What to expect at the 2025 Louisiana Book Festival

BATON ROUGE, La. — The 21st annual Louisiana Book Festival is set for Saturday, November 1, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown Baton Rouge's Capitol Park with events in the State Library of Louisiana, Capitol Park Museum, Bienville Building, and the surrounding area. More than 230 authors and presenters, ranging from best-selling award winners to authors making their debut, will participate in panel discussions, programs, and book signings at the state’s signature literary event.

“The Louisiana Book Festival is always a highlight of our state’s fall events calendar,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “Each year the State Library assembles a great lineup that celebrates Louisiana authors as well as those on the national stage. There is truly something for everyone at this year’s event and we look forward to welcoming thousands of book lovers to Baton Rouge this weekend.”

The festival will kick off a full day of programs and activities at 9 a.m. on the steps of the State Library of Louisiana with a celebration of the library’s 100th anniversary. State Librarian Meg Placke, Library of Congress Historian John Cole, and former State Librarian Thomas Jaques will open the event with a commemoration of the agency’s role and impact on Louisiana education, literacy, and civic engagement since its founding in 1925. A special exhibition that chronicles the history of the State Library will be on display in its front lobby during the festival.

Another highlight is the presentation of the Louisiana Writer Award, given this year to celebrated poet and educator Julie Kane at a special ceremony in the State Library’s Seminar Center beginning at noon. Kane will also be featured with a follow-up conversation moderated by former Louisiana Poet Laureate Alison Pelegrin and will present one of the festival’s WordShops seminars the day before the festival.

Other festival highlights include:

• More than 120 book talks and panels featuring short stories, humor writing, memoirs, suspense, poetry, children’s books, young adult books, horror, Louisiana history, and more. Featured authors will include 7-time New York Times bestselling novelist Wally Lamb, Grammy Award-winning Louis Armstrong biographer Ricky Riccardi, #1 international bestselling novelist Julie Clark, Louisiana Readers’ Choice Award-winning authors, and dozens of renowned Louisiana-based writers.
• The Young Readers Pavilion and Teen HQ with activities and award-winning authors. There will also be food vendors and a wide variety of book-related activities and over 100 exhibitors.
  
  
• The festival’s popular One Book, One Festival discussion group featuring a trio of short stories by renowned 19th century Louisiana author Kate Chopin. Attendees are invited to read Chopin’s "At the 'Cadian Ball" and "La Belle Zoraïde" from Bayou Folk, and "Athenaise" from A Night in Acadie and join the scholar-led discussion.
• Cooking demonstrations with cookbook authors, including Marcelle Bienvenu, author of Who’s Your Mama, Are You Catholic, and Can You Make a Roux, and Celeste Gill, author of Chef Celeste’s Louisiana Kitchen: Simplifying Cajun and Creole Cuisine.
• A full day of poetry programs includes two panels featuring 12 Louisiana poets hosted by Louisiana Poet Laureate Gina Ferrara. She will also participate in two special poetry exchanges with Louisiana’s previous Poet Laureate Alison Pelegrin, and New York State Poet Laureate Kimiko Hahn. Attendees can also take home free personalized poems composed on the spot in the lobby of the State Library using antique typewriters.
• Contributors from Hurricanes Katrina & Rita at 20: An Anthology of Louisiana Poetry with Art will be featured in a special panel discussion. The work served as a forum for published and emerging poets and nine Louisiana artists to share art and poems of their experiences, feelings, and reflections of Katrina and Rita.
  
  
• A public library roundup featuring bookmobiles and public libraries from around Louisiana.
  
  
• The last Cadillac that Governor Jimmy Davis owned.

Registration is still open for the festival’s WordShops seminars. These three-hour writing workshops will be held Friday, October 31, at the State Library. The courses are open to writers of all levels of experience with each focusing on a different topic, ranging from creative writing techniques to the business of writing. Registration for each WordShop is $50; for anyone attending both a morning and an afternoon WordShop session, the cost is $90. To register, visit the WordShops webpage or call (225) 219-9503.

For complete details on the 2025 Louisiana Book Festival, a schedule of events, and featured authors and titles, visit LouisianaBookFestival.org and follow us on the Louisiana Book Festival Facebook page.

All featured titles will be available for purchase in the book tent run by Cavalier House Books of Denham Springs and Lafayette. T-shirts, mugs, pins, stickers, and other merchandise featuring the festival artwork will be on sale.

The Louisiana Center for the Book was established in the State Library of Louisiana in 1994. Its mission is to stimulate public interest in reading, books, literacy, and libraries and to celebrate Louisiana’s rich literary heritage. It is the official state affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book.

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