Less than two weeks before it begins, the Seattle Bookfest has finally listed its schedule of events. They have also put out a press release:

SEATTLE — Seattle Bookfest announces the recent addition of several new authors and poets to the upcoming two-day event. Acclaimed Bellingham author William Dietrich will read from his new book, The Dakota Cipher, the third in his Ethan Gage series, and National Book Award-winning writer Pete Dexter will read from Spooner, the coming-of-age story of a young man in the South. Also, poets Jason Whitmarsh and Mike Hickey, who was elected Seattle’s “Poet Populist” last November, will read from their most recent work at the event. They will join a lineup of over 120 local authors, including Garth Stein, Knute Berger, Jennie Shortridge, Karen Fisher, and poets like Sam Hamill and Judith Roche.

Mystery, sci-fi, romance, literary and nonfiction writers are represented on three author stages sponsored by Third Place Books, Bookworm Exchange, Seattle Mystery Bookshop, and Fremont Place Books....
(Press release, with hours and directions, continues after the jump.)

I have to say: When Knute Berger is one of your headliners, you might have a problem wrangling talent. I'm doing a panel at this Bookfest, but I'm skeptical about how things will go. Major bookstores—Elliott Bay Book Company and University Book Store—aren't taking part, and aside from Pete Dexter, there isn't a single participant who doesn't read in Seattle all the freakin' time.

I have trouble believing that this slate of authors and panelists can even draw 9,000 people, which is the lowest number of attendees reported by the last Bookfest. (Also, Bookfest participants received an e-mail which read, in part, that "(w)e expect good turnout at the event, but it's your responsibility to get people to your reading/panel/workshop/booth. Send out emails to your fan clubs and listservs! List Seattle Bookfest in your "Upcoming Events" page on your website! Post announcements about it on your Facebook page! Do whatever it takes to get people to the event, specifically your presentation. ") In fact, I don't think that this Bookfest addresses any of the major problems that crushed the last Bookfest. (Christopher Frizzelle documented those problems in a great postmortem piece which you can find here.)

Maybe by lowering expectations and keeping the bottom line at its current bargain-sub-basement level, they'll manage to survive in the way the last Bookfest couldn't. But other organizations are currently working on a higher-profile Bookfest to debut in 2010 or 2011, and this town ain't big enough for the et cetera, et cetera. We'll find out in twelve days how this will work out.

. The Childen’s Stage, which is sponsored by The Secret Garden Bookshop, features over 30 authors of children’s and young adult books, including Sara Anderson, Sean Beaudoin, Bonny Becker, and Kevin Emerson. The fifth stage is devoted to poetry with over thirty well-known local poets participating. In addition to author readings, there are numerous panels, workshops and activities for the whole family. There will be a Grammar Bee, a bookmaking workshop, an interactive cooking demonstration, a musical performance by the band “The Board of Education,” and much, much more.

In addition to the scheduled events, over 70 local presses, bookstores and literary organizations will have booths to display their books at Bookfest. Exhibitors include Black Heron Press, University of Washington Press, the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, Fantagraphics Books, Revolution Books, the Seattle Times, and many others. Throughout the weekend, Friends of the Seattle Public Library will hold a Book Swap (swap a book or buy one for $1), and the Seattle Scrabble Club will offer Scrabble games in which attendees can “challenge a champ,” play each other, and win prizes.

Bookfest will be held October 24-25 from 10am to 6pm daily in the Columbia City Event Center, the former Columbia School, at 3528 S. Ferdinand. Admission is free with a suggested donation of $5.00. For more information and an event schedule, see the Bookfest website at www.seattlebookfest.com.