Fiction: L.A. Writes the World (2009): Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books began in 1996 with a simple goal: to bring together the people who create books with the people who love to read them. The festival was an immediate success and has become the largest and most prestigious book festival in the country, attracting more than 130,000 book lovers each year.

Ben Ehrenreich is a novelist and journalist. He is the author of The Suitors, his first novel. He lives in Los Angeles.

Chris Abani is a Nigerian poet and novelist and the author of the award-winning books Song of Night and Graceland. He is a professor at UC Riverside and is the recipient of many literary awards.

Steve Erickson is the author of eight novels including, most recently, Zeroville. He is also the film critic for Los Angeles magazine and editor of Black Clock, published by CalArts, where he teaches writing. In 2007 he received a Guggenheim fellowship.

Rachel Kushner was an editor at Grand Street and Bomb magazines and now co-edits the Soft Targets journal. A frequent contributor to Artforum magazine, Kushner is the author of Telex from Cuba.