of literary panel discussions, readings, theater performances, exhibitors, live music, children's activities and more.
Ticket prices are $75 each or two for $125; patron levels range from $250 to $5,000. Tickets may be purchased at www.litfestpasadena.org; checks should be made out to Pasadena Arts Council, with LitFest Pasadena in the memo field, and mailed to LitFest Pasadena, P.O. Box 93184, Pasadena CA 91109. Tickets are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.
