KINGSTON IS gearing up for nine amazing days dedicated to celebrating books as the Book Industry Association of Jamaica (BIAJ) launched the second annual Kingston Book Festival.

The 2013 staging of the Kingston Book Festival will take place over several venues across the city from Saturday, March 2 to Sunday, March 10, under the theme 'Celebrating the Arts'.

The launch took place at the Spanish Court Hotel, New Kingston, recently. Members of the BIAJ unveiled an exciting schedule of activities across the week that will showcase books on film, music, theatre, dance, fine art and photography.

"The Kingston Book Festival will highlight the vital role that publishing plays in preserving, sharing and promoting Jamaican culture," said Norman Marshall, president of the BIAJ. "Jamaica has a vibrant and diverse heritage, burgeoning with great talent, and through this festival, we will celebrate books, we will celebrate the arts, we will celebrate Jamaica."

The BIAJ has lined up an impressive roster of readers, performers and presenters to participate in the event. Festival chair Kellie Magnus said celebrated members of the international and local book industries are to participate in the event. Participants include Christopher John Farley, Lorna Goodison, Kei Miller, Edward Baugh, Carolyn Cooper, Nomaddz, Sonjah Stanley Niaah, Tanya Shirley, Mel Cooke and Roland Watson-Grant.

The festival will include readings, film screenings, book launches, school tours, seminars, investment panels, workshops and networking sessions, and will culminate in a mega book jam dubbed 'Wake the Town and Tell the People' on Friday, March 8, and the festival's signature event, the Kingston Book Fair, at Devon House on Saturday, March 9.