News & Updates

From the September 20th article on St. Louis Magazine: Left Bank Books and the Central West End Community Improvement District’s second annual BookFest St. Louis kicks off Friday night with “An Evening with Sally Field,” where the actress will be discussing her memoir In Pieces at 7 p.m. at the Chase Park Plaza. More than 40 authors will make appearances at the […]

From the September 20th article on St. Louis Magazine: When Kathleen Finneran floated the idea of interviewing Sally Field about the actress’ new memoir In Pieces for BookFest St. Louis past organizer Kris Kleindienst, she says it was “partly in jest.” Well, maybe it wasn’t so much in jest, Finneran, the senior writer in residence at Washington […]

From the September 19th article on St. Louis Magazine: “Because I’m from St. Louis, Left Bank is one of my favorite bookstores of all time,” says Anne Valente, author of the 2016 novel Our Hearts Will Burn Us Down—set in St. Louis—and the forthcoming Utah, scheduled to be released next summer. When Valente heard last year about Left […]

From the September 17th article on St. Louis Public Radio: Kris Kleindienst need only glance out toward the entrance to her bookstore at the corner of Euclid and McPherson avenues for some solid reminders of St. Louis’ literary legacy. The busts of four canonical writers adorn the intersection – T.S. Eliot, Tennessee Williams, Kate Chopin […]

From the September 15th article on St. Louis Post-Dispatch: As a small girl in her nightgown, Sally Field would be summoned to walk on her handsome stepfather’s back. As he lay naked under a sheet, the former stuntman for Errol Flynn seemed to want pain relief from the foot pressure of a petite child.“Keep going, […]

From the September 14th article on St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The second year of BookFest St. Louis features more authors, a larger street footprint and about two dozen vendors. But Kris Kleindienst says organization seems easier. “In many respects, it’s less work because we didn’t have to invent it,” she says. “We’re building on general public […]

From the September 10th article on Alive Magazine: St. Louis may be the best city in America to be a writer and a reader—but don’t tell. Most of the time, St. Louis’ book-lovers get to enjoy being the written world’s best-kept secret. After all, what other region can say they’re home to one of the nation’s oldest and […]

From the August 27th article on Nicki’s Central West End Guide: The last authors to appear at 2017’s BookFest St. Louis in the Central West End had just packed their bags and headed for the airport when organizers, thrilled with the success of the inaugural event, started planning for 2018’s BookFest. The organizing team, including […]

From the August 14th article on Only In Your State: Missouri has been home to some of the best authors in American history! However, did you know there is a large book festival coming to Missouri this September? Whether you’re a book worm or casual reader, this literary festival will keep you entertained all day […]

BookFest St. Louis was recently the recipient of a 2018 A-List Award for Best Literary Festival from St. Louis Mazagine! From the July Issue: Left Bank Books and the Central West End Community Improvement District saw a huge blank space where a literary festival should be and made it happen. Unlike many book fests, which […]