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Western Washington University will host award-winning authors and illustrators at the ninth annual at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, in the Performing Arts Center Concert Hall on the Western campus.

This event has become an annual tradition for many, where teachers and librarians, readers and writers gather to celebrate and learn about children’s literature. The first speaker, Patrick Carman, is an award-winning author who experiments with the boundaries of books and reading. His newest title, “Dark Eden,” has been paired with a downloadable app to provide multimedia content on mobile devices.

The second speaker, Laura Kvasnosky, is an author and illustrator who has published 15 books and has won awards for her work including the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Kite honors for her series “Zelda and Ivy,” and the American Library Association’s 2007 Theodor Seuss Geisel award for “Zelda and Ivy: The Runaways.”

The third speaker, Gary Schmidt, has authored more than 30 books for adults, teens and children. He received both a Newbery Honor and a Printz Honor for “Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy” and a Newbery Honor for “The Wednesday Wars.” His most recent book, “Okay for Now,” was a National Book Award finalist.

The cost to attend the conference is $75. Current college students and retired teachers will receive a discount.

For registration and more information on this conference, please visit , or contact Sylvia Tag, Western librarian, at (360) 650-7992 or sylvia.tag@wwu.edu.