YALLFest is a public two-day annual

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

book festival A literary festival, also known as a book festival or writers' festival, is a regular gathering of writers and readers, typically on an annual basis in a particular city. A literary festival usually features a variety of presentations and readings ...

in Charleston,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

that is the largest of its kind in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

. The festival was founded in 2011 by Jonathan Sanchez of the Charleston bookstore Blue Bicycle Books along with authors

Kami Garcia Kami Garcia (born March 25, 1972) is an American writer. She is known for writing Young adult literature, young adult fiction and graphic novels for DC Comics. Life She grew up in the Washington, D.C. area, but currently resides in Los Angeles, C ...

and

Margaret Stohl Margaret Stohl (; born 1967) is an American novelist. She is the author of 14 novels, as well as 5 volumes of comics and several video games. She lives in Santa Monica, California. Early life and education Margaret Stohl was born in Pasadena, C ...

. Author

Melissa de la Cruz Melissa de la Cruz (born September 7, 1971) is a Filipina-American writer known for young adult fiction. Her young-adult series include ''Au Pairs'', the '' Blue Bloods'', and ''The Beauchamp Family''. Early life and education Melissa de la Cruz ...

joined as Director of Development in 2012. Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz currently co-chair the festival. In 2015, Stohl and de la Cruz co-founded a sister festival, YALLWEST, that occurs every spring in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Attending authors

2011

Festival Director: Jonathan Sanchez Author Track Guests:

2012

Festival Director: Jonathan Sanchez YALLFest 2012 Keynote Conversation:

Cassandra Clare Judith Lewis (née Rumelt; born July 27, 1973), better known by her pen name Cassandra Clare, is an American author of young adult fiction, best known for her bestselling series ''The Mortal Instruments''. Personal life Clare was born Judith R ...

and

Holly Black Holly Black (; born November 10, 1971) is an American writer and editor best known for her children's and young adult fiction. Her most recent work is the ''New York Times'' bestselling young adult ''Folk of the Air'' series. She is also well kn ...

Author Track Guests:

2013

YALLFest 2013 brought together forty-eight top young adult, middle grade and crossover writers (including 25

New York Times Bestseller ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

s) from all over the country. Festival Director: Jonathan Sanchez Programming Directors: Margaret Stohl (YA), Melissa de la Cruz (Crossover), Pseudonymous Bosch (Middle Grade) YALLFest 2013 Keynote Conversation: Veronica Roth and Rae Carson (Presented by Epic Reads & HarperTeen) Author Track Guests:

2014

Author Track Guests:

References

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External links

YALLFest Facebook Page

YALLFest website
Book fairs in the United States Festivals in South Carolina Tourist attractions in Charleston, South Carolina Young adult literature