WORDS AND IMAGES : Gifts in Volumes : An event at the county fairgrounds holds promise for all manner of folks, from collectors to sharers to givers.

The holidays are bearing down on us like a wayward comet and the “what to get for?” list seems to be growing. We’re trying to be jolly and working frantically to meet the deadline.

Well, writers live like this all the time, fluctuating between anxiety and elation. Very Christmas-like. Meanwhile, the dreaded gift list must be dealt with--so here’s a suggestion:

Plan to spend some hours at the giant California Book Fair and Flea Market, which is returning Saturday and Sunday to the Ventura County Fairgrounds, 10 W. Harbor Blvd. There is no charge to browse among thousands of books, prints, photographs and all manner of literary ephemera for collectors.

I shopped at a book fair/flea market recently and found a number of unique gifts including a 40-year-old magazine that contained a story written by a friend. Imagine his joy at receiving that long-forgotten first published work. Those are the treasures we all love to give and to receive.

On Sunday, the book fair shares the grounds with the R. G. Canning flea market, at which hundreds of dealers in antiques and collectibles will display their wares. Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Sunday the gates open at 9 a.m. There is a small fee to enter the flea market area. Call 643-3407 for details.

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There may still be time to enroll in producer Andy Siegal’s one-day seminar on “How to Write for Television,” scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at UCSB Ventura Center, 3585 Maple St., Ventura. Call 893-3351.

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Robert and Esther Tyrrell have slogged some of the most dangerous jungles in the world to photograph rare varieties of hummingbirds, the most difficult birds in the world to capture on film. They made ornithological history when they located the world’s tiniest bird, a Cuban bee hummingbird in a remote crocodile swamp. The Tyrrells will describe their adventures and autograph their books at noon Saturday at B. Dalton Bookseller, Esplanade Mall, Oxnard.

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Children from age 3 and up will enjoy the Vox Box theatrical presentation of James Thurber’s “Many Moons” at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Newbury Park Library, 2331 Borchard Road, and at 7 p.m. in the Thousand Oaks Library, 1401 E. Janss Road. There is no charge and library cards are not required. Call 493-2179 for details.

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Reminder: The deadline is Dec. 15 for the Writing Award Competition sponsored by the Simi Valley branch of American Pen Women. Cash prizes will be awarded in fiction, poetry and nonfiction categories. Call 495-2026 or 527-4444 for contest details.