91¹ú²ú

About the 2026 Festival

It was a novel event, with:

• Susan Lucci, the star of daytime television’s All My Children, in an opening-night keynote conversation about her new memoir, La Lucci, with best selling author Adriana Trigiani
• Jodi Picoult and Alice Hoffman in a keynote conversation about writing, reading and the power of storytelling in a time of book bans
• Alice Hoffman shares heartwarming stories with contributors to her upcoming anthology, The Best Dog in the World: Essays on Love
• Musical director Tim Weil discusses the landmark musical by 91¹ú²ú alum Jonathan Larson ’82, the subject of his new book, Making Rent: The Story Behind the Music That Changed Broadway
• Novelist and memoirist Darcey Steinke and science writer Michael Rossi talk about their new books, which explore the impact of fake science and superstition
• A look at the career of Zora Neale Hurston, with Patrik Henry Bass, executive editor of Amistad Books, an imprint devoted to the works of Black writers
• Joan Silber, Ed Park and Luis Jaramillo discuss the art of time in fiction
• Novelists Fiona Davis, Ann Leary and Alyson Richman discuss the craft of writing historical fiction
• Featured faculty author Marcos Gonsalez, PhD, on his award-winning novel Pedro’s Theory
• Best Selling Novelists Jessica Knoll and Alice Hoffman talk about the writer-editor relationship with Marysue Rucci, publisher of Scribner Books

Featured Authors

Join these celebrated writers in this year’s keynote conversations.

Photo Credit: Justice Apple

Susan Lucci

Susan Lucci is an Emmy Award-winning actress and New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur and advocate for women’s heart health. The most famous actress in the history of daytime television, she is known to generations of fans for her vivid portrayal of Erica Kane on ABC-TV’s All My Children. She later starred on Broadway in Annie Get Your Gun and in the television dramas Devious Maids and Deadly Affairs. Her new memoir, La Lucci, an instant New York Times bestseller, is a follow-up to her 2011autobiography, All My Life, which reached No. 2 on the New York Times bestseller list.

Photo Credit: Tim Llewellyn

Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult is the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of 30 novels, including By Any Other Name, Mad Honey (co-authored with Jennifer Finney Boylan), Wish You Were Here, The Book of Two Ways, A Spark of Light, Small Great Things, Leaving Time and My Sister’s Keeper, and, with her daughter Samantha van Leer, two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page. Her work is celebrated not only for its emotional depth and meticulous research but also for tackling complex moral and ethical issues with nuance and compassion. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband.

A Short Story

For a quick but compelling look at the festival, take a minute and watch our video.