In these times of economic belt-tightening, anthologies simply offer more authors for your money, and Fall for the Book is excited to welcome the editors and contributors of five diverse collections during the 2009 festival.

On the festival’s opening day, Monday, September 21, editor Michael Sims shares stories of such legendary criminals as A.J. Raffles, Colonel Clay, Simon Carne, and Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford when he discusses his new collection, The Penguin Book of Gaslight Crime: Con Artists, Burglars, Rogues, and Scoundrels from the Time of Sherlock Holmes. Sims’ talk begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Waddell Theater at Northern Virginia Community College in Sterling, Virginia. Sponsored by the NVCC Loudoun Lyceum Fund. [Click here for an interview with Sims at Art and Literature and check out other friends of the festival at our new Festival Blogroll to the left of our homepage.]

Folklore is the focus of a reading on Tuesday, September 22, at 1:30 p.m. Leslie Prosterman, Elizabeth Tucker, and Margaret Yocom — contributors to The Folklore Muse: Poetry, Fiction, and Other Reflections by Folklorists — offer original creative work grounded in their own scholarly studies. This event takes place in the Johnson Center, Room 116, on George Mason University’s Fairfax, Virginia Campus.

Later that evening, editor Barbara Graham talks about the “whole crazy, complicated truth about being a grandmother in today’s world” with her new collection Eye of My Heart: 27 Writers Reveal the Hidden Pleasures and Perils of Being a Grandmother. Graham will be joined by contributor Kate Lehrer, and the reading begins at 7 p.m. at the Shirlington Library in Arlington, Virginia.

On Thursday evening, September 24, prepare to clean up and get uncluttered with contributors to DIRT: The Quirks, Habits, and Passions of Keeping House. Up for the challenge are contributors Kyoko Mori and Jessica Shines and editor Mindy Lewis. No actual chores necessary for audience members. Just show up at 7:30 p.m. in the Gold Room, Johnson Center, Mason’s Fairfax Campus.

Finally, on the festival’s closing day, Saturday, September 26, Fall for the Book welcomes its youngest writers: contributors to this year’s Falling for the Story collection, produced by the Northern Virginia Writing Project. K-12 students from across Northern Virginia share original works in this annual festival highlight, sponsored by Dominion Power.

Mark your calendars now for these events, and bookmark Fall for the Book’s website for more complete information about these writers and a complete schedule of all festival events.