Author Events

Did you know we have the biggest, number one author event series in the country? Each month the St. Louis County Library Foundation brings bestselling and award-winning authors from a variety of genres to the library, offering readers exclusive opportunities to meet and engage with their favorite writers.

Unless otherwise noted, all events are free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Seating is limited; early arrival is highly recommended. Books for signing will be available for purchase at the events. For more information, please call 314-994-3300.

Ticketed Events      April Events     May Events     June Events

By Audience
By Date
Jane Smiley - "Lucky" book cover and color author photo

Jane Smiley

St. Louis native and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “A Thousand Acres” and many other beloved novels, Jane Smiley returns to her roots with a soaring, soulful novel about a folk musician from St. Louis. Through a combination of hard work and serendipity, Jodie Rattler’s singing career catapulted her from St. Louis to New York City, to the heights of fame, and back again. Jodie comes of age in recording studios and on tour, and she tries to hold her own in the wake of Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, and Joni Mitchell. Yet it always feels like something is missing. Shot through with longing and exuberance, romance and rock 'n' roll, “Lucky” is a story of the grit and glitter of real talent, a colorful portrait of one woman's journey in search of herself.

Thursday, April 25, 2024
7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
Grant's View Branch
Sally Hepworth - "Darling Girls" book cover and color author photo

Sally Hepworth

Bestselling author Sally Hepworth returns with a thriller about sisterhood, secrets, and murder. For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls they were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a “loving” foster mother, Miss Fairchild. But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild. Even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?

Monday, April 29, 2024
7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
The J
Amor Towles - "Table for Two" book cover and color author photo

SOLD OUT–Ticketed Event: Amor Towles

St. Louis County Library Foundation and The Novel Neighbor Present An Evening with Bestselling Novelist Amor Towles, Author of “Table for Two: Fictions.” Presented in Partnership with Washington University. Wednesday, May 1, 7:00 p.m. Tickets on sale March 8 at 9:00 a.m.

Wednesday, May 1, 2024
7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Skip Viragh Center for the Arts at Chaminade
Bakari Sellers - "The Moment" book cover and color author photo

Bakari Sellers

CNN analyst and former South Carolina State Representative, Bakari Sellers offers a fresh examination of the modern political landscape and offers solutions for a better tomorrow. Following up on his bestselling book, “My Vanishing Country,” Sellers examines inequities in healthcare, education, early childhood education, and policing: all issues that deeply impact the lives of millions of African Americans in communities across the nation. This thoughtful and practical work is a timely meditation on the state of our world today and how we can all play a part in making it better for tomorrow.

Thursday, May 2, 2024
7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Ethical Society of St. Louis
Jeneva-Rose - "Home Is Where the Bodies Are" book cover and color author photo

Jeneva Rose

Bestselling author Jeneva Rose presents a chilling family thriller about the (sometimes literal) skeletons in the closet. After their mother passes, three estranged siblings reunite to sort out her estate. They stumble upon a collection of home videos and decide to revisit those happier memories. However, the nostalgia is cut short when one of the tapes reveals a night none of them can remember. On screen: their father covered in blood and their parents plotting to hide a body. The siblings must now decide if they should uncover the dark secret their mother took to her grave.

Tuesday, May 7, 2024
7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Grant's View Branch
Erik Larson - "The Demon of Unrest" book cover and color author photo

Ticketed Event: Erik Larson

#1 bestselling historian Erik Larson brings to life a simmering crisis that tore a deeply divided nation in two. Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Fort Sumter—a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals.

Thursday, May 9, 2024
7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center