For the Love of Books is a hilarious and heart-warming documentary film shot in Jefferson, Texas about Kathy Patrick and the Pulpwood Queens’ annual event, Girlfriend Weekend.  The film will screen as a part of the first annual Phenom Film Festival at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 8 at the Bossier Civic Center.  The screening location is located at 602 Benton Road, Bossier City, Louisiana.  A post-screening party is planned at the East Bank Gallery located at 630 Barksdale Boulevard, Bossier City, La 71111. For more details, come to the screening!

The founder of the Pulpwood Queens Book Club, Kathy Patrick, owns and operates what is probably the world’s first hair salon / book store and the book club has grown to over three hundred chapters. The film chronicles the twelfth annual Girlfriend Weekend that took place in 2012 and features over forty authors including Guiding Light Star Tina Sloan, New York Times best selling author John Berendt, and events such as a Pretty in Pink Prom Party and a circus-themed “big hair” ball.

William Torgerson is the director of For the Love of Books and the documentary is his first film.  An assistant professor at St. John’s University in New York City, Torgerson is author of two novels, Love on the Big Screen and Horseshoe.  “Sure, the crazy costumes and themed parties are hilarious,” Torgerson says, “but what’s most memorable for me about my trip to Jefferson is the people I met.  I came almost 1,500 miles and met fellow writers who live in New York.  The Pulpwood Queens use literacy as a vehicle to care about people.”

Torgerson collaborated with Brooklyn-based photographer Natalie Brasington and indie musicians from the Jeremy Vogt Band on the film. “For the Love of Books is actually the work of an entire community of readers,” Torgerson says. “From all the wonderful people I met while in Jefferson and the Pulpwood Queens to the talented authors who come to the event, there are hundreds of people who contributed to the project.”

The Phenom Film Festival runs from September 6-9 and will screen one-hundred and thirty-two films from twenty-one countries. Venues include the East Bank Theatre, the Courtyard Marriot in Bossier City, and the Bossier Civic Center.

Will you be there?