25 Years of the Las Vegas Book Festival

Nevada Humanities lit up the city of Las Vegas with a different type of litness in the form of literature twenty five years ago. The Las Vegas Book Festival, formally known as Vegas Valley Book Festival, began in 2002 and the silver state’s largest literary event celebrates over two decades of putting the lit in literary. 

From the food trucks to the poetry pavilion, the city’s readers and writers gathered downtown at the Historic Fifth Street School to frolic through a plethora of books, literary panels, over fifty vendors and various exhibits at the Las Vegas Book Festival and Sheen Magazine was on the scene. 

This year’s headlining authors have contributed to timeless written works in an unforgettable way. One message each of the headliners echoed at the 25th Las Vegas Book Festival besides to read their books, was to write the book. Write the book and take the storytelling above and beyond. 

Natalie Baszile, the bestselling author of Queen Sugar, which became a hit show produced by Ava Duvernay and co-produced by Oprah Winfrey, discussed the journey of writing her latest novel, Friends & Family.

The novel tells the story of a challenged friendship between a Black woman and white woman due to a traumatic event with police that deeply affected the white woman’s Black adopted son. Natalie highlighted how in 2016 when she began writing her novel, that was the year 278 Black Americans were fatally shot and killed by police.

In the span of ten years of Natalie writing about one fictional trauma, from 2016 to 2019 about 300 Black People per year have been killed by the police. From 2020 to 2023 about 350 Black People per year were killed by police. 2024 is documented to have been the deadliest year with police killing approximately 352 Black People.

In 2025, less than 350 Black People were killed by police and in 2026, 226 Black People have been killed by police. Those are the numbers of deaths actually reported. Friends & Family was recently released in early October 2026.

The Legends, Myths, and Aliens panel featured a fantastic group of authors and all their whimsy.   Ayana Gray, New York Times Bestselling author of I, Medusa. Ayana talked about why Medusa had locs and why it was important to respectfully dismiss the so-called medusa traditionalists and tell her story the way she knew it should be told. 

Kimberley Lemming, the USA Today bestselling author of I Punched An Alien And Now We’re in Couples Therapy, speaks about how she was determined to write the most out of this world and outlandish alien novels ever. 

Wings of Life author, Meghan Le Fay, pitched a compelling story as to why dragons have been deeply a part of human culture more than people realize, which is how she decided to pen her romantasy series The Dragonbound Chronicles. 

Vanessa L. Torres details her experiences with death as a 30 year veteran of the fire service, having spent 25 of them as a firefighter and paramedic first responder and how it relates to her young adult paranormal romance novel, On The Wings of la Noche.

Bestselling author Yasmin Angoe converses about her protagonist in her latest Greek mythology laced psychological thriller, The Ferryman’s Daughter on the fear of inheriting the worst part of your parents behavior and if the behavior is dark, how does one move on from it?

Clarence A. Haynes, author of urban fantasy novels The Ghosts of Gwendolyn Montgomery and The Broken Hearts Agency explored why it was important to take his ghost stories to places that people had never read before. 

Other headlining panels included Tony Weaver, Jr. author of the middle grade graphic novel memoir, Weirdo.

The Harry Reid Then & Now conversation was led by the founder of The Nevada Independent and author of The Game Changer How Harry Reid Remade the Rules and Showed Democrats How to Fight veteran political journalist Jon Ralston. 

Mia Heintzelman, Las Vegas’ very own romance bestselling authoress of novels such as, The Friendship Contract and The Accidental Crush, was on the scene at the Las Vegas Book Festival. Notaboi Global Productions founder and 88.1 radio personality NotaboiDJ was also in attendance.

NotaboiDJ is the co-author of Bars & Beats Ladies of the Night: Own Your Power in Music Entertainment and Business with DJ Kelly J and Angie T. 

Local bookstores like R.D. Talley Books, the first Black-owned bookstore on the Las Vegas Strip with a storefront inside the iconic Fashion Show Mall were present at the LVBF, alongside The Analog Dope Store. This past August, the Black and LGBTQ+ owned book and vinyl cultural hub adjacent to the renowned natural hair salon, Raw Remedies founded by Bobbie Mullins, both temporarily closed after a severe electrical fire left their buildings devastated in the Las Vegas Arts District.

Via fundraiser, pop-ups, and events, The Analog Dope Store owners Rachelle and Charlie Luster have continued to thrive while the storefront is undergoing post-fire restoration.  Visit the Las Vegas Book Festival here for more information on all things LVBF. 

During their fire relief efforts, support The Analog Dope Store here and Raw Remedies here. 

Photo Credits: Las Vegas Book Festival, The Analog Dope Store, Mia Heintzelman, NotaboiDJ, and Nhayah Goode.