StoryFest is returning to The Westport Library, live and in person, September 9-10, featuring a dazzling array of authors of all genres and for all ages.
Headlining this year’s festival are Isaac Fitzgerald, the IACP winner and How to Be a Pirate author whose debut memoir, Dirtbag, Massachusetts, is currently #2 on The New York Times best-seller list; and Saeed Jones, who was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry in 2014 and won the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction in 2019 for his memoir, How We Fight for Our Lives. A conversation between the two will be the featured Friday evening session.
A celebration of reading, writing, ideas, and community, StoryFest was organized in 2018 to draw together many of the region’s most accomplished, exciting, and up-and-coming authors in Westport for a two-day celebration of all things literary. It has since grown into a national event, attracting authors from across the U.S.
This year will make the first fully in-person festival since 2019, with StoryFest having gone virtual in 2020 and staged as a hybrid event a year ago.
“What a joy to be attending the largest literary festival in Connecticut,” said Fitzgerald. “[Saeed and I] both love libraries so, so much — which means the two of us reconnecting onstage at The Westport Library is going to be all the more special. Come party with us, Connecticut!”
StoryFest will wrap up Saturday evening with a special appearance by James Beard Book Award-winning author Mallory O’Meara and filmmaker/actress Brea Grant, the duo behind the popular Reading Glasses podcast, who will host a special live event that will double as an episode of their show. The Westport Library’s own Verso Studios will support the effort, which will feature StoryFest participants Sarah Gailey, Paul Tremblay, Stephen Graham Jones, Alexis Henderson, and Clay McLeod Chapman.
Other notable authors scheduled to appear at this year’s two-day event include May Cobb, Rachel Harrison, Gabino Iglesias, Alma Katsu, Eric LaRocca, Ellen Datlow, John Langan, Bracken MacLeod, Seanan McGuire, Gwendolyn Kiste, Hugh Ryan, Mondiant Dogon, Gus Moreno, Lorien Lawrence, Alexis Henderson, Isabel Canas, LaQuette, Julia Phillips, Greg Galloway, Coco Ma, Amanda Parrish Morgan, and Kate Racculia.
“StoryFest is unquestionably one of the highlights of our year and one of the crown jewels of the New England literary experience,” said Westport Library Executive Director Bill Harmer. “It is an opportunity for us to welcome back old friends and fan favorites, all while showcasing some of the country’s brightest rising talents. We couldn’t be more excited to celebrate five years of this remarkable event with readers from across New England and the tri-state area and to welcome everyone to explore all our space has to offer.”
Past StoryFest participants include New York Times best-selling authors Mitch Albom and Michael Lewis; National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds; Pinkalicious author/illustrator Victoria Kann; Goosebumps author R.L. Stine; young adult superstars Nic Stone, Tiffany Jackson, and L.L. McKinney; and Emmy Award winner Sheila Nevins.
For a complete list of the events, panels, and authors participating in this year’s StoryFest, please visit the StoryFest 2022 homepage. And for a history of the event, check out our StoryFest landing page.
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For more information on StoryFest 2022, contact Westport Library Marketing and Communications Director E.J. Crawford at [email protected].
