The best of the 2022 Festival of Books photo studio

The 27th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is back in person at the University of Southern California, April 23 and 24, with more than 550 authors, poets, artists, chefs, journalists, celebrities and musicians. Here are some of the participants who stopped by the Los Angeles Times’ photo studio to be entertained, cajoled and photographed by Jay L. Clendenin.

Justine Bateman, author of “Fame: The Hijacking of Reality�

(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

Jessica McKay and Kelly Rowland, authors of “Always With You, Always With Me�

(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

Annabelle Gurwitch, author of “You’re Leaving When? Adventures in Downward Mobility�

(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

Billy Porter, author of “Unprotected: A Memoir�

(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

Kal Penn, author of “You Can’t Be Serious�

(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

Lynne Thompson, new L.A. poet laureate

(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

Grant Ginder, author of “The People We Hate at the Wedding� and “Honestly, We Meant Well�

(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

Victoria Chang, author of “The Trees Witness Everything�

(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

Jaime Hernandez and Gilbert Hernandez, authors of the “Love and Rockets� comic

(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

Matthieu Aikins, author of “The Naked Don’t Fear the Water: An Underground Journey With Afghan Refugees

(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

Mark Haskell Smith, author of “Rude Talk in Athens: Ancient Rivals, the Birth of Comedy, and a Writer’s Journey Through Greece�

(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

Elle Johnson, author of “The Officer’s Daughter�

(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

Allison Hedge Coke, author of “Look at This Blue�

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Stuart K Robinson, author of “It All Begins With I�

(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

Actor, comedian and podcast star Josh Peck

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Joe Ide, author of “IQ�

(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

Vera Ahiyya, author of “You Have a Voice,� in the L.A. Times Festival of Books photo studio at USC.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Gwenda Bond, author of “Not Your Average Hot Guy and the Date from Hell.�

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Tahereh Mafi and Ransom Riggs, author of the “Shatter Me� YA series and the creator of “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children,� respectively, in the L.A. Times Festival of Books photo studio.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Carl Bernstein

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Author Joy Williams, L.A. Times Book Prizes nominee in fiction for her book “Harrow.�

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Jim Ruland, author of “Corporate Rock Sucks�

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Poet Ra Malika Imhotep

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Daniel Jose Older, author of fantasy and young-adult fiction

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Silvia Moreno-Garcia, author of “Velvet Was the Night�

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Danny Trejo, actor and author of “Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood�

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Imani Perry, author of “Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry�

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Melissa Chadburn, author of the novel “A Tiny Upward Shove�

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)