By Clint Thomas, The Herald- Dispatch
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The 20th anniversary edition of the West Virginia Book Festival will have a true 21st century ambience, presented entirely virtually today and tomorrow.
It’s a safety measure, prompted by the cautionary strictures of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following its 2020 cancellation, the Book Festival was scheduled to return to its familiar confines of the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center this weekend, after social distancing restrictions were relaxed — temporarily — earlier this year.
“We were really anxious to get back to normal this year after having to cancel in 2020,” KCPL Marketing and Development Manager and Book Festival Co-Chair Stan Howell said. “We had already begun preparations; it’s a pretty big event, so we had started planning in February and March. We had the authors lined up prior to that. Then, of course, the pandemic took a turn for the worse.”
Howell and other Festival Selection Committee members met in August to determine their course. “Thousands of people crowd into the Convention Center, so their health and safety was our number one priority, and the committee voted unanimously to cancel an in-person event. We had to pivot and figure out a Plan B.” …