For the month of September, Cleveland will transform into one of the nation’s most literary cities. Thousands of avid readers and writers will attend dozens of literary events hosted by eight official partners.
This year’s Cleveland Book Fest headliners include:
- Colson Whitehead: MacArthur Fellow, National Book Award Winner, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the 2002 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award fiction winner for his second novel, John Henry Days
- Jesmyn Ward: The only woman and the first person of color to receive two National Book Awards for Fiction, named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, and the 2018 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award fiction winner for her novel, Sing, Unburied, Sing
- Kevin Young: Winner of the 2026 Griffin Poetry Prize, poetry editor of The New Yorker, served as the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture from 2021-2025, and the 2018 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award nonfiction winner for his title Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News
- Marlon James: Booker Prize winner, New York Times bestselling author, named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, winner of the American Book Award, and the 2015 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award fiction winner for his novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings
- Dr. Ibram X. Kendi: Leading historian and antiracist scholar, the founding director of Howard University’s Institute for Advanced Study, and the acclaimed author of Stamped from the Beginning and How to Be an Antiracist. He is also a MacArthur Fellow and was named one of Time’s 100 most influential people.
- Glory Edim: Founder of Well-Read Black Girl, a podcast and digital literacy platform that celebrates the uniqueness of Black literature and sisterhood, edited the Well-Read Black Girl anthology which was named a best book of the year by Library Journal, and the winner of the Innovator’s Award from the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes
- Justin Ellis: Journalist and co-owner of Defector, a worker-owned media company. His work has appeared at ESPN, the Atlantic, The New York Times, Boston Globe and GQ. His TV credits include the Netflix docuseries How to Fix a Drug Scandal and Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas on HBO. He is the GLAAWC Cleveland Langston Hughes Literary Keynote.
- Nell Irvin Painter: Acclaimed historian and author of books including the New York Times bestseller The History of White People; Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol; and the National Book Critics Circle Award finalist Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over. The Great Lakes African American Writers Conference 2026 Alice Dunbar Nelson Lifetime Achievement Winner and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards 2026 Lifetime Achievement Winner
- & the full Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards Class of 2026 – Gbenga Adesina, Bench Ansfield, Sarah Aziza, and Carrie R. Moore
With a full lineup of over 20+ author talks, poetry readings, publishing panels, and more, Cleveland Book Fest has grown into some of the most ambitious literary programming happening in our nation.
From the literary night of the year to the nation’s largest free writing conference, there are so many events to choose from this September. With over three dozen visiting authors, Cleveland Book Fest will have something for every genre lover.
Pulling on Literary Cleveland’s 2026 Inkubator theme—freedom is a community—this guide to Cleveland Book Fest showcases the power of Northeast Ohio’s literary community to come together and bring some of the world’s boldest thinkers to Cleveland. We hope during this month-long celebration of renowned literary voices, you discover the power of the pen and the boundless possibilities of literature.
To learn more about Cleveland Book Fest and to see the full schedule of events, visit clevelandbookfest.com.