The 2025 Convention Co-Chairs are excited to launch a new feature for Pittsburgh called LitFest, modeled on popular literary festivals that celebrate writers and literary work. The 2025 Convention will feature two LitFest mini-sessions added to the Friday and Saturday programming to give convention-goers additional opportunities to engage with a variety of authors and professional topics. Some participants in our lineup include Sigma Tau Delta alumni, to further celebrate our convention theme “one of ours.” Other LitFest presenters feature established Pittsburgh writers and professionals with backgrounds in English. To date, the LitFest program looks like this:
Friday
Clare Beams
Ellen Foster
Diana Nguyen
Kassia Krone
Saturday
Sherrie Flick
Cynthia Kadohata
Billie Tadros and Elias Kerr
Adlai Yeomans
Cameron Barnett
To help build enthusiasm for LitFest and encourage you to read the authors we’ll be bringing in, we’re creating a series of Book Club Quick Kits. Like the longer Book Club Kits, these shorter versions are designed for single-event conversations like chapter meetings. They are also intended to spark your interest in reading our speakers’ works. Perhaps these abbreviated Book Club Kits will lead you to organize campus or community service projects and events. They’re also a way for chapters unable to attend convention to participate locally in events inspired by the authors at LitFest. However you use these resources, we hope they’ll help you get to know our guest speakers a little bit better.