In Our Community

20th Annual Festival of Books in Brookings

The SD Festival of Books will take place September 23 -25 in Brookings at the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center on the SDSU Campus and at the Children’s Museum of South Dakota in downtown Brookings.

The SD Humanities Council produces the Festival of Books and it is considered the state’s premier literary event.

The Festival will host more than 60 presenters including featured authors Mary Kay Andrews and Emily St. John Mandel, National Book Award winner poet Terrance Hayes, world-famous marathoner Dick Beardsley and awardwinning children’s author Traci Sorell. Highlighting the event is Nick Estes, author of the 2022 One Book South and the Dakota Humanities Council selection, Our History is the Future, and N. Griffin, author of the Young Readers One Book Humanities Council selection, Smashie McPerter and the Mystery of Room 11. The goal is trifold says Jennifer Widman, Director of the South Dakota Center for the Book.

“We want to bring together some of the best authors of South Dakota, to showcase books being written in and about our State and, finally to support aspiring writers through craft talks and writing workshops,” she says. “There’s nothing like being able to tell your favorite author how much their book meant to you.”

This year’s Festival of Books is expected to bring 10,000 people together including 5000 youth.

The event is free to the public with the exception of a few events that feature food and some larger workshops.

For more information, contact: SDHumanities.org/SDBookFestval.com.