Southern Festival of Books Announces Lineup of Award-Winning Authors for 2025 Festival
The festival presented by Vanderbilt University will host more than 175 authors to appear for panels, book signings, readings and discussions at the festival, Oct. 18 and 19 at Bicentennial Mall
Humanities Tennessee, in partnership with Vanderbilt University, today announced the initial lineup of award-winning, bestselling authors who will headline the 37th annual Southern Festival of Books, taking place at Bicentennial Mall, the Tennessee State Museum and Tennessee State Library Oct. 18 – 19, 2025.
One of the oldest and largest literary events in the country, the festival will be open to the public 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, October 18 and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, October 19, for panel sessions, discussions, and readings from a wide variety of genres including fiction and nonfiction, young adult literature, poetry, science fiction, and mystery. Featured festival books will be available for purchase and can be signed by authors throughout the weekend. Parnassus Books is the festival bookseller.
The festival will be presented this year through a new partnership with Vanderbilt University. In addition to the expanded partnership, the continuation of the festival is possible because of overwhelming community support. After the unexpected termination of federal funding for Humanities Tennessee earlier this year, the future of the festival — and the organization — was in jeopardy but through community-driven efforts, the festival will return.
Student Day will be held on Thursday, October 16, welcoming 500 middle school students from Metro Nashville Public Schools for author meet-and-greets, writing exercises, and book giveaways courtesy of Parnassus Books Foundation and Dollar General Foundation. Featured authors will be New York Times Bestseller Jeanne Birdsall and award-winning Jason Reynolds.
Additionally, the third annual Southern Festival of Books Writer’s Workshop in partnership with The Porch will be held on Friday, October 17. The one-day workshop will be held at the Tennessee State Museum. Four classes will be offered in fiction, memoir, and poetry. To learn about faculty and register for classes, visit: https://www.porchtn.org/workshops.
The festival weekend will feature appearances from approximately 175 authors, offering attendees the opportunity to connect with their favorite writers through a series of live events, panels, book signings and more. Joining the 2025 festival will be 2024 Pulitzer Prize winner Jonathan Eig, bestselling authors Beatriz Williams, Julie Clark and Alix E. Harrow, culinary historian Michael W. Twitty, bestselling young adult author David Levithan, and more.
“It is a great joy to see the 37th annual Southern Festival of Books come together, thanks to our new partnership with Vanderbilt University and the incredible support of our literary community across the state,” said Humanities Tennessee Executive Director Tim Henderson. “Our author lineup is already looking so strong, and we are excited to reveal even more talented writers in the coming months. We look forward to another fantastic festival this October and we can’t wait to see everyone there.”
Major appearances and events for the 2025 Southern Festival of Books will include:
- JONATHAN EIG (King: A Life): Jonathan Eig is the author of King: A Life, which won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for biography. The New York Times called King “the definitive biography” of Martin Luther King Jr. and a book worthy of its subject. Jonathan is the author of six books, four of them New York Times bestsellers.
- BEATRIZ WILLIAMS (Under the Stars): Beatriz Williams is the New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author of Husbands and Lovers, The Summer Wives, The Secret Life of Violet Grant, A Hundred Summers, the Wicked City series, and several other works of historical fiction, including five novels in collaboration with fellow bestselling authors Karen White and Lauren Willig. A graduate of Stanford University with an MBA in Finance from Columbia University, Beatriz worked as a communications and corporate strategy consultant in New York and London before her first novel was published in 2012. Beatriz’s books have won numerous awards, have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and appear regularly in bestseller lists around the world.
- JULIE CLARK (The Ghostwriter): Julie Clark is the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight. It has earned starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal, and the New York Times has called it “thoroughly absorbing”. It’s been named an Indie Next Pick, a Library Reads Pick, and a Best Book of 2020 by Amazon Editors and Apple Books. Her debut, The Ones We Choose, was published in 2018 and has been optioned for television by Lionsgate.
- BETH MACY (Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America): Beth Macy is a Virginia-based journalist who writes about outsiders and underdogs. Raised poor in a small Ohio community, she is the award-winning author of three New York Times bestselling books examining rural communities left behind by corporate greed and political indifference.
- PETER WOLF (Waiting on the Moon Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters, and Goddesses): Peter Wolf was born in the Bronx, moved to Boston to study painting at the Museum School of Fine Arts then left to pursue a life in music with the J.Geils Band. In 1984, he began his career as a solo artist. Wolf continues to paint, record and tour from his home base, in Boston, Massachusetts.
- ALIX E. HARROW (The Everlasting): Alix E. Harrow is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January, The Once and Future Witches, Starling House, and various short fiction, including a duology of retold fairy tales (A Spindle Splintered and A Mirror Mended). Her work has won a Hugo and a British Fantasy Award, and been shortlisted for the Nebula, World Fantasy, Locus, Southern Book Prize, and Goodreads Choice awards.
- DAVID LEVITHAN (Songs from Other People’s Weddings): David Levithan is an American author and editor, best known for his young adult novels. He is the founding editor of Scholastic’s PUSH imprint and has authored or co-authored over twenty YA novels, including the popular Boy Meets Boy and Every Day. Levithan also works as an editorial director at Scholastic.
- SARAH PENNER (The Amalfi Curse): Sarah Penner is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author known for her historical fiction novels, particularly The Lost Apothecary. She has a background in finance, having worked in corporate finance for thirteen years before becoming a full-time writer.
- MICHAEL W. TWITTY (Recipes from the American South): Michael W. Twitty is a James Beard Award-winning author, culinary historian, and educator. He explores the intersection of African American and Jewish culinary traditions, particularly through the lens of his own heritage. His work delves into the history of foodways, identity, and cultural preservation. He is known for his blog Afroculinaria.com and his books, including The Cooking Gene and Koshersoul.
- KEVIN WILSON (Run for the Hills): Kevin Wilson is the author of two collections, Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (Ecco/Harper Perennial, 2009), which received an Alex Award from the American Library Association and the Shirley Jackson Award, and Baby You’re Gonna Be Mine (Ecco, 2018), and five novels, The Family Fang; Perfect Little World; Nothing to See Here, a New York Times bestseller and a Read with Jenna book club selection; Now is Not the Time to Panic; and Run for the Hills. His fiction has appeared in Ploughshares, Southern Review, One Story, A Public Space, and elsewhere, and has appeared in Best American Short Stories 2020 and 2021, as well as The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2012. He has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the KHN Center for the Arts.
- America’s Test Kitchen with Toni Tipton-Martin and Morgan Bolling (When Southern Women Cook): When Southern Women Cook is a cookbook from America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) co-authored by Toni Tipton-Martin and Morgan Bolling. It celebrates the contributions of Southern women to the region’s cuisine, featuring over 300 recipes and stories from diverse women. The book highlights the culinary techniques and historical context of Southern food, showcasing the work of both Black and white, Indigenous and immigrant women.
- JOHN T. EDGE (House of Smoke: A Southerner Goes Searching for Home): John T. Edge, author of House of Smoke: A Southerner Goes Searching for Home, writes and hosts the television show TrueSouth, which broadcasts via the SEC Network and ESPN and streams via ESPN, Hulu, and Disney. A widely published magazine writer, he serves Garden & Gun as a columnist. Twice winner of the MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award, Edge wrote The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South. In 1998, he founded the Southern Foodways Symposium at the University of Mississippi. From 1999 through 2021, Edge directed the Southern Foodways Alliance. Awarded an honorary doctorate by Centenary College, winner of the nonfiction prize from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters, Edge was elected to the Georgia Writer’s Hall of Fame in 2019.
- ROB FRANKLIN (Great Black Hope): Rob Franklin is the author of Great Black Hope, which was published in June 2025. A national bestseller, it’s been named a “Best Book of the Year (so far)” by Vogue, Amazon Books, and Debutiful. His other recent work can be found in New York Magazine, Post45, and New England Review, among others. A co-founder of Art for Black Lives, Franklin holds a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from NYU’s Creative Writing program. He teaches writing at School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and edits fiction for Joyland.
- ERIN CROSBY ECKSTINE (Junie): Erin Crosby Eckstine is the author of Junie, from Ballantine Books published in January 2025. She writes speculative historical fiction, personal essays, and anything else she’s in the mood for.
- EMMA PATTEE (Tilt): Emma Pattee is a climate journalist and fiction writer. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and more. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
- ADAM ROSS (Playworld): Adam Ross is an American author known for his novels Mr. Peanut and Playworld. He was born and raised in New York City and now lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with his two daughters. He has received fellowships from the American Academy in Berlin and Princeton University. Ross is also the editor of The Sewanee Review.
- CHANDA BELL (Elf on the Shelf): Chanda Bell is an American author and businesswoman, best known as the co-author of The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition and co-founder of The Lumistella Company, the company behind the popular holiday brand. She also serves as the company’s Chief Creative Officer and co-CEO. Bell is also a writer and executive producer for animated content, including the animated special The Elf on the Shelf: An Elf’s Story. Bell, alongside her mother Carol Aebersold, developed the “Elf on the Shelf” concept based on their family tradition. She is also the author of several books within the “Elf on the Shelf” and “Elf Pets” franchises. She is often referred to as “Santa’s Chief Storyteller” for her role in bringing Santa’s world to life through various media, including Netflix and a traveling musical.
For a full lineup of festival authors, visit sofestofbooks.org. Additional authors and other special announcements will be added to the list every Friday.
In addition to 75 sessions over two days, the festival features over 60 vendors and food trucks, and three performance stages. A music stage focuses on the incredible talent of the Nashville music community, and the performing arts stage offers theater, Kid Zone, spoken word, and poetry throughout the weekend. The festival children’s stage and activity center features authors, musicians, performers, crafts, character costumes, and parties celebrating beloved children’s books.
The always popular Authors in the Round Dinner, chaired by Alice Randall and Caroline Randall Williams, will be held Friday, Oct. 17, at Marathon Music Works. Authors in the Round, which allows guests to dine alongside more than 40 regionally and nationally known authors, is the festival’s signature fundraiser, ensuring that Humanities Tennessee can present the annual festival free of charge.
For a regularly updated list of all authors, please visit sofestofbooks.org/authors. To learn more about the Southern Festival of Books and to stay updated on festival announcements, please follow us on Facebook (@SoFestofBooks) and on Instagram (@sofestofbooks).
ABOUT THE SOUTHERN FESTIVAL OF BOOKS
The 2025 Southern Festival of Books is made possible by presenting partner Vanderbilt University, along with The Frist Foundation, Sandra Schatten Foundation, Visit Music City, Ingram Content Group, Dollar General Literacy Foundation, Metro Arts: Nashville Office for Arts and Culture, Tennessee Arts Commission, the Federation of State Humanities Councils with support from the Mellon Foundation, and generous gifts from more than 1,200 individuals in the past three months. Sponsorship opportunities for the festival and dinner are available by contacting Sandy Obodzinski.
The Southern Festival of Books is presented by Humanities Tennessee, a nonprofit organization that promotes humanities education across Tennessee. The festival is proudly sponsored by the Metro Nashville Arts Commission, , , Nashville Public Library, , , Parnassus Books and the Nashville Scene.
ABOUT HUMANITIES TENNESSEE
Humanities Tennessee is a nonprofit organization that fosters community and civility in Tennessee through engaging programs that examine and reflect upon ideas, stories, history, arts and culture. In addition to our own programming, we partner with a variety of organizations across the state who are similarly encouraging community dialogue and activities that push us to think deeper and develop mutual respect and understanding for each other.
ABOUT VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
Vanderbilt is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, that is a global hub for learning, innovation and leadership. Its 11 schools and colleges offer students more than 65 undergraduate majors, a full range of graduate and professional degrees, and faculty who are leaders in their fields. The 340-acre campus — an accredited arboretum just 1.5 miles from downtown — is home to groundbreaking interdisciplinary research, SEC athletics, and a community dedicated to free expression and civil discourse that lives by its motto, Crescere aude, dare to grow.