Deadwood is where readers and writers will rendezvous this weekend, as the Northern Hills town welcomes the fifth annual South Dakota Festival of Books.

The annual festival is a literary feast for people who love the written word and the people who turn them into poems and books.

Deadwood rolls out its Wild West welcome mat for festival goers every other year, as the historic town alternates with Sioux Falls to host the book festival.

This year, many of the festival's most popular presenters are back in Deadwood by popular demand. Among them are: Pete Dexter, author of the city's namesake novel; Dan O'Brien, an area environmentalist and novelist, and Ted Kooser, a Nebraska poet who recently left the post of America's poet laureate.

We were disappointed by the cancellation of Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ford from the festival, but look forward to presentations by Ivan Doig, the author of the 2007 One Book South Dakota selection, "The Whistling Season." The list of other authors is long, diverse and promising.

Kudos to the South Dakota Humanities Council's Center for the Book for creating and organizing the Festival of Books. The free event promotes literacy and learning in a way few other things can - by bringing readers into direct communication with writers to foster conversations about literature that don't happen any place else.

For its efforts, the SDHC has been rewarded with an exceptional event that has a loyal and committed following.

On behalf of the state of South Dakota, we say 'thank you' to SDHC staff for all their hard work that goes into producing it each year, and to the city of Deadwood for hosting it in western South Dakota.

The two-and-a-half day festival kicks off today at a One Book reception featuring Doig held in Rapid City. It continues all day Saturday and part of Sunday in Deadwood. For a specific schedule, visit the website sdhumanities.org/festival.

We encourage everyone who loves to read to plan a rendezvous in Deadwood this weekend.