Fran Lebowitz to headline Las Vegas Book Festival

Author, cultural satirist and social observer Fran Lebowitz will headline the 2021 Las Vegas Book Festival, which this year will include a series of virtual events leading up to a live, day-long event Oct. 23 at the Historic Fifth Street School.

Also scheduled to participate in this year’s festival are authors Sandra Cisneros, via a virtual appearance Oct. 23, and Dr. Oriel Maria Siu.

Lebowitz, whose wry and often acerbic wit has prompted comparisons with Dorothy Parker, began her career as a writer for Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine. She has written two best-selling collections of essays and also had a recurring role on the TV series “Law & Order.”

Lebowitz’s new documentary series, “Pretend It’s a City,” directed by Martin Scorsese, can be seen on Netflix.

Cisneros, author of “The House on Mango Street,” will join the festival virtually on Oct. 23. Guests are encouraged to read her book before the event and are invited to discuss the novel, and its themes of family, coming of age and cultural identity, with Cisneros at the festival.

Also scheduled to attend the festival is Dr. Oriel Maria Siu, who wrote the children’s book book series “Rebeldita the Fearless/Rebeldita la Alegre.” She created the series after seeing relatively few books in the United States that were written for children of color.

This year’s 20th edition of the Las Vegas Book Festival runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Historic Fifth Street School, 401 S. Fourth St. Admission is free and the event is open to the entire family.

Preceding the live event will be the festival’s Virtual Book Week, which will feature programming for all ages beginning Oct. 18 and continuing all week, leading up to the live event Oct. 23. A schedule is to be released later.

For more information, visit www.lasvegasbookfestival.com.

Contact John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JJPrzybys on Twitter.