INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Festival 451Indy — a celebration of literature and the humanities — kicks off Friday throughout downtown Indianapolis.

It’s the third edition of the literary event organized by The Ray Bradbury Center at Indiana University Indianapolis. This year’s theme is ‘Here There Be Monsters.’

Organizers say that monsters are a strong way to portray a metaphor. However, their impact is limited to those who know how to recognize the different interpretations of a story.

According to the assistant director of the center, Carrie Cooper, it’s a nod to monsters being a vehicle to talk about different issues societal issues in the horror and science fiction genres.

“Digging into this idea of what might make uh a monstrous story,” Cooper said. “(It) helps us to think about each other more than ourselves. It’s really about that community building.”

The festival’s name is a play on Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. In the classic novel, officials allow people to ask how something is done, but they’re not allowed to ask why something is done.

After attending an event, the goal is to ensure people know how to ask both questions.

Dr. Jason Aukerman, director of the Ray Bradbury Center, hopes the festival can encourage people to continue to learn by reading books.

“Ray Bradbury wasn’t able to go to college, but he said he graduated from the public library at age 27,” Aukerman said. “He was kind of self-taught and he never stopped learning and reading and trying to develop his literacy. He always said that literacy is our precious gift.”

The festival lines up with September which is National Literacy Month.

“Adults are reading less and less these days,” Aukerman said. “We decided to start addressing that … get people to think about their literacy and the benefits of developing an active reading life.”

Festival451 include several workshops, performances, readings and discussions.

They kick off Friday with a free multilingual read-aloud event at Indy Reads. Manager Kathrine Kulp says it will celebrate different cultures while sticking to the theme.

“We’re going to have eight readers sharing various folklore mythology, fairy tales,” Kulp said. “Those kind of like monstrous stories — in native languages.”

On Thursday, Sept. 19, the Athenaeum will host another free event, a lecture with New York Times best-selling author Daniel Kraus.

Craig Mince, president of the Athenaeum Foundation, says they’re excited to host Kraus.

“He will be doing an author talk,” Mince said. “Personally, I adore this man. He (cowrote) one of my favorite screenplays…The Shape of Water.”

Just down Mass Ave and a week later, Tomorrow Bookstore will play host on Thursday, Sept. 26.

Grace Hicks says the store will have a performance titled “AN UNTUCHING.”

“It’s going to be shadow puppets and some music as well,” Hicks said. “A story about …. the power of touch. We’re really excited for it.”

Festival 451Indy starts Friday at 6:30 p.m. with a free multilingual read-aloud event at Indy Reads in Fountain Square.

The festival runs through Sunday, Oct. 20. For a full list of events and their descriptions visit the festival website.