Literary Women

Since 1982

43

Number of Festivals that Literary Women has hosted

309

Number of authors who have spoken at the festival

28

Number of volunteers
who organize the annual festival

Karen Abbott

Diane Ackerman

Alice Adams

Jonis Agee

Aamina Ahmad

Pamela Alexander

Mia Alvar

Alexandra Andrews

Lesley Nneka Arimah

Rae Armantrout

Kendra Atleework

Jami Attenberg

Elizabeth Barber

Andrea Barrett

Annie Barrows

Gioconda Belli

Aimee Bender

Elizabeth Benedict

Elizabeth Berg

Megan Mayhew Bergman

Amy Bloom

Judy Blunt

Laurel Ann Bogen

Jacqueline Briskin

Mae Briskin

Lily Brooks-Dalton

Geraldine Brooks

Diane Marie Brown

Eleanor Brown

Dorothy Bryant

Jan Burke

Octavia Butler

Bo Caldwell

Bebe Moore Campbell

Bonnie Jo Campbell

Deborah Campbell

Casey Cep

Lan Samantha Chang

Karissa Chen

Kate Christensen

Catherine Chung

Jill Ciment

Mary Higgins Clark

Jennifer Clement

Marcia Cohen

Maryse Conde

Karen Connelly

Blanche Wiesen Cook

Amanda Coplin

Kate (Shirley) Coscarelli

Lynne Cox

Beverly Coyle

Sloane Crosley

Edwidge Danticat

Thulani Davis

Nina de Gramont

Louise De Grave

Debra Dean

Barbara Demick

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Harriet Doerr

Heidi Durrow

Carol Easton

Betty Edwards

Jennifer Egan

Gretel Ehrlich

Delia Ephron

Jennifer Cody Epstein

Maria Amparo Escandon

Zoe Ferraris

Janet Fitch

Montserrat Fontes

Earlene Fowler

Karen Joy Fowler

Amaryllis Fox

Laurie Frankel

Judith Freeman

Emily Fridlund

Kim Fu

Marcela Fuentes

Lisa Fugard

Alexandra Fuller

Betty Harper Fussell

Elizabeth Gaffney

Cristina Garcia

Roxane Gay

Elizabeth George

Kaye Gibbons

Sandra M. Gilbert

Gillian Gill

Maria Gillan

Julia Glass

Lisa Glatt

Xochitl Gonzalez

Linda Gordon

Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Sue Grafton

Suzanne Greenberg

Linda Gregerson

Emily Habeck

Jennifer Haigh

Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey

Shirlee Taylor Haizlip

Louisa Hall

Jane Hamilton

Lyn Hamilton

Helene Hanff

Lara Love Hardin

Kathryn Harrison

Elsa Hart

Nadia Hashimi

Ursula Hegi

Judith Ryan Hendricks

Cristina Henriquez

Patti Callahan Henry

Hayden Herrera

Laura Hillman

Susan Tyler Hitchcock

Claire Hoffman

Linda Hogan

Nathalia Holt

Nancy Horan

Wendy Hornsby

Pam Houston

Ladee Hubbard

Sue Hubbel

Josephine Humphreys

Michelle Huneven

Eowyn Ivey

Kay Redfield Jamison

J. A. Jance

Diane Johnson

Joyce Johnson

Robin Johnson

Tayari Jones

Hillary Jordan

Jenny Joseph

Rachel Kadish

Kristiana Kahakauwila

Nora Okja Keller

Elaine Kendall

Elizabeth Kendall

Susan Kenney

Karen Kenyon

Bernice Kert

Denise Kiernan

Haven Kimmel

Laurie R. King

Lily King

Barbara Kingsolver

Perri Klass

Jean Hanff Korelitz

Barbara Kroll

Carroll Lachnit

Kirsten Lagatree

Dottie Lamm

Jill Marie Landis

Maya Lang

Jane Langton

Dorianne Laux

Jill Leovy

Diane Leslie

Elinor Lipman

Shelley List

Margot Livesey

Myra Cohn Livingston

Attica Locke

Sandra Tsing Loh

M.G. Lord

Nancy Mairs

Megha Majumdar

Rebecca Makkai

Cynthia Whitcomb Mandelberg

Jo-Ann Mapson

Margaret Maron

Becky Masterman

Patricia Matthews

Inez Maury

Frances Mayes

Tilar J. Mazzeo

Jill McCorkle

Elizabeth McCracken

Sharyn McCrumb

Alice McDermott

Cyra McFadden

Alison McGhee

Edythe McGovern

Terry McMillan

Maile Meloy

Joanne Meschery

Marlane Meyer

Diane Wood Middlebrook

Candice Millard

Madeline Miller

Anchee Min

Susan Minot

Jacquelyn Mitchard

Honor Moore

Mary McCarry Morris

Eleanor Morse

Bharati Mukherjee

Marcia Muller

Yxta Maya Murray

Carol Muske-Dukes

CSULB Mystery-Cult

Rita Nachtmann

Gina B. Nahai

Ann Napolitano

Sena Jeter Naslund

Gloria Naylor

Sonia Nazario

Nana Nkweti

Frances Khirallah Noble

Idra Novey

Sigrid Nunez

Elizabeth Nyamayaro

Nuala O'Faolain

Jenny Offill

Aline Ohanesian

Sharon Olds

Tillie Olsen

Susan Orlean

Julie Otsuka

Whitney Otto

Delia Owens

Ruth Ozeki

Abigail Padgett

Pamela Paul

Sharon Kay Penman

Amanda Peters

Audrey Peterson

Jayne Anne Phillips

Wang Ping

Ivy Pochoda

Susan Power

Nita Prose

Barbara Quick

Linda Raymond

Shelley Read

Nancy Reeves

Anamely Salgado Reyes

Judith Merkle Riley

Mary Roach

Roxana Robinson

Charlotte Rogan

Nayantara Roy

Mary Doria Russell

Dori Sanders

Shannon Sanders

Whitney Scharer

Cathleen Schine

Le Anne Schreiber

Sandra Scofield

Carolyn See

Lisa See

Linda Gray Sexton

Laura Shamas

Evelyn Sharenov

Adrienne Sharp

Paula Sharp

Elaine Showalter

Sharon Sievers

Joan Silber

Marisa Silver

Safiya Sinclair

Lee Smith

Roberta Smoodin

Tatjana Soli

Dana Spiotta

Ann Stanford

Lynn Stegner

Janet Sternburg

Ruth Stone

Susan Straight

Elizabeth Strout

Lalita Tademy

Haley Tanner

Diane Thomas

Rufi Thorpe

Judith Thurman

Miriam Toews

Susan Allen Toth

Gail Tsukiyama

Kathleen Tyau

Shelby Van Pelt

Madhuri Vijay

Helena Maria Viramontes

Padma Viswanathan

Lane Von Herzen

Susan Vreeland

Amy Waldman

Karen Thompson Walker

Joyce Weatherford

Elaine Weiss

Dorothy Wickenden

Isabel Wilkerson

Jincy Willett

Jacqueline Winspear

Meg Wolitzer

Jan Wong

Marilyn Yalom

Mitsuye Yamada

Lois-Ann Yamanaka

Karen Tei Yamashita

Belle Yang

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Kate Zernike

Leni Zumas

Ann Haymond Zwinger

Past Authors, A – Z

Festival of Authors 2026: Amanda Peters, Nayantara Roy, Karissa Chen, Barbara Demick, Rufi Thorpe, Claire Hoffman, Anamely Salgado Reyes.