But independent bookseller Larry Robin is not your average guy.

An aspiring sculptor, Robin came into the family bookstore business in the 1960s, after graduating from Central High. He built the store's reputation as the place to find writing from the civil rights, feminist, anti-war, and black liberation movements.

By 1984, the year he founded the festival, Robin had a reputation as a liberal activist whose best friends were, indeed, black writers.

"We had all these terrific black writers in Philadelphia - an incredible wealth of talent," Robin said. "But they had to go to New York to be discovered."

Today, many of the city's black writers and artists are known and respected internationally. And the Celebration of Black Writing Festival, marking its 25th year, is run by writer Lorene Cary. (Black Ice, The Price of A Child, Free)

Robin turned over the reins in 2001, after 18 years. He was exhausted with the effort, and his father was dying. And there was something else.

"There was always this unspoken question: 'Why is a white boy like you doing this?'" Robin said. "That bothered some of the younger people."

At the same time, Robin said, he recognized the festival needed ownership in the black community. He turned to Cary, who had by then founded Art Sanctuary, a nonprofit program that draws on the power of black art to inspire individuals and unite the community.

She seemed a natural.

She'd attended the festival regularly in the early years of her career and felt nourished by it.

"I had love and loyalty for the festival," she said recently. "But I also remember hearing authors there step up to the microphone and say something like what's the point of us writing this stuff if kids right outside the door can't read it."

Cary said she felt the festival focus had to be expanded to reach young people, their parents, and their teachers.

"We had to take this project, which had its own integrity and shape and excitement, and lodge it deeply in the black community. It was daunting because we didn't want to mess it up."

She added Writers In The Schools, a component that brought accomplished authors into area public and private schools for readings earlier this week.

And for the first time, publishers from Harlem Book Festival will be at the festival to speak with first-time writers and accept review copies of their manuscripts.

The festival continues to honor the transformative power of words with a schedule of writing workshops, literary discussions, and thought-provoking panels and opportunities to meet favorite writers.

Live entertainment will begin at noon on the main stage with African dancing and drumming and continue through 3 p.m. with performances by Freedom Theatre, Steppers, the Cory Shipley Choir, Art Sanctuary's North Stars, Young Philly Poets, and Three Times a Lady.

Vendors will be on hand all day selling books and accessories. And for little ones, the festival features two of the most important ingredients for a good time: food and face-painting.

Writing for Our Lives

Admission is free, except for the Lifetime Achievement Awards ceremony tonight.

Saturday's events will be at Cecil B. Moore Avenue and Broad Street. In case of rain, activities will be moved indoors at Temple University.

Check for schedule changes at www.artsanctuary.org or call 215-232-4485.

Today

Saturday

Literary Symposium for teachers, 9 a.m.-noon, with Houston A. Baker Jr. Open to all teachers.

More than a dozen writing workshops and literary discussions, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., in Ritter Hall Annex. Details at www.artsanctuary.org.

Outdoor Festival, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., emcee H. Bernard Hall introduces hip-hop, gospel, dance theater, and spoken-word performers. Books, accessories, food for sale.

Family Pavilion, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., readings by children's authors Eloise Greenfield, Walter Dean Myers, Lorenzo Pace, and Jerry Pinkney. Performance by storyteller Linda Goss. Face-painting, family-centered activities.

Emerging Writers, 12:30-3:30 p.m., Ritter Hall. Representatives of the Harlem Book Festival, which has its own publishing arm, will be on hand to look at manuscripts by first-time writers.

Poster Signing, 1:30 p.m., illustrator Jerry Pinkney signs copies of the 2009 Celebration of Black Writing poster, which features one of his drawings.

Writing For Our Lives, 3-4 p.m., Main Stage. Houston A. Baker Jr., Walter Dean Myers, Jerry Pinkney, Haki R. Madhubuti, and Marc Lamont Hill discuss how a book can save a life and how great writing can help the community.