Pirates, puppets and local writers filled Santa Fe College’s Jackson N. Sasser Fine Arts Hall Jan. 24 for the seventh annual Sunshine State Book Festival, bringing over 150 readers and writers together to celebrate 250 years of literature in Florida.
This year’s theme was “Celebrating Florida's Literary History: Pirates to Present Day,” inspired by one of the state's first authors, Sir Francis Drake. The children’s reading space came alive with pirate-themed props and children’s book writers from across Florida.
The festival included an awards ceremony for the Sunshine State Teen Lit Awards, organized by the Writers Alliance of Gainesville. The contest challenges middle and high school students across Florida to write an original story about the festival's theme for cash prizes up to $500.
Jenny Dearinger, the secretary of WAG and creator of the Teen Lit Awards scholarship, said more than 200 applicants participated statewide. She first shared the idea in 2022 with Don Fitzpatrick, an Alachua County Public Schools curriculum specialist.
“He told me when I first started this contest four years ago, he said, ‘You won’t get very many people [students participating] the first couple of years,’” Dearinger said. “It’s amazing how we’ve taken off.”
The festival spotlighted over 100 writers from across Florida. Each author showcased their books, bookmarks and stickers, as well as QR codes visitors could scan to purchase digital books.
Lana McAra, an author and the president of the Jacksonville chapter of Sisters in Crime, first attended the festival as a visitor before tabling as an author and guest speaker in 2025. She shared her table with a fellow author and friend whom she met at the festival last year.
“You’re not just selling a book today, but you want to make connections with people,” McAra said.
Aspiring author Desiree Camacho, 24, attended with her sister, who also writes books. They learned more about the publishing process while meeting other writers, illustrating the festival’s hope of supporting the next generation of Florida authors.
“I think it’s good to meet people who have [published their work] and get tips and check out series that are popular,” Camacho said. “It’s great to have for the community.”
While this year marked the festival's biggest turnout, it did not always begin on such a large scale. Wendy Thortan, the founder of WAG and an organizer of the festival, said the idea began out of necessity. She and a friend had complained about the extensive travel they did for book festivals and writers meetings.
“We’re driving all over the state to hear things about writers,” Thortan said, “so we started the Writers Alliance.”
Marie Q Rogers, the chairperson of the festival, said organizers try to find larger event spaces to accommodate the increase in attendance each year. Their first meeting to plan next year's festival is already coming up next week.
“It takes a year of planning,” Rogers said. “We have to find the place, the speakers, organize the authors.”
This year’s program included Pamela D. Marshall’s one-woman play about prolific Florida author Zora Neale Hurston and a keynote address by David Morton, an adjunct lecturer in film and history at the University of Central Florida.
The festival held drawings for free books every half hour. Visitors received a sheet from event volunteers upon entering. After visiting 10 author tables, visitors could return their sheet for a chance to win a free book.
For many of the event’s visitors, the festival is more than just browsing books. It’s an opportunity to become inspired and connect with local creatives to celebrate the craft of storytelling.
Richard Alvarez, the 37-year-old owner of small family farm Little Wild Homestead, found the event by chance while en route to a hiking trail in Gainesville. Alvarez said he enjoyed meeting local authors with his family and discovering new reading opportunities.
“We’ve only been here [Gainesville] for five years, and we don’t really know anybody. We live in the woods, so getting to meet people is important. It’s fun,” Alvarez said.
Olivia Lofaso is a contributing writer for The Alligator.
