Falling behind in your knowledge of current Minnesota authors? A one-day trip to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds could get you up to speed.

The Twin Cities Book Festival is free Saturday, with three stages of writers and lots of booksellers and book-related activities (an opening reception Friday, with novelist Charles Baxter, is a ticketed event). Those activities include a chat about voting, crafts for children and guidance on how to use sticky notes to chart your own life.

A few highlights of the day devoted to all things bookish (for readers of all ages): Kao Kalia Yang will discuss how she published four books this year. Mystery writers David Housewright, Stephen Mack Jones and Mindy Mejia will hash out why Minnesota is such fertile ground for fictional crime.

Mubanga Kalimamukwento, Patrick Nathan, Lindsay Starck, Sam Tschida, Gretchen Anthony and others will discuss their latest fiction. Andrea Swensson will reveal the details behind the creation of "Deeper Blues," her biography of James "Cornbread" Harris Jr. And the art of memoir is the subject for writers including Taiyon B. Coleman and Steve Hoffman.

Other writers scheduled to appear include Shannon Gibney, Pete Hautman and Marcie Rendon. For a full schedule of events, visit twincitiesbookfestival.com. Food trucks will have refreshments available throughout the day, which is presented by Rain Taxi Review of Books.

What: Twin Cities Book Festival.

Events: Opening reception, 6 p.m. Fri., 1330 Lagoon Av. S., Mpls., $40. Festival, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sat., Progress Center, State Fairgrounds, 1265 N. Snelling Av., Falcon Heights (Snelling Avenue entrance to the State Fair). Free.