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Hard to believe, but in Stephen King's 59 years - 30 of them as a fixture on the bestseller lists of North America - he has never had an official public appearance in Canada. This anomaly will be rectified next month when the creator of The Shining and Carrie makes his first visit to Toronto.

He's coming on June 8 as the guest of Booked!, a new authors festival that is going to coincide with - and be a part of - both the inaugural Luminato festival of arts and creativity (June 1-10) and BookExpo Canada, the annual "Woodstock" of Canadian publishers and booksellers (June 8-11).

King is just one of an estimated 50 writers expected to participate in various ticketed and free events at Booked! Others on tap include contrarian author and columnist Christopher Hitchens, The Birth House author Ami McKay, novelist-short-story writer-comedian Sherman Alexie, memoirist Jeannette Walls (The Glass Castle), neuroscientist Daniel Levitin, children's author Kenneth Oppel and novelist David Gilmour, winner of the 2005 Governor-General's Award.

Running June 7-9, Booked! -- its working moniker until recently was "Book It!" -- is the brainchild of something called the BookExpo Canada Task Force, set up last year to find ways to increase public participation in BookExpo. Organized by Reed Exhibitions Canada, BookExpo has traditionally been conceived primarily as a restricted trade show/convention focused on publishers pushing their wares for the crucial fall season to booksellers.

In recent years, however, Canadian publishers have complained that BookExpo has not been worth their investment or time, and some have threatened to withdraw .

Booked!, subtitled "Three Days Between the Covers," will "encompass everything from readings and interviews to interactive demonstration and kids' activities in venues large and intimate," including the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Fort York and sundry bookstores. Much of the event is being held in conjunction with International Readings at Harbourfront, which has been running its own International Festival of Authors every October for more than 25 years.

The ostensible reason for King's appearance is to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Canadian Booksellers Association. This will occur in the John Bassett Theatre at the convention centre on June 8, starting at 7:30 p.m. Individual tickets are $25, with the event including an onstage interview. Details are to be made available today at http://www.bookedbetweenthecovers.com.