A literary celebration is coming to San Diego. More than 40 award-winning authors are participating in interactive panel sessions and book signings at the inaugural San Diego Book Festival taking place on Saturday, August 23, 2025, 10am - 4pm, on the University of San Diego campus.
The new KPBS San Diego Book Festival will bring locals of all ages together around a shared love of books, learning, and literacy. This event will feature panel discussions, a children's exploration area with activities, live entertainment, and exhibitors including local authors and independent booksellers. The event is open to the public and general admission is free. Some author sessions have a nominal fee to reserve a seat where space is limited. Anticipated attendance is 4,000.
The featured authors write in a variety of genres including children’s picture books, young adult, fantasy, romance, graphic novels, historical and thriller.
Participating authors include:
Headliners
Larry Charles
Stacey Abrams
Ziggy Marley
Local San Diego Authors
Andrea Zuill
Bahar Davary
Devin Elle Kurtz
Elizabeth DeLozier
Emily Reimer-Barry
Evelyn Diaz Cruz
Georganne Irvine
Jonathan Bowman
Mac Crane
Malachi Black
María Dolores Águila
Martha Barnette
Martin Repinecz
Minh Le
Nancy Goldstone
Rebecca Ingram
Sally Pla
Susan Lee
Susie Ghahremani
Authors are being announced each week. Visit the San Diego Book Festival website to see more information about the authors.
The event is made possible by presenting sponsor University of San Diego. "The University of San Diego deeply values literacy, critical thinking, and the enduring power of the written word. At a time when artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming how we communicate and consume information, hosting the KPBS San Diego Book Festival on our campus offers a vital opportunity for our community to come together—to celebrate books, to engage with authors, including several from USD, and to reflect on the importance of storytelling in preserving human connection and understanding,” says Noelle Norton, PhD, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at University of San Diego.
The San Diego Union-Tribune previously hosted the San Diego Festival of Books for many years. KPBS chose to continue the tradition with its own spin on the event.
“Creating the San Diego Book Festival was a natural extension of our One Book, One San Diego program, now in its 19th year. KPBS has had a long-standing commitment to literacy and believes we build community when we share in reading. I hope people come to the Book Festival ready to discover a new favorite book and leave excited to turn thousands of more pages,” says Jenelle Dean, community engagement manager for KPBS and lead festival planner.
About KPBS San Diego Book Festival:
The San Diego Book Festival is a free, public event for book lovers of all ages. It is produced by KPBS and presented by the University of San Diego. This annual event features panel discussions with award-winning authors, activities, live entertainment, exhibitors including local authors and independent booksellers, a youth reading stage and exploration area and more. For more information visit kpbs.org/sdbookfestival.
Support for the 2025 festival is provided by presenting sponsor the University of San Diego and premier sponsor Bright Event Rentals. Additional sponsors are Broadway San Diego, Lloyd Pest Control, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Press, San Diego County Library, AuthorHouse Kids, HandsOn San Diego, US Bank, San Diego Theatres and Parent Institute for Quality Education.
Media Contact:
Heather Milne Barger
hmilne@kpbs.org
