Charleston Literary Festival is thrilled to announce the full lineup of authors and programming for its 10th Festival, to be held November 6-15 at the historic Dock Street Theatre in downtown Charleston.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL 2026 LINEUP
Program Overview:
This year, Charleston Literary Festival will welcome more than 80 world-class authors to the Lowcountry for a stellar literary program.
With an emphasis on innovative, multidisciplinary programming, the Festival’s lineup features: Salman Rushdie and Rachel Eliza Griffiths with a screening of their film Knife (directed by Alex Gibney) followed by an onstage talkback conversation; Demon Copperhead’s Barbara Kingsolver discussing her latest novel, Partita, paired with a live pianist; an interview with ballet dancer turned photographer Steven Caras led by Martha Teichner will be followed by a performance by the Miami City Ballet; and the Festival will culminate in a staged reading of Virginia Woolf’s only play, Freshwater, starring Bernard Cornwell, Dame Hermione Lee, and Nameless Numberhead.
The line-up includes fiction superstars Barbara Kingsolver, Daniel Kraus (winner of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction), Hernan Diaz, Richard Ford and Tessa Hadley, Tayari Jones (Oprah’s Book Club Pick), Lily King, Virginia Evans, Patrick Ryan, Susan Choi, Nelio Biedermann, Curtis Sittenfeld, Ben Markovits, and more.
Nonfiction is strongly represented at the Festival this year with the Finalist for the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for History, Scott Anderson, on Iran, Jim Gleick on the history of the telephone, Daniel Mendelsohn on the enduring relevance of The Odyssey, and David Haskell on how flowers remade the natural world as we know it.
Memoir shines brightly in the lineup with showstopping life stories presented on the stage from Belle Burden, whose Strangers gripped the nation, and Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web. The memoir of the writer is also a strong theme this year with featured books by Susan Orlean, Jayne Anne Phillips, and Michael Cunningham. In a similar thread, Tom Junod and John Seabrook tell all in their memoirs about growing up with powerful father figures.
Famous for its international edge, the Festival will nod to its roots with the Bloomsbury Group in Sussex with an event on the Hogarth Press with Rebecca Romney (Pawn Stars) and Sunday Steinkirchner; and feature world voices including; Gaël Faye, Rwandan-French rapper and author and recipient of The Prix Renaudot; University of London professor Sarah Churchwell discussing Thomas Paine’s Common Sense; and Nelio Biedermann, the Swiss wunderkind and author of Lázár.
With an expanded focus on family programming, the Festival will feature an audience with prima ballerina Misty Copeland in an event centered on confidence and empowerment for children aged 8-12. Thanks to a partnership with Books & Beyond, Eric Litwin, author of the Pete the Cat series, will perform pop-up shows in three Title I schools in CCSD, serving approximately 1500 schoolchildren, before bringing his family-friendly show celebrating literacy for a final performance at Dock Street Theatre.
Throughout the ten-day literary festival, authors will engage in intimate discussions at Dock Street Theatre followed by book signings, with all titles available through the 2026 Festival bookstore partner, Philosophers & Fools.
Educational and Community Programming:
In addition to world-class author events, Charleston Literary Festival 2026 will also offer special programming for educators, students, and developing writers. This includes:
- Partnering with Charleston County School District: In addition to welcoming field trips for 500-plus local students, the Festival will host its second annual “Mini Charleston Literary Festival” in partnership with Wings for Kids. Authors featured in the Festival will also visit the Festival’s official academic partner, the College of Charleston, and local schools to engage with students.
- Fiederowicz International Fellowship: New in 2026, the Fiederowicz International Fellowship provides a prominent international author the opportunity to attend the Festival. The inaugural recipient, author Kateryna Yehorushkina from Kiev, Ukraine, is a TED speaker, member of PEN Ukraine, and author of more than 20 adult and children's books. Since the war began, she has worked with thousands of children and teenagers to help them process their experiences through art and writing. During the Festival, she will offer similar workshops to local students. The International Fellow will receive accommodations, access to Festival, a dedicated Festival event, and a $7,500 cash prize.
- Wayland and Marion Cato Fellowship: In its third year, the Cato Fellowship Prize supports and nurtures emerging North Carolina and South Carolina writers of fiction and nonfiction. The winning fellow will receive a dedicated onstage event to showcase their work, full access to the Festival’s author events and receptions and a cash prize of $10,000 to further their writing careers.
- Young Writers Awards: Now in its fourth year, Charleston Literary Festival’s Young Writers Awards program is committed to reflecting the broad range of voices and experiences of the Tri-County public school community. Three works are selected for each of the three categories of Poetry, Journalism, and Short Story for a total of nine awards. The selected young authors will receive a cash prize and be invited to present their work at a Literary Festival event, and their work will be published on the Festival’s website.
“We’re thrilled to share the lineup for our tenth Festival,” said Sarah Moriarty, Executive Director of Charleston Literary Festival. “This year’s program is shaping up to be our best yet. We’re bringing together a line-up of the world’s best authors to engage in the transformative conversations our Festival is known for, while also honoring our roots with special programming inspired by Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group and a host of innovative, interdisciplinary events. We’re looking ahead, too, with new fellowships, expanded family programming, and more events designed with students at the center.”
For tickets and more information, visit Charleston Literary Festival.
About Charleston Literary Festival
Celebrating its tenth year in 2026, Charleston Literary Festival is a boutique literary festival with an international edge that takes place every November in Charleston, South Carolina. With an emphasis on world-class literary programming, Charleston Literary Festival is unparalleled in the United States as a center of literary excavation, innovation, and celebration in a powerfully evocative historic location. With roots in the Charleston Trust in the UK—home of the radical writers, artists, and thinkers of the Bloomsbury Group—the Festival is committed to maintaining an international perspective while building up and giving back to the local community. Previous speakers include: Brit Bennett, Geraldine Brooks, Tina Brown, Joyce Carol Oates, Claire Keegan, Walter Isaacson, George Saunders, Imani Perry, Colm Tóibín, Yaa Gyasi, David Szalay, Ian McEwan, and Jeannette Winterson, among many others. Charleston Literary Festival 2026 will run November 6–15 at Dock Street Theatre, 135 Church Street, Charleston, South Carolina. Visit charlestonliteraryfestival.com for more information.
Media Contacts
RP+BHPR
Russell Powell | russell@rpowellpr.com
Bryan Hunter | bryan@honesthoundcoms.com
2026 CHARLESTON LITERARY FESTIVAL PROGRAM:
Friday, November 6, 2026
David Armitage, The Declaration of Independence with Ben Zeigler • 9am
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.
Susan Choi, Flashlight with Deborah Treisman • 11am
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.
Tessa Hadley with Richard Ford • 1pm
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.
Tayari Jones, Kin with Kevin Sack • 3pm
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 Pulitzer Prize.
Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie Screening and talkback with Salman Rushdie, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, and Bilal Qureshi • 5pm
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. Following the film screening, NPR journalist and cultural critic Bilal Qureshi will moderate a live onstage conversation about Knife with Salman Rushdie and Rachel Eliza Griffiths.
Saturday, November 7, 2026
Rachel Eliza Griffiths, The Flower Bearers with Jeanelle Perkins • 11am
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.
Claudia Rankine, Triage with Bilal Qureshi • 1pm
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.
James Gleick, The Telephone: A New History with Damon Wilson• 3pm
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. What can we learn from the history of the humble telephone, which has revolutionized lives since 1876, as tech advancements surge and AI waits in the wings?
Daniel Mendelsohn, The Neverending Journey: The Enduring Appeal of Homer’s The Odyssey • 5pm
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.
Steven Caras, Through the Lens of a Dancer with Martha Teichner • 7pm
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.
Sunday, November 8, 2026
Hogarth Press with Sunday Steinkirchner & Rebecca Romney • 11am
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.
Steven Pinker, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows with Geoffrey Harpham • 1pm
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.
Ferdia Lennon, Glorious Exploits with Shane O’Reilly • 3pm
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.
Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, The Mattering Instinct with Adam Gopnik • 5pm
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 The New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik.
Virginia Evans and Lily King, The Correspondent and Heart The Lover with Lydia Fitzpatrick • 7pm
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.
Monday, November 9, 2026
Virginia McGee Richards and Sarah Lewis • 10am
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.
Patrick Ryan, Buckeye with Martha McLendon • 12pm
“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.
David George Haskell, How Flowers Made Our World • 2pm
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.
John Seabrook and Tom Junod with Lucas Wittmann • 4pm
The New Yorker writer John Seabrook and celebrated journalist 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 Unterberg Poetry Center in New York City.
Belle Burden, Strangers with Jennifer Griffin • 6pm
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.
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
Scott Anderson, King of Kings • 11am
FINALIST FOR THE 2026 PULITZER PRIZE (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.
Cato Fellow & Fiederowicz Fellow • 1pm
The Charleston Literary Festival 2026 Cato Fellow, a talented emerging writer from the Carolinas, will read and discuss their work. For the first time, we are featuring an international fellow thanks to the new Charleston Literary Festival Fiederowicz International Fellowship. Selecting a different country each year, the first Fiederowicz International Fellow will join us from Ukraine to discuss the enduring importance of literature in wartime.
Julie Orringer, Luna, Phoenix, Queen with Bill Goldstein • 3pm
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.
Ben Markovits, The Rest of Our Lives & Joseph O’Neill, Godwin • 5pm
British American writer Ben Markovits, author of The Rest of Our Lives (shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize) and Irish American author Joseph O’Neill, author of Godwin, discuss their contemporary odyssey novels, highlighting contemporary masculinity, family allegiance, and the role and power of sports.
Gaël Faye, Jacaranda • 7pm
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.
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Misty Copeland, Firebird Waltz • 10am
World-renowned prima ballerina Misty Copeland discusses her latest installment in her literary wonderland, Firebird Waltz. A passionate writer, Copeland’s storytelling is designed to empower and embolden young readers to chase their dreams to the fullest. Family program, suitable for children 8–12.
Jayne Anne Phillips and Susan Orlean with Anne Blessing • 12pm
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 writer’s life.
Roxane Gay, with Malika Pryor • 2pm
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.
Nelio Biedermann, Lázár • 4pm
Swiss author Nelio Biedermann discusses his sensational debut novel, Lázár, a gothic, intergenerational family saga capturing the rise and fall of an aristocratic Hungarian family inspired by the author’s lineage.
Dawn: A Charleston Legend • 6pm
For the very first event in our inaugural Charleston Literary Festival Revenance Series, Charleston icon Dawn Langley Simmons will be brought to life to discuss her literary career as a biographer and memoirist alongside her astonishing life. Prepare for category-busting stories from a true Charleston Legend. Starring John “Lypsinka” Epperson. Stories compiled by Síofra Dromgoole. Directed by Dominic Dromgoole.
Thursday, November 12, 2026
Ada Ferrer, Keeper of My Kin with Natalie C. Hauff • 10am
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 Anthony Varallo, Catastrophe Fiction! • 12pm
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.
Daniel Kraus, Angel Down with Elliot Ackerman • 2pm
WINNER OF THE 2026 PULITZER PRIZE (FICTION)
Written as a single, unbroken sentence, Angel Down 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.
Catherine Ostler, The Renoir Girls with Alex Rich • 4pm
Catherine Ostler presents 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.
Hernan Diaz, Ply • 6pm
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.
Friday, November 13, 2026
Common Sense with Sarah Churchwell • 11am
Published in 1776, Thomas Paine’s incendiary pamphlet won thousands to the side of the American rebels. In a riveting presentation, University of London professor Sarah Churchwell considers Englishman Thomas Paine’s influence on the American Revolution.
The Healing Powers of Gardening — Sue Stuart Smith with Regina Marler • 1pm
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.
Liaquat Ahamed, 1873 • 3pm
Liaquat Ahamed, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Lords of Finance, 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.
Curtis Sittenfeld, Show Don’t Tell with Georgina Godwin • 5pm
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.
Barbara Kingsolver, Partita • 7pm
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Kingsolver (Demon Copperhead) discusses her latest novel Partita—the story of a passionate affair and its dramatic consequences. Featuring conversation, short readings, and a piano performance.
Saturday, November 14, 2026
Eric Litwin, Pete the Cat • 9am
The 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.
Kwame Onwuachi, All Hours with Hunter Lewis
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.
Hermione Lee, Anita Brookner with Regina Marler • 11am
Dame Hermione Lee, the UK’s foremost literary biographer, reveals her new work—an exploration of the life of Anita Brookner (1928-2016). The enigmatic British novelist and art historian, Brookner won the Booker Prize and attracted devoted admirers thanks to her incisive studies of emotionally restrained characters.
Michael Cunningham, Unsayable with Autumn Phillips • 1pm
“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.
Eric Ripert and Nigel Parry, The Art of the Cookbook with Luke Barr • 3pm
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, 1970 and The Secret History of French Cooking.
Paul Goldberger • 5pm
“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.
Jeanette Winterson, One Aladdin, Two Lamps • 7pm
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.
Sunday, November 15, 2026
Jenna Bush Hager and Lucy Tan, Tiger’s Mouth • 11am
“A stunning story... I absolutely adored it.” — Chris Whitaker. 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.
Jung Chang, Fly, Wild Swans with Carolina Cortauld • 1pm
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.
Tim Berners-Lee, This Is for Everyone with David Roscoe• 3pm
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.
James Lasdun, The Family Man with Jean Hanff Korelitz • 5pm
The New Yorker writer James Lasdun’s The Family Man interrogates one of the most sensational trials in South Carolina history. Hear all about his investigation 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.
Freshwater • 7pm
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. Starring Bernard Cornwell, Dame Hermione Lee, Nameless Numberhead, and more! Directed by Dominic Dromgoole, former Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London.