By Khalida Sarwari
Characters from John Steinbeck’s life and books will be the theme of this year’s festival honoring the author this weekend at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas and on Monterey’s Cannery Row.
The theme, “Friends and Foes,” will be reflected in activities throughout the weekend.
The 31st annual festival will include talks, food, tours, films, and visual and performing arts. It kicks off tonight at 5:30 p.m. with a “Literary Brawl and Pub Crawl” on Cannery Row.
This year’s festival will highlight five Steinbeck novels: “Of Mice and Men,” “Tortilla Flat,” “Cannery Row,” “Sweet Thursday,” and “The Moon Is Down.”
Festival highlights include a reading by actor David Conrad from selected passages of Steinbeck’s work and a talk by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jane Smiley, who will read from her upcoming novel “True Blue.” Both events will take place at the National Steinbeck Center.
On Sunday afternoon, the Steinbeck Center will host a production of “Of Mice and Men,” performed by formerly incarcerated actors and writers who are part of the theater group Poetic Justice.
The festival is hosted annually by the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, the author’s birthplace.
Full festival tickets are $150 for non-members and $135 for members. Tickets can be purchased online at www.steinbeck.org or by calling call (831) 775-4721.