It’s a fine situation when your book festival committee is tossing around ideas, and you suddenly realize that every local author you’d like to feature has been a National Book Award finalist.

“There had been interest in Thomas Lynch, David Small and Bonnie Jo Campbell,” said organizer Bill Castanier of an early planning meeting for the 2010 Kerrytown BookFest, set for Sept. 12. As the honorific status of their talent pool became clear, “that captured people, and we said, ‘Why don’t we look for Michigan authors who have won awards?’” That turned out to yield plenty of fertile ground.

“We’ve got a tremendous number of them, from the Edgar (Allen Poe Award) to the Caldecott to every other award under the sun. Well, I guess we don’t have a Pulitzer this year.” Picky, picky.

We can hear Bonnie Jo Campbell talk about her NBA selection “American Salvage” on a Michigan Lit panel at noon, joined by Michael Zadoorian (“The Lost Tiki Palaces of Detroit,” 2010 Michigan Notable Book), Kristina Riggle (“Real Life and Liars,” set in Charlevoix) and Wendy Webb (“The Tale of Halcyon Crane”). At 1 p.m., Ann Arbor poet Keith Taylor interviews Milford funeral director/poet Thomas Lynch about his works from “The Undertaking” (1998 NBA finalist, and documentaries based on it have won an Emmy and Michael Moore’s Michigan Prize) to this year’s “Apparition and Late Fictions.” And illustrator David Small sits down with Nicola Rooney of Nicola’s Books for a chat that might include children’s books “The Underneath” (NBA finalist and Newbery Honor, written by Kathi Appelt) and “The Gardener” (Caldecott Honor Book) along with his graphic novel memoir for adults “Stitches.”

And as always, the BookFest is adding its own Community Award to one bibliophile’s CV. This year’s winner is Loren Estleman, the Whitmore Lake writer whose scores of books alternate between the mystery and historical western genres. It felt a little silly to ask Castanier about this choice, since anyone who’s sunk his teeth into a good Amos Walker or taken in the old frontier from Estleman’s vantage would likely bestow a medal personally if given a chance, but the answer turned out to have a delightful nugget of surprise.

“Loren has been behind the festival from the beginning, and he’s really active — he helps a lot of authors, he reads manuscripts, and he’ll contribute a foreword. He’s been at it for 40-something years, and that never comes to light. He’s just an amazing writer, and this year he’s got a new collection — well, an old collection, I guess — of Amos Walkers," said Castanier, referring to “Amos Walker: The Complete Story Collection,” which is due out in September and celebrates the Detroit-based detective’s three decades in print.

“He’s such a scholar in the writing community, and that’s important, so it’s a real good message. He’s the first to say yes when we’re trying to pull something together. And people just love him. He’s very entertaining and a very good guy. There was no discussion about it — it was like, ‘Yes.’”

The “Northern Noir” mystery panel highlights a trend Castanier said he’s been watching: “’noir-ish’ mysteries that take place in the north country.” He credits Steve Hamilton as one of the first with his 1998 “A Cold Day in Paradise” (Edgar Allen Poe and Shamus Awards), a thriller set on the shore of Lake Superior that’s also the focal point of this year’s book cover contest. Hamilton shares the panel with Bryan Gruley, whose “Starvation Lake” (Edgar Allen Poe finalist) is the first in a series set in the Michigan town of the same name. William Kent Krueger joins them with his Cork O’Connor series (three Anthony Awards) from the wilds of Minnesota.

“There seems to be something catching on,” commented Castanier, noting that none of the authors actually live here in Michigan these days (though two of them once did). “There’s a lot of attention on this style of writing, national attention.”

By contrast, the popularity of historical fiction remains tried, true and as great as it ever was. Steve Amick and Donald Lystra discuss their Michigan Notable Books (“Nothing But a Smile” and “Season of Water and Ice,” respectively) with Michigan Author of the Year John Smolens (“Winter by Degrees”) and newcomer Sharon Pomerantz (“Rich Boy”). If you like your history straight, the University of Michigan Press celebrates the re-release of Edward Keyes’ 1977 nonfiction account of “The Michigan Murders” with true crime writers Mardi Link (“Isadore’s Secret,” Michigan Notable Book) and Gail Griffin (“The Events of October: Murder-Suicide on a Small Campus”). Or if you’re in the mood for a fact-free flight of fancy, join Toby Barlow (“Sharp Teeth”), Amy Huntley (“The Everafter”) and Jennifer Armintrout (“Lightworld/Darkworld” and “Blood Ties” books) for a chat about “Paranormal Fiction and Poetry: Werewolves, Vampires and Ghosts.”

And then of course there are the usual suspects. The children’s activities have been expanded to include five authors along with a visit from Mother Goose, teen poetry from Ann Arbor Wordworks and a tent of fun run by Blue House art studio. The festival’s unique focus on the art of print itself continues with workshops and exhibits on bookmaking and restoration. And the “edible book” cake contest was so much fun last year that it’s getting another airing (minus the cakewalk, which may have been a victim of its own success — “It worked, but it was a lot of work!” explained Castanier, noting that the flood of donated cakes meant the 2009 contest went on all day).

One thing absent from Castanier’s words and tone was any sense of economic gloom. How, with both books and festivals struggling all over the place, are they dodging that bullet? “We haven’t dodged it — we knew it was coming!” he retorted cheerfully. “We just kind of looked and saw what was going on. We don’t pay authors, because otherwise you get into full-time fundraising and you can’t do it. There’s just not the funds out there. Our costs did go up this year. The cost of the (Farmers’) Market doubled — that’s just the city recovering their actual costs, probably — and we found ways to cut our costs.” Sharing the cost of the tables with the Homegrown Festival, which takes place at the market the evening before, was one way to trim the budget, but much of the savings come in the form of sweat equity.

“We have no paid staff, and we spend a lot of hours doing it — the last two months, we meet every week, and everybody has something else they do for a living. But it’s focused on Kerrytown, and the businesses that are associated with it are what make this work. We haven’t run into financial trouble. It’s one day, we don’t have to rent a lot of tents because we have a covered space — it’s just the right combination.”

The Kerrytown BookFest takes place from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 12 at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market. For more information and a complete listing, view the schedule of events .

Leah DuMouchel is a freelance writer who covers books for AnnArbor.com.