All things books;  International and USA.

Find out where the nearest one to where you live is taking place, take the family along and have a good time celebrating the joy of reading!

U.S. Book Festivals & Events

JULY

California

July 24-27: San Diego Comic-Con—San Diego

    • The premier event for all things comics and related popular arts including movies, television, books, gaming, interactive multimedia, and so much more.

Georgia

July 31-August 2: Black Writers Weekend—Atlanta

    • A one-of-a-kind gathering that connects fans and readers intimately with beloved authors, esteemed screenwriters, and luminaries from the worlds of film and TV.

AUGUST

Georgia

August 1-3: National Book Club Conference—Atlanta

    • Places readers in an upscale, intimate environment with some of their favorite authors, and introduces attendees to new talent to add to their reading lists. The annual weekend consists of numerous book club meetings, panel discussions and other events that give readers facetime with authors.

Minnesota

August 9: Northwoods Art & Book Festival—Hackensack

    • The longest-running art and literature festival in the state is a tapestry of creativity and cultural celebration, showcasing original artwork, and books, in a lively atmosphere with live music, food trucks, and more.

New York

August 30: Harlem Book Fair—NYC

    • A legendary book fair in Harlem that gives voice to an expanding community of readers and writers. Always free to the public—always entertaining, enjoyable, informative, and self-affirming.

Oklahoma

August 29 – September 1: WriterCon—Oklahoma City

    • The annual conference is three days of 60+ speakers providing more than 80 sessions designed to cover all genres and all aspects of the writing experience: skills, industry knowledge, opportunities, networking, pitching, contests, opportunities to meet with writers privately, and much more.

Tennessee

August 21-24: Killer Nashville International Writers’ Conference—Franklin

    • For all crime genres incorporating mystery, thriller, suspense, action, or romance elements—learn, present, meet agents and editors, sign books, mingle with forensic experts, and network.

Washington

August 30-31: Bumbershoot—Seattle

    • A multi-disciplinary arts festival showcasing the best of comedy, dance, film, literary arts, music, performing arts, theatre, visual arts and more. Features active coffee houses and a book fair spotlighting literary artists.

SEPTEMBER

Florida

September 17-21: NINC 2025: THRIVE—St. Pete Beach**

    • The Novelists, Inc. conference brings together our members, who are all multi-published authors in traditional and/or indie publishing, with a wide variety of industry professionals and guest speakers for a unique experience of networking and high-level professional development.

Illinois

September 6-7: Printers Row Lit Fest—Chicago

    • The largest free outdoor literary showcase in the Midwest is a community-based celebration for book lovers presented by the not-for-profit Near South Planning Board. More than 100K visitors are expected over the two-day festival.

Kansas

September 20: Kansas Book Festival—Topeka

    • Designed to celebrate the best of Kansas literature, arts and history, this free festival offers a variety of activities, including meet-the-author sessions, panel discussions, book signings and sales, and a special tent with projects for children.

Louisiana

September 3-7: Bouchercon—New Orleans

    • “Blood on the Bayou: Case Closed” is the theme for 2025. Annual world mystery convention where readers, writers, publishers, editors, agents, booksellers, and other lovers of crime fiction gather for a long weekend of education, entertainment, and fun.

Maryland

September 13-14: Baltimore Book Festival—Baltimore

    • Celebrates the city’s rich literary history, vibrant present, and bright future by connecting readers and authors and making the literary arts more engaging, entertaining, relevant, and accessible for all Baltimoreans.

Michigan

September 26-28: Harbor Springs Festival of the Book—Harbors Springs

    • A three-day celebration of readers, writers, books, and the literary craft, featuring up to 50 nationally published authors and illustrators in sessions including such genres as fiction, nonfiction, mystery/thriller, poetry, cookbook, and children’s.

Minnesota

September 5-7: Diversicon 32—Plymouth

    • Programming includes guest readings and/or presentations; the usual lively mix of panels and discussions on Sci-Fi in literary media, film, TV, and graphic arts; speculative science; alternative lifestyles; and—especially—multicultural Sci-Fi.

September 13: Minnesota Children’s Book Festival—Red Wing

    • This beloved event features presentations of new books by award-winning authors and illustrators writing for young readers through middle grade.

Mississippi

September 13: Mississippi Book Festival—Jackson

Free and open to all, the festival brings the written word to fun, festive life with authors, panel discussions, book signings, family-friendly activities, food trucks, live music, and more.

New York

September 21: Brooklyn Book Festival—Brooklyn

    • A literary celebration that includes readers, publishers, booksellers, and hundreds of authors.  More than 200 local, international, debut and iconic authors are presented in panel discussions and book-signings on outdoor stages and with partner venues in Downtown Brooklyn.

Washington, D.C.

September 6: Library of Congress National Book Festival—D.C.

    • An annual event that celebrates literature and literacy, bringing together authors, poets, illustrators, and readers for a day of book discussions, panels, and signings.

Wisconsin

September 18-20: Washington Island Literary Festival—Washington Island

    • A moveable feast of writing, reading, discussion, and thought about the written word. Writers’ workshops, author panels and presentations, readings and parties are scheduled at various quaint, historic and beautiful venues around the Island.

OCTOBER

California

October 9-25: Litquake—San Francisco

    • Litquake’s diverse live programs aim to inspire critical engagement with the key issues of the day, bring people together around the common humanity encapsulated in literature, and perpetuate a sense of literary community by providing a vibrant forum for Bay Area writing.

Florida

October 23-25: Orlando 2025 Romantasy BookCon and Midnight Masquerade —Orlando

    • An immersive 3-day romantasy book convention including favorite authors, bookish vendors, a masquerade ball, themed games and activities.

Georgia

October 3-4: Decatur Book Festival—Decatur

    • One of the most beloved independent book festivals in the country, bringing together readers, authors, and literary enthusiasts for an inclusive celebration of books and ideas.

Iowa

October 6-12: Iowa City Book Festival—Iowa City

    • A week-long, free, literary event organized by the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature celebrating and supporting literature on local, regional, national, and international levels. Features author readings, panel discussions, and other literary programming.

Massachusetts

October 25: Boston Book Festival—Boston

    • Celebrating the power of words to stimulate, agitate, unite, delight, and inspire, the Boston Book Festival presents year-round events culminating in an annual festival that promotes a culture of reading and ideas and enhances the vibrancy of the city.

Minnesota

October 3: The Deep Valley Book Festival—Mankato

    • Connects readers and writers in a celebration of literature and literacy. This free family event features dozens of authors, illustrators, publishers, literary organizations, and hundreds of books.

October 3-5: Gaylaxicon 2025—Bloomington

    • A weekend of LGBTQ+ focused sci-fi, fantasy, and horror with professional guests, program panels, gaming, and more.

October 12: Minnesota’s First Annual STEM Book Festival—Minneapolis

    • A collaboration of The Thinking Spot, The Bakken Museum, and Minnesota Tech Network, this festival showcases STEM authors and experts across a variety of fields from Climate/Sustainability to Engineering to Math.

New York

October 2-5: Saratoga Book Festival—Saratoga Springs

    • A special event of the Friends of the Saratoga Springs Public Library featuring keynote author presentations from bestselling authors, panel discussions on hot topics, book signings, a literary marketplace, and much more.

October 9-12: NY Comicon—New York City

    • The East Coast’s largest pop culture convention, held annually at the Javits Center in New York City. It’s dedicated to comics, TV, movies, and more with panels, screenings, autograph sessions, and exclusive merchandise.

South Carolina

October 18: Fall Book Festival—Greer

    • Hosted by Creative Slingers of Ink, this festival features 30+ indie authors from a wide variety of genres. A great chance to meet local writers, find new favorites, and enjoy a relaxed, book-loving atmosphere in a historic indoor venue.

Tennessee

October 18-19: Southern Festival of Books—Nashville

    • Among the oldest literary festivals in the country, this free festival annually welcomes approximately 150 authors and 25,000 visitors each October. Includes performance stages, food trucks, and more than 60 publishers and booksellers.

Texas

October 23-25: National Black Book Festival—Houston

    • An annual event, sponsored by Cushcity.com, one of the largest online sources for African-American authors and literature. The event attracts a wide array of authors, publishers, book clubs, libraries and individual readers from the Southwest U.S. and nationwide.

NOVEMBER

Florida

November 16-23: Miami Book Fair—Miami

    • For eight days in November, this fair transforms downtown Miami into a literary wonderland, hosting hundreds of critically acclaimed authors in three languages talking politics, pop culture, and all manner of impactful prose.

Louisiana

November 1: Louisiana Book Festival—Baton Rouge

    • This free, annual event celebrates the love of books as well as authors from Louisiana and all over the world that are inspired by Louisiana.

Minnesota

November 7-9: Twin Cities Con—Minneapolis

    • A fandom/pop culture expo convention that includes some authors and comic book creators among its exhibitors and guests.

November 8: The Twin Cities Book Festival—St. Paul

    • The state’s longest-running book festival will now bring publishers, magazines, lit groups, libraries, rare book dealers, authors, and book lovers together at the St. Paul train hub.

Nevada

November 3-7: Author Nation 2025—Las Vegas**

    • The world’s largest author conference and multi-genre reader event, uniting authors, industry leaders, and readers for five transformative days of learning, networking, and growth.

Oregon

November 8: Portland Book Festival—Portland

    • The festival is packed with on-stage author conversations, interviews, panels, pop-up readings, drop-in writing workshops, live music, an expanded book fair and—in true Portland fashion—food trucks parked outside on festival day.

South Carolina

November 7-16: Charleston Literary Festival—Charleston

    • A boutique literary festival that offers attendees the opportunity to engage with renowned authors in unique settings and to contribute to conversations around outstanding books and ideas. Programming is carefully curated on the basis of literary and artistic excellence, originality, and critical acclaim.

Tennessee

November 21-22: WriterFest Nashville—Nashville**

    • A creative gathering for aspiring writers, published authors, screenwriters, poets, and songwriters. Attendees enjoy keynote talks by the best book, song, and screenplay writers in the business as well as in-depth break-out sessions with professional editors, literary agents, filmmakers, and music industry insiders.

Texas

November 8-9: Texas Book Festival—Austin

    • This festival is one of the nation’s premier annual literary events. Hosted every fall in downtown Austin, it features over 250 authors of the year’s best books and attracts 40,000 book lovers.

 

International Book Festivals & Events

AUGUST

Scotland

August 9-24: Edinburgh International Book Festival—Edinburgh

    • Visitors are invited to engage with the world’s greatest and emerging writers, thinkers, artists, and performers. Events include on-stage conversations, workshops, creative masterclasses, think tanks, and more, all informed by a culture of open dialogue.

SEPTEMBER

Australia

September 26-28: Lifeline Canberra: EPIC Bookfair—Canberra

    • A large gathering of book lovers comes together to enjoy a wide range of fiction and nonfiction books, children’s books, textbooks, and foreign language books.

Kenya

September 19-21: Macondo Literary Festival—Nairobi

    • Revolves around bringing diverse voices from all over the globe with writing centered around a specific topic. This years theme is “Chronicles and Currents”.

 

 Many of the books festivals are fun for all the family.

As we have already said, find a festival that is nearest to where you live and have a great day out!

Enjoy whatever you are doing today.

Pauline