Saturday at StoryFest 2024 promises to be blockbuster, with an array of best-selling and award-winning authors set to take The Westport Library’s Trefz Forum stage on September 21.
National Book Award winner Joyce Carol Oates returns to the Library for the first time since serving as the guest of honor at the 2008 Malloy Lecture in the Arts. She will be joined by award-winning young adult author Ryan La Sala, current New York Times best-seller Sarah Beth Durst, acclaimed fantasy writer P. Djèlí Clark, National Endowment of the Arts Fellow Peng Shepherd, and decorated novelist Claire Messud.
Past and current locals Cody Daigle-Orians, Hal Johnson, Chris Knapp, Lisa Korsten Price, Karen L. Swanson, and Diana Sussman will also be in the Library for Saturday’s program, as are returning favorites Clay McLeod Chapman, May Cobb, Gabino Iglesias, Rachel Harrison, Bracken MacLeod, and scores more — numbering more than 50 authors in all.
“This is, without question, our biggest and most diverse StoryFest yet,” said Westport Library Programming Director and StoryFest organizer Alex Giannini. “The range and quality of authors we have coming for StoryFest Saturday is more than I ever could have hoped for. We’re honored and thrilled to have them here, and we can’t wait for this year’s festival.”
StoryFest, The Westport Library’s annual literary festival, is the largest annual literary festival in Connecticut and one of the biggest in the Northeast. This year’s event runs Friday, September 20, through Sunday, September 22. Friday will feature a special keynote conversation between acclaimed author, essayist, and editor Roxane Gay and memoirist and novelist Oliver Radclyffe. Sunday is a PitchFest workshop delivered by Bloom Writers’ Studio.
P. Djèlí Clark, Joyce Carol Oates, and Joe R. Lansdale are among the 50 authors who will be appearing at StoryFest this year.
In addition to the panels, Saturday will include two live podcast recordings — a live Fearmongers recording with Clay McLeod Chapman and a special recording of Jennifer Baker’s podcast, Minorities in Publishing — the awarding of the 2024 Westport Prize for Literature, and a special ceremony for the late Sybil Steinberg, the former Publisher’s Weekly editor and beloved Westport icon to whom this year’s StoryFest is dedicated.
Visit the StoryFest website (and below) to see the full schedule for this year’s event.
Also at StoryFest 2024 is a special exhibit by Jesse Freidin, Are You OK? The Disappearing Faces of America’s Trans Youth, an interactive and educational traveling gallery featuring intimate portraits and interviews of trans youth with supportive families from across America. Each free-standing banner (see image below) includes a QR code that brings the voices of trans youth to life, making it an exhibit that leaves a true impression on the visitor. Please bring your own smart phone and personal headphones to activate interactive elements.
Freidin’s work has been featured in The New York Times, NPR, Vogue, and more. He is a 2023 Critical Mass Top 50 award winner, the recipient of the 2024 Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant, and the author of three books: When Dogs Heal: Powerful Stories of People Living with HIV and the Dogs That Saved Them; Finding Shelter: Portraits of Love, Healing and Survival; and Are You OK? Volume One.
Here is a closer look at the Saturday schedule for StoryFest 2024:
In the Trefz Forum:
10 am
Dangerous Visions: Dreams Across Universes
Imaginary worlds, magical elements, supernatural beings… writers create stories where anything is possible.
With Christopher Golden, Sarah Beth Durst, GennaRose Nethercott, Jedidiah Berry, Peng Shepherd, and P. Djèlí Clark.
11 am
Thriller!
Masters of suspense share the tricks of the thriller trade and how to write a story that a reader can’t put down!
With Gabino Iglesias, May Cobb, Joe R. Lansdale, Caroline Wolff, K’wan, and Julia Bartz.
12 pm
Incorporating History: Past, Present, Future
With Galia Gichon (moderator), Claire Messud, Hugh Ryan, Chris Knapp, Elise Hart Kipness, and Anna Noyes.
2 pm
Live Podcast Recording: What I Wish I Knew as a Debut: Minorities in Publishing
With host and moderator Jennifer Baker and guests Shannon C.F. Rogers and Don P. Hooper.
3 pm
Words are Bricks: Building Community Through Writing
Though writing itself is a solitary act, building community as a creative is an integral part of the process.
With Charnaie Gordon (moderator), Kirsten Bakis, Cody Daigle-Orians, Courtney Preiss, Ainissa Ramirez, and Ryan La Sala.
4 pm
Ellen Datlow Presents: Fears
Horror’s preeminent editor sits down with today’s masters of horror to talk about their greatest fears.
With Ellen Datlow (moderator), Christopher Golden, Bracken MacLeod, Joe R. Lansdale, Joyce Carol Oates, and Eric LaRocca.
***
In the Children’s Library:
10 am - 12 pm
Children’s Book Readings
With Diana Sussman, Isi Hendrix, Hal Johnson, Karen L. Swanson, and Lisa Korsten Price.
***
In Brooks Place:
10 am
WestportWRITES Presents: Finding Your Writing Tribe
With T.M. Dunn (moderator), Marcia Bradley, Kathy Curto, and Jimin Han.
11:30 am
Live Podcast Recording: Fearmongers!
With host and moderator Clay McLeod Chapman and guests Rachel Harrison and P. Djèlí Clark.
2 pm
Thursday Authors
With Lynda Cohen Loigman (moderator), Jamie Brenner, Nicola Harrison, and Susie Orman Schnell.
3 pm
Connecticut Writing Project
With Bryan Crandall (moderator), Patricia Park, and Don P. Hooper.
***
In the Sheffer Gallery:
2 pm
Cartoonists!
With Brian Walker.
