King Crowned

The 32nd annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books kicked off earlier today on the University of Southern California campus. However, it was last evening that this year’s L.A. Times Book Prizes--honoring work published in 2011--were handed out.

Prominent among the 12 winners was Stephen King, whose doorstop of a novel, 11/22/1963 (Scribner), about a time traveler trying to prevent John F. Kennedy’s assassination, picked up top honors in the Mystery/Thriller category. He was presented with his award by crime novelist Gar Anthony Haywood. Vying for that same honor were: Started Early, Took My Dog, by Kate Atkinson (Reagan Arthur); Plugged, by Eoin Colfer (Overlook Press); Snowdrops, by A.D. Miller (Doubleday); and The End of the Wasp Season, by Denise Mina (Reagan Arthur).

You’ll find the complete list of last night’s winners here.

The Festival of Books will continue until 6 p.m. tonight, and then run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

READ MORE: “Coming Sunday: To Live and Write in L.A.”
(Los Angeles Times).