The Magic of Books with Author Lara Avery | Reading Kansas

6 days ago

2 min read

Lara Avery is an author, educator, and the executive director of the Kansas Book Festival. A Topeka native, Lara spent more than a decade away from Kansas, attending college in Minnesota and graduate school in Mississippi, before returning to her home state in 2020. Along the way, she worked in administration, marketing, and law firms while continuing to pursue her passion for writing. She is currently an adjunct professor in the English department at Washburn University.

Lara is an accomplished author whose work primarily falls in the romance-adjacent space. She has written four books under her own name, including her most recent novel, The Year of Second Chances. Her love of writing began with journaling and was inspired in part by Harriet the Spy, eventually leading her to pursue a career as a writer.

Today, Lara combines her passion for writing and reading with her work leading the Kansas Book Festival. She is passionate about making books accessible, celebrating authors, and reminding people of the unique connection created when a reader enters an imaginary world with a writer. Under her leadership, the free annual festival continues to bring authors, readers, booksellers, performers, and literary organizations together while exploring how Kansas can better support and celebrate its writers and their stories. For Lara, the work is about more than a single festival—it is about keeping books and reading a meaningful part of public life. The Kansas Book Festival will be held at the Washburn Library on September26th. The event is free and open to the public. A list of events can be found on their website. https://kansasbookfestival.com/ Click to enlarge