On Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, the 14th annual Kansas Book Festival will take place at the Washburn University Library. We will reveal authors who are speaking in the spring of 2025, providing a sneak peak. In the meantime, to see the kind of programming you can expect, look below, to last year’s program
To see the full PROGRAM for the 2024 KANSAS BOOK FESTIVAL, including exhibitors, music, and children’s activities, click here: KBFProgram2024.
To see just the panel schedule, scan the outline below:
Pre-Festival Presentations
Friday, September 27 at 4:30 pm
Words Is a Powerful Thing—University Library 119
Brian Daldorph, winner of the 2024 Hefner Heitz Kansas Book Award, talks about the remarkable creativity of incarcerated authors he has taught over the last 20 years at the Douglas County Jail, Kansas.
Main Festival Presentations
Saturday September 28
9:00-10:00 am
Black Sheep, Prodigals, Family Troubles—University Library Main Classroom
Join novelists Catherine Browder (The Manning Girl), Robert Rebein (The Last Rancher), and Al Ortolani (Bull in the Ring) for a discussion of how family dynamics and history determine character and propel plot, whether in NE, SW, or SE Kansas.
How the 80’s Rocked Us—University Library 119
Nebraska Poet Laureate Matt Mason (Rock Stars) and celebrated essayist Paul Crenshaw (Melt With Me: Coming of Age and Other ’80s Perils) discuss the decade that shaped them and their writing—its music, iconography, and ideas of boyhood and manhood. Moderator: poet Dennis Etzel, Jr.
9:45-10:45
There Are No Noncombatants—University Library 118
Relying on imagination and historical research, former PBS NewsHour anchor Elizabeth Farnsworth (Last Light) and novelist Theodore Wheeler (The War Begins in Paris) have produced realistic novels of love, betrayal, and morality in the shadow of World War II. Moderator: historian Sonja Czarnecki.
109 Years of Wisdom—University Library 120
Veteran columnist David Von Drehle (The Book of Charlie), who is endorsed by actor Tom Hanks, talks about lessons learned from a remarkable Kansas City doctor who lived over a century. Moderator: Physician Scott Teeter.
Picture Books and the Emerging Self—Alumni Center Board Room Come hear Giselle Anatol (Small-Girl Toni and the Quest for Gold) and Jo Renfro (Peg Gets Crackin’) talk about ways that their books encourage toddlers and early readers to step forward into the world. Moderator: Children’s Librarian Alice Reinert.
10:30-11:30
Mysteries: Cozy or Cold-Blooded?—University Library Room 119 Mystery writers M.A. Monnin (Death on the Grand Canal) and Rebecca McKanna (Don’t Forget the Girl) discuss the benefits and hazards of sheltering readers from suffering . . . or taking them right into it. Moderator: novelist Cathleen Bascom.
Building Worlds of Words—University Library Main Classroom
Join poets Trish Reeves (The Receipt) and Robert Stewart (Higher) as they discuss how defining details create the world anew, showing readers the contemporary world in the historical one. Moderator: H.C. Palmer.
Hidden Histories of the Blues—Alumni Center Ballroom
Grammy-winner Elijah Wald (Jelly Roll Blues) and Patrick Joseph O’Connor (Wichita Blues) talk about two overlooked musical traditions—the censored “dirty” blues of the early 1900s and the Midwestern blues of the midcentury. Moderator: poet and essayist Eric McHenry.
11:15-12:15
Breaking the Fictional Mold—University Library 120
Three respected experimental authors talk about speculative ways they re-approach gender, animal life, and more: Andy Farkas (Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been?), Kij Johnson (The Privilege of the Happy Ending), and Izzy Wasserstein (These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart).
Facing Fear in Middle-Grade Years—Alumni Center Board Room
A mother about to be released from prison. An anxious son. A ghost story that feels too real. Come hear celebrated author Angela Cervantes (The Cursed Moon) talk with moderator Cheryl Rios about youthful fears, both real and imagined.
12:00-1:00—Keynote
V.I. Warshawski Comes to Kansas—Alumni Center Ballroom
Sara Paretsky is NYTimes Bestselling author of a crime series featuring legendary detective V.I. Warshawski. Hear her speak with Kaye McIntyre, KPR Radio Host, about her latest novel, Pay Dirt, which brings Warshawski back to Kansas, Paretsky’s own home state.
12:45-1:45
First Readers and Feelings—Alumni Center Board Room
Jody Jensen Shaffer (Sometimes I Am Hot Lava) and Bridget Heos (I’m a Virus) discuss how kids can manage anger and frustration plus the fears that go with viruses, or worse, work. Parents, educators, and caregivers welcome. Moderator: Laura Burton, from the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center
Poetry in Midlife—Library Room 119
Poets Lisa Hase-Jackson (Insomnia in Another Town), Jericho M. Hockett (In the Bodies), and Melissa Fite Johnson (Midlife Abecedarian) on why it’s important to celebrate and contemplate this transformative time in life—and why they don’t consider “midlife” a crisis.
1:30-2:30
Love and Grief—University Library 118
Amy Stuber, author of a story collection with characters who plumb the depths of personal loss (Sad Grownups), talks with poet Mary Pinard, whose new collection (Ghost Heart) is shaped by the death of her spouse. Moderator: grief therapist and author, Joy Bishop.
Kansas City’s Kingdom Quarterback—Alumni Center Ballroom
Mark Dent & Rustin Dodd (co-authors of Kingdom Quarterback) discuss how the success of Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs has brought new life to a city with a flyover reputation. Moderator: Paul Carr, veteran sports researcher at TruMedia.
Pictures + Story = Delight!—University Library 120 Christopher Denise, winner of the 2024 Bill Martin, Jr. Picture Book Award, describes how his beloved Knight Owl came into being, and veteran author/illustrator Brad Sneed explains the art-story tango that goes into creating picture books. Moderator: Education Professor Heather Caswell.
2:15-3:15
Relational Shifts and Shifting Realms—University Library 119
Chloe Chun Seim (Churn) and Natalie Parker (Come Out, Come Out) discuss the relational power of peer stories that combine realism and fantasy, also exploring gender fluidity. Moderator: Margo Moore, Lawrence Teen Librarian.
Indigenous Wisdom—University Library Main Classroom
Dan Wildcat’s On Indigenuity speaks to how traditional Indigenous wisdom can help us repair our relationship with earth, air, and water. Moderator: Dr. Melinda Adams, professor of Geography, Atmospheric Science and Indigenous Studies, KU.
Lab Leaks, Pandemics, and Us—Alumni Center Board Room
Alison Young (Pandora’s Gamble) is an award-winning journalist who goes deep into the troubling history and risks of accidents at scientific labs. Moderator: KU Journalism professor, Patricia Gaston.
3:00-4:00
A Western Doubletake—Alumni Center Ballroom
Alex Grecian (Red Rabbit) & John Mort (Oklahoma Odyssey) converse with Western novelist Max McCoy about new takes on Westerns, from the haunted landscape of a witch hunt to an anti-revenge plot set during the Cherokee Outlet land rush.
And You Thought You Knew KU—University Library 118
Join Rebecca Schulte (The Jayhawk) and Curtis Marsh (KU-Phoria) as they recount the fun and fascinating yet little-known history and trivia about KU and the Jayhawk mascot. Moderator: Editor of KU Alumni Magazine , Jennifer Jackson Sanner.
Collaborative Writing, From Voice to Page—University Library 120
Join Dr. Walt Menninger (Like What You Do), his collaborator Todd Fertig, and publisher Thea Rademacher (Flint Hills Publishing) as they talk about all the collaborations that make a memoir, from telling to writing, and from editing to publishing.
