This weekend marked the 30th anniversary of the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Thousands of people gathered at University Park Campus to buy books, listen to live music, and attend panels featuring authors and public figures to discuss topics ranging from science fiction to politics to true crime.

Amanda Knox, who was at the center of a sensational murder trial in Italy, spoke at Tutor Campus Center on Saturday with L.A. Times columnist and USC alum Amy Kaufman. A Seattle native, Knox and her then-boyfriend gained notoriety in 2007 when Knox was a 20-year-old college junior accused of killing her roommate, Meredith Kercher, while studying in Perugia, Italy. Knox served four years in an Italian prison before being acquitted in 2011 and officially exonerated in 2015. 

Knox published a memoir in March, “Free: My Search for Meaning,” detailing her experience during and after her time in prison. Knox said she wrote the memoir because she wanted to take control of the narrative surrounding her, which she says has been “inextricably linked with the death of [Kercher].”

“My entire adult life, I’ve just been trying to prove my innocence and running away from these scary people who are trying to take over my life,” Knox said. 

Writing the memoir allowed Knox to explain the challenges she experienced in her own words. Knox said she viewed her story as something not entirely unique to her but rather as something universal.

“It’s a story about trying to feel like we have a say in our own lives,” Knox said. “I wanted to share that with people.”

In a panel discussion featuring three other true crime authors, Marcia Clark, who served as lead prosecutor in the 1995 OJ Simpson trial, spoke about the importance of storytelling. Clark’s latest book, “Trial by Ambush,” follows the true story of Barbara Graham, who, alongside two male co-defendants, was found guilty of a 1953 murder.

Clark said the sensational way the media presented the story influenced the public’s perception of Graham. Though Graham was one of several people on trial for the crime, she received much of the media attention.

“All the press wrote about was Barbara Graham,” Clark said. “She was so sensationalized and so demonized by the press, she became the villain of the case.”

Clark said the media’s portrayal of Graham prompted prosecutors to pursue Graham’s punishment more aggressively, in a trial that included “some of the most disgusting displays of malfeasance by a prosecutor” that Clark has seen.

“The unfairness that can happen in a court of law [and] the sensationalism of the press skewed the public view, and most likely the jurors as well,” Clark said. 

Christopher Goffard, a L.A. Times reporter and author who moderated Clark’s panel, discussed the significance of objective crime reporting. 

“[It’s] the kind of reporting that gets you closer to the human experience and the complexities of human psychology,” Goffard said during a different panel discussion. In addition to reporting for the L.A. Times, Goffard hosts the newspaper’s “Crimes of the Times” podcast series. The Netflix true crime miniseries “Dirty John” is based on Goffard’s podcast of the same name.

“‘True crime’ is kind of a misnomer in the sense that it’s such a blanket term,” Goffard said. “It encompasses all kinds of things, from the really high-minded and brilliant and compelling and necessary to the sleazy and exploitative.”

Knox and Clark provided insight into both sides of the criminal justice system in the U.S. and other countries, while Clark reminded attendees of the importance of accuracy in true crime writing. 

“To me, there’s a mission to always writing about true crime, which is to tell the truth,” Clark said.