2025 Salem Literary Festival Registration

The 2025 Salem Lit Fest is September 3-7.

Sign up for as many sessions as you like!

Wednesday, September 3—In person
7:00 p.m. Kickoff with Allegra Goodman, Isola @ North Shore CDC, 96 Lafayette St 2nd floor 

Thursday, September 4—Online only
7:00 p.m. Virtual Keynote with Lev Grossman

Friday, September 5—at House of Seven Gables, 115 Derby Street
6–8:00 p.m. Enduring Hawthorne performances and open mic 
Separate Registration Required—click here!

Saturday, September 6—In person
Children’s Lit Fest*—Community Life Center, 401 Bridge Street, 10:00 a.m. – noon
    Sensory Friendly Story Time 9:00–9:30 a.m.—CLC, Room 201 (2nd floor)
    Story Time 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.; Crafts, snacks & book signings 11:00–noon—CLC 
       Great Room
      *Self-guided Story Walk in the Peabody Essex Museum's Ropes Mansion garden will be open September 4 – 7.

General Sessions— 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at Ames Hall, 290 Essex Street
10:00 AM: Micro Marvels: Tiny Works of Literary Art from Molecule and Five Minutes
11:30 AM: Cooking the Books: Cookbook Authors from Concept to Cookbook
1:00 PM: Conflict, Camaraderie, and Comedy: Mothers & Daughters in Contemporary Fiction
2:30 PM: Top Secret: Mid-century Historical Fiction
4:00 p.m. Write Away: Fiction on Vacation

Evening YA Sessions
5:30 p.m. Get Swoony in Salem with YA Romance @ Cinema Salem, 1 E India Square Mall
7:00 p.m. Fantasy with Teeth (and Romance!) @ St. Peter’s–San Pedro Episcopal Church,
    24 St. Peter Street

Sunday, September 7—In person
@ Sophia Gordon Center at Salem State University, 352 Lafayette Street

1:00 p.m. Sun. Saving Civilization: True World War II Stories
     with Michelle Young and Doug Most

3:00 p.m. One Book, One Salem—Cemetery of Untold Stories 
     In conversation: Julia Alvarez and Dr. Keja Valens