The Declaration of Independence, with Ben Zeigler
9 AM • $30

Harvard Professor David Armitage presents his groundbreaking book, The Declaration of Independence: A Global History, an expansive reflection on the context of this foundational text, to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States. 

Flashlight, with Deborah Treisman
11 AM • $30

National Book Award winner Susan Choi discusses her monumental novel, Flashlight (shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize)—a decades-long story following a girl who loses her father by flashlight on a beach one night. In conversation with Deborah Treisman, Fiction Editor of The New Yorker. 

with Richard Ford
1 PM • $30

Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Ford talks craft with award-winning British writer Tessa Hadley, author of eight acclaimed novels and four short fiction collections. Her stories, many published in The New Yorker, are celebrated for transforming ordinary moments into extraordinary narratives.

3 PM • $30

Recipient of the Women’s Prize for Fiction for An American Marriage, Tayari Jones discusses her latest novel Kin, an unforgettable story about two lifelong friends whose worlds converge after years apart in the face of a devastating tragedy. In conversation with Kevin Sack, author of Mother Emanuel, finalist for the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction.  

Film Screening. Followed by an onstage talkback with Salman Rushdie and Rachel Eliza Griffiths moderated by Bilal Qureshi.
5 PM • $50

Directed by Alex Gibney, Knife is a candid, intimate documentary detailing the attempted murder of Salman Rushdie in 2022 and its aftermath. Featuring never-before-seen personal footage shot by Rushdie’s wife, poet and artist, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, the film follows the writer during his physical and spiritual recovery.

Warning: The film contains graphic images that some people may find upsetting. Viewer discretion is advised.

*Please note: the film screening will begin at 5 PM sharp. There will be a short break after the film and the talkback will begin at 7 PM sharp. The event will conclude at 8 PM.  

The Flower Bearers, with Jeanelle Perkins
11 AM • $30

Poet, visual artist, and novelist Rachel Eliza Griffiths discusses The Flower Bearers, a moving memoir of two unspeakable tragedies that weaves into a remarkable story of sisterhood, love, and growth. In conversation with psychotherapist Jeanelle Perkins.

Triage, with Bilal Qureshi
1 pm • $30

Renowned poet and National Book Critics Circle Award winner Claudia Rankine introduces Triage—her most emotionally resonant writing yet that follows the turbulent friendship between two female characters in a loose retelling of Antigone. 

The Telephone: A New History, with Damon Wilson
3 PM • $30

One of the greatest science writers of all time, James Gleick, author of Chaos and The Information, explores the impact of one of our most familiar technologies: the telephone. Revolutionizing lives since 1876, what can we learn from the history of the humble telephone as tech advancements surge and AI waits in the wings? In conversation with Damon Wilson, President and CEO of the National Endowment for Democracy.

The Neverending Journey: The Enduring Appeal of Homer’s The Odyssey
5 PM • $30

Daniel Mendelsohn discusses the immortal appeal of The Odyssey. Drawing on many examples—including Christopher Nolan’s 2026 film—Mendelsohn explains how and why this epic poem resonates with audiences across millennia.

CONVERSATION & PERFORMANCE BY MIAMI CITY BALLET

Steve Caras, with Martha Teichner.
7 PM • $30

New York City Ballet dancer turned dance photographer, Steven Caras relives his formative relationship with revolutionary choreographer, George Balanchine, his professional triumphs and setbacks, and his struggles with sexuality. Immediately following, Miami City Ballet principal dancers Cameron Catazaro and Hannah Fischer will perform the duet Diamonds from Balanchine’s ballet Jewels.

with Rebecca Romney & Sunday Steinkirchner
11 AM • $30

Rare book dealers Sunday Steinkirchner and Rebecca Romney (Pawn Stars book specialist) delve into the fascinating history of the Hogarth Press, founded in London by Leonard and Virginia Woolf in 1917. Started as a hobby, the Hogarth Press became an influential publisher with groundbreaking boldness whose legacy endures today.

When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows…, with Geoffrey Harpham
1 PM • $30

Steven Pinker, Harvard Professor of Psychology and “one of the world’s most celebrated intellectuals” (Financial Times), explores the idea of “common knowledge”—the unwritten rules, social contracts, and shared logic that communities rely on—and what happens when this common knowledge falls apart. 

Glorious Exploits, with Shane O’Reilly
3 PM • $30

Ferdia Lennon discusses his award-winning debut Glorious Exploits with Irish playwright and actor, Shane O’Reilly. Set in 412 BC during the Peloponnesian War and told in a contemporary Irish voice, this comic novel follows two unemployed potters who hatch a plan to stage Euripides’s plays.

The Mattering Instinct, with Adam Gopnik
5 PM • $30

What matters to you? Who do you matter to? The Mattering Instinct explores humanity’s most fundamental desire—the need to matter. Drawing on biology, psychology, and philosophy, Goldstein discusses how this need is the source of our greatest progress and our deepest conflicts. With New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik. 

The Correspondent and Heart the Lover 7PM • $40

Virginia Evans, winner of the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction, and Lily King, Kirkus Prize winner, discuss their deeply affecting novels, The Correspondent and Heart The Lover—two of the most talked about books of the last year. 

Sarah Lewis and Virginia McGee Richards
10 AM • $30

Photographer Virginia McGee Richards and historian Sarah Lewis discuss their respective books, The Inner Passage and If Emmett Till Lived: A Creative Monument, tracing untold histories and Black legacies embedded in the Southern landscape. 

Buckeye, with Martha McLendon
12 PM • $30

Patrick Ryan discusses Buckeye with Charleston Literary Festival board member, Martha McLendon: “A once-in-a-decade novel,” (Jenna Bush Hager), Buckeye follows two married couples bound together by a complex secret in the jubilant aftermath of the Allied victory in WWII.

How Flowers Made Our World
2 PM • $30

PRESENTED WITH THE SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER
Flowers are beautiful revolutionaries. Two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, David George Haskell discusses How Flowers Made Our World, an exquisite exploration of the power of flowers and how they catalyzed our evolution.

with Lucas Wittmann  
4 PM • $30

John Seabrook, journalist with The New Yorker, and celebrated writer Tom Junod discuss their respective memoirs—The Spinach King and In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man—their relationships with their fathers, the dynamics of their families, and the secrets of their pasts. Moderated by Lucas Wittmann, Executive Director of 92nd Street Y in New York City. 

Strangers, with Jennifer Griffin
6PM • $40

Belle Burden discusses her searing memoir, Strangers, in conversation with journalist Jennifer Griffin. A cultural phenomenon, the book explores the aftermath of Burden’s twenty-year-long marriage that came to an abrupt end.

King of Kings
11 AM • $30

FINALIST FOR THE 2026 PULITZER PRIZE FOR HISTORY

Scott Anderson, winner of the 2025 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction, discusses his narrative history of the Iranian Revolution that exposes the blind spots of the American government at the time and traces the rise of religious nationalism, offering essential insights into today’s global unrest.

1 PM • FREE

The Charleston Literary Festival 2026 Cato Fellow, a talented emerging writer from the Carolinas, will read and discuss their work.

Following this, for the first time, we are featuring an international fellow thanks to the new Charleston Literary Festival Fiederowicz International Fellowship. Hailing from a different country each year, the first Fiederowicz International Fellow will join us from Ukraine to discuss the enduring importance of literature in wartime.

Luna, Phoenix, Queen, with Bill Goldstein
3 PM • $30

Julie Orringer, author of The Flight Portfolio and Transatlantic, discusses her new novel Luna, Phoenix, Queen—a spellbinding tour de force about infidelity, helplessness, regret, and a radical testament to love in all its forms.

with Peter Godwin.
5 PM • $30

British-American writer Ben Markovits, author of The Rest of Our Lives (shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize) and Irish author Joseph O’Neill, author of Godwin, discuss their contemporary odyssey novels, highlighting modern masculinity, family allegiance, and the importance of sport in male identity. 

Jacardana
7 PM • $30

WINNER OF THE PRIX RENAUDOT 

A young man journeys from Paris to Rwanda to discover the truth about his family’s past in this bestselling, prize-winning novel from internationally renowned Rwandan-French novelist and hip-hop artist Gaël Faye.

Presented with Villa Albertine

10 AM

• FREE for children 12 and under
• $30 General Admission

World-renowned prima ballerina Misty Copeland discusses her writing at large and the latest installment in her literary wonderland, Firebird Waltz. A passionate writer, Copeland’s storytelling is designed to empower young readers and embolden them to chase their dreams.

Family program, suitable for children 8-12.

While all are welcome, this event has a limited number of on-sale seats as it is specially designed to serve students in Charleston County School District.

The art of memoir, with Anne Blessing
12pm • $30

Jayne Anne Phillips, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Night Watch, and multi-award winning author Susan Orlean (The Orchid Thief, The Library Book) discuss their respective memoirs, their coming of age experiences, and the life of a writer.

With Charleston Literary Festival board member, Anne Blessing.

with Malika Pryor
2 PM • $30

Roxane Gay, bestselling author of Hunger and Bad Feminist, reflects on her career as a writer, critic, and publisher and provides practical guidance for those who want to use their voice to craft powerful work to share with the world.

Lázár
4 PM • $30

Swiss author Nelio Biedermann discusses his exceptional debut novel, Lázár, a gothic, intergenerational family saga capturing the rise and fall of an aristocratic Hungarian family inspired by the author’s lineage.

6 PM • $30

For the first event in our inaugural Revenance Series, Charleston icon Dawn Langley Simmons will be brought to life to discuss her literary career as a biographer and memoirist alongside recollections from her astonishing life. Prepare for category-busting stories from a true Charleston Legend.

Starring John ‘Lypsinka’ Epperson. Stories compiled by Siofra Dromgoole. Directed by Dominic Dromgoole. 

Keeper of My Kin, with Natalie C. Hauff
10 AM • $30

Pulitzer-Prize winning author Ada Ferrer discusses her memoir, Keeper of My Kin, tracking her family’s history of fleeing Cuba under Fidel Castro’s power—with Pulitzer Prize-winning, Cuban-American journalist Natalie C. Hauff. 

Jim Shepard and Kurt Andersen, with Hunter Lewis
12 PM • $30

Jim Shepard, author of a new short story collection The Queen of Bad Influences, and Kurt Andersen, author of The Breakup, a dystopian drama set in the near future, discuss catastrophe, speculation, and humor as ways to console and sustain. 

Angel Down, with Elliot Ackerman
2 PM • $30

WINNER OF THE 2026 PULITZER PRIZE (FICTION)

Daniel Kraus discusses his award-winning book Angel Down. Written as a single, unbroken sentence, the “crazily enjoyable” (The New York Times) book is the story of five WWI soldiers who discover a fallen angel that could hold the key to ending the war.

In conversation with Former Marine Officer and bestselling novelist, Elliot Ackerman.

The Renoir Girls, with Alex Rich
4 PM • $30

Journalist Catherine Ostler presents her new book The Renoir Girls, the remarkable and haunting story of the two young sisters featured in one of the impressionist artist’s most famous paintings, Pink and Blue.

In conversation with Alex Rich, President and CEO of The Gibbes Museum.

Ply
6 PM • $30

The internationally best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Trust, turns to the future with his highly anticipated new novel, Ply, which examines the role of technology in the American imagination.

An exploration of Thomas Paine
11 AM • From $30

In 2026, the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary. This birthday is shared with Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.

Published in 1776, the incendiary pamphlet won thousands to the side of the American rebels. In a riveting presentation, University of London Professor Sarah Churchwell considers Paine’s Common Sense in context and explores its influence on the American Revolution.

Sue Stuart Smith
1 PM • From $30

Psychiatrist and psychotherapist Sue Stuart Smith’s The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature is a deep-dive into the benefits of gardening that meditates on the relationship between mental health and nature.

1873: The Rothschilds, the First Great Depression, and the Making of the Modern World
3pm • $30

Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Lords of Finance, Liaquat Ahamed presents his new nonfiction book 1873, a timely reckoning with the first truly global financial crisis and the illustrious Rothschild family at the center of the Gilded Age whirlwind.

Show Don’t Tell
5 PM • $30

Bestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld (Prep, Romantic Comedy) discusses Show Don’t Tell, her second short story collection that explores marriage, friendship, infidelity, and identity in twelve irreverent stories. 

Partita
5 PM • $50 (Book + Ticket)

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Kingsolver (Demon Copperhead) discusses her latest novel Partita—the story of a passionate affair between a talented music conservatory student and her former lover, and its dramatic consequences spanning decades.

Featuring conversation, short readings, and a piano performance.

All tickets include a copy of Partita.

Pete The Cat and Friends!
9 AM

Free for children aged 12 and under
General admission: $30

New York Times bestselling children’s author and performer Eric Litwin presents a morning of literacy, music and positivity. The original author of the Pete the Cat series, Litwin joins us for an interactive performance to surprise and delight young readers.

Family program, suitable for children aged 5-12.  

All Hours, with Hunter Lewis
9.30 AM • TBD

PRESENTED WITH FOOD & WINE CLASSIC CHARLESTON

Chef Kwame Onwuachi joins Hunter Lewis, editor of Food & Wine, to talk about his new cookbook, All Hours, that features the foods he craves from morning to midnight, and the people, places, and flavors that shape the way he cooks. 

***Note: This event will take place at The Charleston Gaillard Center. 

Anita Brookner, with Regina Marler
11 AM • $30

Dame Hermione Lee, the UK’s foremost literary biographer, reveals her new work—an exploration of the life of Anita Brookner (1928-2016). An enigmatic British novelist and art historian, Brookner won the Booker Prize in 1984 and attracted devoted admirers thanks to her incisive studies of emotionally restrained characters.

Unsayable, with Autumn Phillips
1 PM • $30

“Go ahead. Try using language to slit the skin of mortality to see what’s on the other side.”

Michael Cunningham reflects on a life spent trying to describe the indescribable in his new memoir, Unsayable. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours shares intimate memories, meditations on craft, and an account of the limitations of language in human expression. 

with Luke Barr
3 PM • $30

Three-Michelin-starred Chef and co-owner of NYC restaurant Le Bernardin, Eric Ripert and his long-time collaborator, photographer Nigel Parry, discuss their longstanding creative partnership,  the art of the cookbook, and Chef Ripert’s newest publication, Mindful Cooking, which features photos by Parry. In conversation with Luke Barr, author of Provence and The Secret History of French Cooking. 

The Imperfect City
5 PM • $30

“The city is a collage, not a portrait,” writes Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Paul Goldberger in The Imperfect City. A fascinating meditation on the interplay of urban design and serendipity, this book brings the often haphazard details of the world’s most iconic cities to life.  

The Power of Storytelling
7 PM • $30

Based on her latest book, One Aladdin, Two Lamps, award-winning author Jeanette Winterson takes on the guise of Aladdin, in the imaginary company of Shahrazad (the narrator of One

Thousand and One Nights). This innovative presentation explores why storytelling has always mattered. Winterson is the esteemed author of Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal and Oranges are Not the Only Fruit. 

Tiger’s Mouth
11 AM • $50 (Book + Ticket)

Jenna Bush Hager and Lucy Tan discuss Tan’s latest novel, Tiger’s Mouth, published by Thousand Voices (Jenna Bush Hager’s imprint at Penguin Random House). The novel follows the intense friendship—and competition—between two young men who meet during a tech internship. “A stunning story… I absolutely adored it.” — Chris Whitaker. 

Each ticket includes a copy of Tiger’s Mouth.

Fly, Wild Swans, with Caroline Courtauld
1 PM • $30

Author of the international bestseller Wild Swans, Jung Chang discusses a follow-up to her book in Fly, Wild Swans—written as a love letter to her mother that traces the history of three generations of women in China.

This Is for Everyone: The Unfinished Story of the World Wide Web
3 PM • $30

Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, famously shared his invention for no commercial reward. This Is for Everyone recounts the story of the Web’s invention, chronicles its impact, and presents a bold manifesto for advancing humanity’s future.

The Family Man: Blood and Betrayal in the House of Murdaugh , with Jean Hanff Korelitz
5 PM • $30

An investigative journalist with The New Yorker, James Lasdun’s The Family Man interrogates one of the most sensational trials in South Carolina history: the Murdaugh murders.

A true crime book, Lasdun dives into the Murdaugh dynasty, the conviction of Alex Murdaugh (which has been subsequently overturned), and the inside story of the family patriarch accused of murdering his wife and son.

Starring Bernard Cornwell, Dame Hermione Lee, Nameless Numberhead, and more! 

Directed by Dominic Dromgoole 
7 PM • $30

Our grand Festival finale is an extravagant staged reading of Virginia Woolf’s only play, Freshwater: A Comedy.

Celebrate the Festival’s Bloomsbury roots in a rousing, fresh take on a farce that focuses on famous photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson, actress Ellen Terry, and more.

Featuring uproarious romps and some scandalous behavior along the way.