From Fairy Tales to Covered Bridges : A Children’s Book Fair gets under way Saturday in Ojai, and in Camarillo there’s a photograph exhibit of Iowa’s spans.

A large collection of fiction and nonfiction titles, including fairy tales and books on parenting, will be on display at the Children’s Book Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Monica Ros School, 783 McNell Road, Ojai.

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Discover how lovable bats can be when Jane Cannon signs her new picture book for children and explores myths and facts about bats at 2 p.m. Saturday at Adventure For Kids, 3457 Telegraph Road, Ventura.

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Award-winning playwright Abe Polaky conducts an ongoing workshop for film writers, novelists and short story writers from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturdays in Carpinteria. Call 684-1379 for details.

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Alice McGrath will focus on the “Wonderful World of Publishing and Self-Publishing” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in the Ventura Arts Council Gallery, 34 N. Palm St., Ventura. Register for the $25 workshop at 648-4560 or 652-0288.

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Oxnard Community College is offering seminars on “Writing Secrets for Serious Authors of Fiction and Nonfiction” from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and “How to Write Travel and Adventure Features” from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday in room LA-l8. Fee for each session is $40. Call 986-5822 for details.

Joan Raymond hosts free poetry workshops at 7 p.m. every Monday at the Ojai Center for the Arts, 113 S. Montgomery St. Call 646-7801.

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Robert James Waller’s incredible word-of-mouth bestseller “The Bridges of Madison County” continues to create the kind of furor that has readers and reviewers facing off in separate “hate it,” “love it” camps. It has inspired a parody titled “The Ditches of Madison County” by Ronald Richard Roberts.

Waller’s novel also inspired Camarillo photographer Gordon Corey, an Iowa native, to travel 300 miles across his former state to photograph the covered bridges of Madison County. The photographs are on exhibit at Camarillo Camera, 1780 E. Ventura Blvd.

Author and radio talk-show host Frances Halpern writes a regular column in Ventura County Life. Information on literary events should be sent to her at least two weeks in advance. Write to her at 5200 Valentine Road, Suite 140, Ventura, 93003 or send faxes to 658-5576.