More than 150 authors for adults and children will be in attendance at this year’s Southern Kentucky Book Fest, a free literary event for all ages.

The 2009 Book Fest will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 18 at the Sloan Convention Center and will feature Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash, “Sweet Potato Queen” author Jill Conner Browne, best-selling teen author Ellen Hopkins, “A Journal for Jordan” author Dana Canedy, and many others.

Kevin Clash, the man behind the Muppet Elmo, has been a puppeteer for “Sesame Street” for more 25 years and is co-executive producer of “Elmo’s World.” In “My Life as a Furry Red Monster,” Clash talks about growing up in a predominantly African-American suburb of Baltimore, his love of puppetry, how he became Elmo, and what it’s like to voice the most popular Muppet ever.

Jill Conner Browne is The New York Times best-selling author of six “Sweet Potato Queen” books. Browne founded the Sweet Potato Queens in the 1980s in Vardaman, Miss., when she discovered she lived near the sweet potato capital of the world. She is considered one of the nation’s leading humor writers and has sold more than 2.2 million copies of her books.

Ellen Hopkins is a poet and award-winning author, with 20 published nonfiction books for children and five New York Times bestselling young adult novels-in-verse including “Crank,” “Burned,” and “Identical.” Her books touch on sensitive issues such as drug addiction, and suicide and let young adults know they’re not alone in their problems.

Raised near Fort Knox, Dana Canedy is the author of “A Journal for Jordan” inspired by her fiancé Charles Monroe King’s 200-page journal that he wrote for their son before being killed on duty in Iraq in 2006. Canedy is a journalist and senior editor at The New York Times.

Other authors at this year’s Book Fest include television personality Chuck Barris with a new mystery novel with references to Bowling Green, Southern historian and Lincoln biographer Charles Bracelen Flood, singer songwriter Janis Ian, and “Sisters Grimm” author Michael Buckley.

In conjunction with the Book Fest, the Kentucky Writers Conference will be held on Friday, April 17, at Western Kentucky University’s South Campus from 8:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Participating Book Fest authors will be offering several writing sessions at no cost to the public.

SOKY Book Fest attracts readers of all ages who welcome the opportunity to meet their favorite authors and purchase signed copies of their works. The event is a partnership project of WKU Libraries, Warren County Public Library and Barnes and Noble Booksellers. For information, visit www.sokybookfest.org or contact Tracy Harkins, Community Outreach Manager for WKU Libraries, at (270) 745-5016.

For information, contact Tracy Harkins at (270) 745-5016.