Jax Book Fest

We are looking for local authors who have published books for children and/or teen readers to participate in Jax Book Fest 2025: Young Reader's Day.

Are you an aspiring author? Thinking about self-publishing? Need tips for marketing your work? Want to learn how to get your book on the library's shelves? Get help writing, publishing, and marketing your book with free workshops at the Library!

We are pleased to welcome creative writer, scholar, oral history storyteller, and performing artist Dr. Kitty Oliver to Jax Book Fest "Writer's Day" for a thought-provoking, entertaining journey through the complexities of collecting, writing, and preserving the stories and histories of marginalized communities today. Her appearance is also part of the Library's project to grow the African American History Collection and its digital Community Archive. All are funded by a $1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation.

In addition to her Junior Lit Chat Author Talk on Saturday, September 21, our Jax Book Fest 2024 featured children's book author, Vashti Harrison, will lead a 90-minute hands-on workshop on Friday, September 20, during "Writer's Day" for aspiring children's book authors and illustrators.  

International Book Award winner Sohrab Homi Fracis leads a special workshop for aspiring authors during Jax Book Fest "Writer's Day" on Friday, September 20, on identity and place in immigrant fiction.

Taryn "LoveReigns" Wharwood is a multifaceted creative force, renowned for her roles as a poet, writer, author, emcee, motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and curator. Affectionately known as Love, she has become a catalyst for empowering performers, artists, and entertainers within her community. She joins us for "Writer's Day" at Jax Book Fest 2024 this September to share her insights into the transformative power of poetry, highlighting its ability to connect people on a deeper level and foster empathy and understanding. 

The Library's biggest celebration of authors, books, and writing is back! Jax Book Fest returns September 20-21 to the Main Library in downtown Jacksonville featuring a Lit Chat Interview with Gabrielle Zevin on Saturday, September 21 from 2 - 3 p.m. Gabrielle Zevin is a #1 New York Times bestselling novelist whose books have been translated into forty languages. Her tenth novel, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, was a New York Times bestseller, a Sunday Times bestseller, and a selection of the Tonight Show’s Fallon Book Club.

The Library's biggest celebration of authors, books, and writing is back! Jax Book Fest returns September 20-21 to the Main Library in downtown Jacksonville featuring a Teen Lit Chat Interview with Jason Reynolds, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many award-winning books, including Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks, All American Boys (with Brendan Kiely), Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (with Ibram X. Kendi), Stuntboy, in the Meantime (illustrated by Raúl the Third), and Ain’t Burned All the Bright (with artwork by Jason Griffin).

Jax Book Fest returns September 20-21 to the Main Library in downtown Jacksonville with the #1 New York Times bestselling creator of Big, Little Leaders, Little Dreamers, and Little Legends and the illustrator of Andrea Beaty's I Love You Like Yellow, Matthew Cherry’s Hair Love, and Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic’s Hello, Star, among others. She received a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor for Lupita Nyong’o’s Sulwe and is also a two-time recipient of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Children.

Are you an aspiring author? Thinking about self-publishing? Need tips for marketing your work? Learn how to get your book on the library's shelves and more! Get help writing, publishing, and marketing your own book with free workshops at the Library! There are two Writer's Lab workshops in August with our friends from the Authors Roundtable of Northeast Florida. Plus, information about this year's Jax Book Fest: Writer's Day is now live on our blog and events calendar. Save your seat now!