Alas! Books in Bloom No More
We didn’t know it at the time, but the 14th Books in Bloom Literary Festival held in 2019 was the last.
When the 15th Books in Bloom Literary Festival set for May 2020 was cancelled owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, its sponsors had a year to think about what should happen in 2021.
The festival has been organized by the Carroll and Madison Library Foundation.
When the 15th Books in Bloom Literary Festival set for May 2020 was cancelled owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, its sponsors had a year to think about what should happen in 2021.
The festival has been organized by the Carroll and Madison Library Foundation. The yearly celebration of books, their readers and authors, has been a much-anticipated event held on the grounds of the historic Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs. Alas, the Foundation has decided that the single event has served its purpose and that it’s time to spread the speakers and presentations among the libraries they oversee in the Carroll and Madison Library System.
[Picture at left: Books in Bloom in former days on the grounds of the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Hail and farewell!]
Book-lovers who have looked forward to the May pilgrimage to Eureka Springs, where the unique setting of the Crescent Hotel and grounds was as much a part of the bibliophilic experience as the speakers, will find the month of May lacking from now on.
As Bob Hope might say, Thanks for the memories.
Phil Slattery
Phil Slattery writes fiction and publishes thechambermagazine.com and ruralfictionmagazine.wordpress.com.