I spent most of Sunday at the 8th Annual Kerrytown Bookfest. I attended once before, in its second or third year when it was smaller, and wasn't prepared for all of the activity and creativity that greeted me.

For those who've never been to the annual event, here's the simple lowdown: The event, sponsored by the Michigan Humanities Council, takes place at the farmer's market. There are booths with information about books, letterpress and bookmaking. There are vendors selling used books, rare books, handmade books and books made from books. But this is one small part.

There are also panel discussions and author interviews - under large tents, in the Kerrytown Concert Hall and, for this year at least, in Hollander's store. There are people talking books everywhere.

Think this event is for adults only? Guess again. The children's tent was littered with activity, and I noticed Mother Goose had a large audience. In the morning, Rebecca Bukovac of Pioneer High School won the third annual book cover art award for her work for the book "A Cold Day in Paradise." Later in the day, teens and several adults (myself included) made small accordion books holding "two-minute mysteries" in the inner pockets.

The festival makes books tangible for everyone. I could hold one in my hand, look at it, see how it might be made, or I could make a short, simple one myself. Granted, all I made was the frame - the mystery was provided for me. But I think that's where the panel discussions come in - learning from authors will help me fill the blank pages with my own words and imagination next time.

There were definitely recurring themes in the interviews and discussions. I managed to listen to "Fictional Michigan," "Paranormal Fiction" and "Changing History: Historical Fiction" panel discussions, plus an interview with local author Loren Estleman. On the surface these topics and writing themes aren't connected, but the work required of the authors and the lessons they each learned infused all of these discussions.

For example, for all, research is important regardless of whether the event takes place in a fictional town or real location, whether connected to actual events or not. Even fictional towns may be loosely based on a location, and the author needs to be able to have a sense of where the characters are physically walking, living and going - and remain consistent throughout the story. Perhaps one of my favorite moments was when the moderator of "Changing History," William Whitbeck, explained that he felt confined in his writing by an actual historical incident and simply started to make things up about it!

Another common theme was that writers are persistent. This wasn't always stated directly in discussions, but as individuals discussed the amount of time spent on research or on writing whole sections of a book that, in the end, got severed - persistence was clearly one of the commonalities. Some authors were published first book out, and others have half a dozen stored that may never get published, but they continued to work on new pieces anyway.

I would be remiss if I didn't also mention some items connected to books that were part of the Bookfest experience. In Hollander's, chocolate iced cookies were made as the "Christmas Cookie Club" novel was discussed. Also on display was a beautiful fully restored 1916 Detroit Electric coupe, an illustration for D.E. Johnson's new novel. They serve as good reminders to the public that inspiration for a story can be found anywhere.

I spoke very briefly with Robin Agnew, one of the primary organizers of the event and co-owner of Aunt Agatha's bookstore. She loosely estimated about 4,000 people were in attendance at the Bookfest. This is more than double the size of its first days, and I look forward to seeing it grow.

Julia Eussen received her B.A. in English from Kansas State University. She is currently a graduate student in Eastern Michigan University's Professional Writing Program. She is also an active member of the Ann Arbor Classics Book Group and has recently begun to re-acquaint herself with good poetry. She can be reached at jeussen at emich dot com.