Poet Darius Atefat-Peckham shows off a caricature of himself that was drawn by Charles Town Library staff member Jeremy Rogombe in the War Memorial Building on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — The second annual Shepherdstown Book Festival was held at locations throughout Shepherdstown over the weekend.

Shepherdstown Book Festival founder Leigh Koonce said he was pleased with the turnout, so much so that he was already making plans for the festival to return in 2025.

“We have people here from Virginia, from Maryland, from Pennsylvania, from other parts of West Virginia. I just met a gentleman who drove up from Washington, D.C. to come here,” Koonce said. “I’m happy with the attendance, the lineup of events and the number of authors we have here — both the nationally known, featured authors and the regional authors who came to the Regional Author Fair.”

At the Regional Author Fair, book lovers could be seen searching for some lesser known gems in the War Memorial Building on Saturday. One of those book lovers, Summit Point resident Michael Clark, was looking for a fantasy novel to take home.

“I’m a writer and a big reader!” Clark said. “I’m here to find a book to buy. My plan is to go around and talk to the authors here, until I find a book I like.”

Shepherdstown Book Festival volunteers Ashley Fulton and Dennis Cuppy help Michael Clark, of Summit Point, sign up to be entered to win a door prize at the Regional Author Fair in the War Memorial Building on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

One of the authors Clark may have spokes with was Shepherdstown resident Tom Donlon, who was selling copies of his poetry book at the fair.

“I was here last year, as well, and sold several copies of my book. I decided to come back this year to socialize and to represent West Virginia Writers,” Donlon said of the writers support organization. “The only drawback to participating in the fair, is that I can’t be here and be attending the author talks taking place at the same time, today.”

Donlon may have been most disappointed to miss out on hearing another West Virginia native and poet, Darius Atefat-Peckham, speak in Evolve Saturday morning. Atefat-Peckham — a Harvard University graduate currently pursuing an M.F.A. at the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin — spoke about his first book, “Book of Kin,” which won the 2023 Autumn House Poetry Prize.

“It was inspired by my family. My mom and brother died in a car accident when I was little, and so it was about reconnecting with them and reconnecting with my Persian-American heritage,” Atefat-Peckham said, mentioning the book served as his undergraduate honors thesis. “When I went to Harvard, I got to learn Farsi and I got to reconnect with my heritage in a way that felt really joyful.”

Atefat-Peckham said he grew up feeling like an outsider, after moving to West Virginia at eight-years-old. However, he has recently begin to embrace his connection with the state.

A Shepherdstown Book Festival attendee steps into the War Memorial Building on Saturday, to visit the Regional Book Fair. Tabitha Johnston

“Appalachia is complicated. It’s home, but it’s also the place where I first experienced racism. So there’s a process of reckoning with that and accepting that as home. That comes up somewhat in my first book,” Atefat-Peckham said, mentioning his next book will focus more on his Appalachian roots. “I feel emboldened, after this conference, to write more about my identity as an Appalachian writer.”

Koonce said he was particularly pleased to see that the new event at this year’s festival — a passport with the names of eight locally owned bookstores printed on it — proved to be popular.

“It was very successful,” Koonce said. “I thought people would take part and visit maybe one or two of the places, but the number of people who visited all of them was astounding! Especially since some of them are an hour’s drive away from here.”

The only disappointment, for Koonce, was the last-minute cancellation of the Literary Trivia on Friday night, due to the closure of Devonshire Arms Cafe & Pub.

“The Dev closed and no one else could accommodate us,” Koonce said, mentioning he received notice of the closure two days before the trivia night. “We definitely want to make sure we do it next year, though! Last year, the Literary Trivia was so popular that we filled out the Dev — there was no space. We had 10 teams. It was amazing. People had so much fun!”

The author lineup for the 2025 Shepherdstown Book Festival will be released in January, at www.shepherdstownbookfestival.com.