The L.A. Times Festival of Books is back and it’s celebrating its 30th anniversary.
The weekend will feature readings, signings, screenings and panels with authors and speakers from all walks of life. This year’s lineup includes “Wicked” director Jon M. Chu, comedian Chelsea Handler, exoneree Amanda Knox, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen, politician Stacey Abrams and poet Amanda Gorman.
Scheduled for April 26 and 27, the annual literary festival brings more than 550 storytellers to the USC campus across seven outdoor stages and 15 indoor venues.
Other notable personalities include Big Sean, Joanna “Jojo” Levesque, Blippi, Marcia Clark, Griffin Dunne, Josh Gad, Percival Everett, Ibram X. Kendi, Rachel Kushner, Jim O’Heir, Jenny Slate, Amor Towles, Wilmer Valderrama, Gretchen Whitmer, Veronica Roth, Robyn Hitchcock, Paul Scheer, Amy L. Schneider, V.E. Schwab, Harry Shum Jr., Tika Sumpter, E.A. Hanks and Mamrie Hart.
As a part of the Ideas Exchange speaker series, Gorman will discuss her picture book “Girls on the Rise.” The poet and activist, who gained national fame in 2021 after reciting her poem “The Hill We Climb” at former President Biden’s inauguration, has written several children’s books. Bestselling romantasy author Rebecca Yarros will discuss the latest installment in her Empyrean series, “Onyx Storm.” Giggly Squad podcast hosts Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo are set to bring comic relief to the main stage and chat about their book “How to Giggle: A Guide to Taking Life Less Seriously.”
The fest will also debut the first episode of PBS Masterpiece’s “Miss Austen,” based on Gill Hornby’s novel. Hornby and executive producer Christine Langan will participate in a Q&A following the screening.
The cooking stage will feature demos from Roy Choi, the chef behind Korean-Mexican taco truck Kogi who also wrote “The Choi of Cooking”; two-time James Beard Award-winning chef, Milk Bar Chief Executive and “Bake Club” author Christina Tosi; and “Top Chef” winner and restaurateur Brooke Williamson, who recently penned “Sun-Kissed Cooking.”
The De Los Stage in association with L.A. Times en Español will offer a variety of Spanish (and Spanglish) programming. The stage will host panels about the Latino vote, the role of food in community and the late Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela.
To commemorate the festival’s 30th anniversary, writers Pico Iyer, Lisa See, Héctor Tobar and David L. Ulin, who contributed to the book “Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: Celebrating 30 Years,” will reflect on the community event.
Festivities kick off April 25 when The Times will host the 45th annual Book Prizes. This year, the ceremony honors Iyer with the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement, Gorman with the Innovator’s Award and Emily Witt with the Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose. The prizes recognize 61 nominees in 13 categories.
General admission to the festival is free. Friend of the Festival packages, which include reservations, parking and merchandise, are currently on sale.
