The Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit holds its 19th annual meeting this week (June 1–4) in St. Charles, Ill., at the Pheasant Run Resort. The show brings together church and independent bookstores and publishers in the category as well as houses, big and small, that publish more broadly in religion and spirituality. Among them are major New York publishers, evangelical presses, Protestant denominational publishers, and specialty houses like Jewish Lights (with its SkyLight Paths imprint) and Paraclete Press, the publishing arm of the Community of Jesus, an independent, nondenominational group.
The show opened yesterday with Dealer Day, offering a slate of educational seminars for retailers that ended with a dinner and a talk/musical performance by popular Catholic artist John Michael Talbot. The show floor opens today, June 2; the speaker for today’s luncheon, sponsored by Liturgical Press and Thomas Nelson, is Sr. Joan Chittister (Uncommon Gratitude, Liturgical, Mar.). The Episcopal Booksellers Association and the Association of Catholic Retailers hold their annual meetings and events today and tomorrow, and today there is an early evening autographing session featuring dozens of authors and artists.
Thursday evening’s banquet speaker is Fr. Lawrence Boadt, Old Testament scholar and former Paulist Press publisher. The show closes at noon on Friday.
