The 2017 East of the River Book Festival is a magnet for city dwellers from all wards to recognize and enjoy a literary event that highlights the efforts of indie writers, small publishers and tiny book shops. For the fourth year, it is a place that is fertile ground to plant ideas to meet the need of culturally diverse books that reflect places and characters that are typically on the fringe of society or omitted. This book festival is a celebration of those places and characters, both real and imaginary, to be central to stories that reflect different perspectives. This literary festival is