On May 19, 2024 we hosted the second American Writers Festival at the Harold Washington Library Center. We had a blast! Co-hosted by Chicago Public Library, it was so much fun welcoming writers and readers from across the country for this one-day event to celebrate American writing together.
- 70+ writers representing a variety of genres
- 30+ author discussions, panels, and workshops
- 20+ local partner organizations
- 5 stages at the Harold Washington Library Center
- 1 day to remember!
The American Writers Festival brought audiences together with writers of fiction, gaming, history, poetry, children’s literature, science fiction, biographies, satire, and more. This free event was presented by the AWM in partnership with the Chicago Public Library. The Newberry Library, Poetry Foundation, Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, and the American Library Association presented programs on the Partner Stage. Many other local organizations were in the Winter Garden sharing their resources, ideas, and knowledge with festival goers. Books were sold at the Festival by our bookstore partner, Seminary Co-op and attendees got to have their books signed by the authors.
Read what Festival attendees had to say!
“I really enjoyed the passion, interest, and enthusiasm… It was a beautiful thing to witness.”
“When I walked into the Winter Garden, I was so thrilled. Seeing all the different books for sale. I enjoyed seeing and learning about the organizations there… I liked learning about authors I wasn’t aware of!”
“I thought the Festival had a warm and positive energy overall.”
“Fantastic event that I will remember for many years to come.”
In case you missed the Festival or had to choose between two great programs, fear not! We recorded most programs and plan to make them available to view or listen to in the coming months. Full program videos will be uploaded to our YouTube channel, so be sure to subscribe so you are notified when they are ready to view. We will also release condensed versions of each program as episodes of our AWM Author Talks podcast. You can subscribe to that podcast, as well as our others, wherever you listen to podcasts!
Thank you to everyone who helped make the inaugural American Writers Festival a success. From the visiting writers and presenters, to all of the attendees, and especially to the volunteers who sacrificed their Sunday. We truly could not have done it without you!
