Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff

Jef Czekaj with Tucker. Czekaj will be emcee for the Somerville Internet Copycat Festival on Sunday. (Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff)

By Eugenia Williamson Globe Correspondent

A purring, drowsy looking Siamese kitten rests belly-up on a jeans-clad lap, arms outstretched, front paws absently paddling in the air. For the briefest moment, the kitten pauses, eyes drooping, and then begins its paddling anew.

Ten seconds later, the video was over, and three bespectacled arts professionals sitting around a conference table in Somerville last Thursday looked away from the large television suspended on the wall and commenced their deliberations.

“He’s so cute,” said Vera Vidal, an intern at the Somerville Arts Council.

“He’s really cute,” said Jef Czekaj, a children’s book author and SAC volunteer.

“He’s awesome! I want him!” said SAC program manager Rachel Strutt.

Gordon Nelson, a bearded man sitting at a laptop at the front of the room, smiled approvingly. For weeks, the Somerville Community Access Television staffer had been fielding a steady stream of submissions for the Copy Cat Festival, a Somerville Arts Council event intended “to celebrate the profound cultural contributions of cats.”

The three-hour program, slated for Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m., will include screenings of cat videos — both viral and not quite — dramatic readings of cat limericks and stories, a photo montage of local cats, and readings from Somerville authors with notable books about cats, including festival emcee Czekaj, author of the picture book “Cat Secrets.”