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
Diana Khoi Nguyen
Kassia Krone
Saturday
Cameron Barnett
Sherrie Flick
Cynthia Kadohata
Billie R. Tadros and Elias Kerr
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.
To get the most out of LitFest at the convention, we encourage you to purchase books by our featured writers in advance via Bookshop.org or White Whale Bookstore, our convention partner. White Whale Bookstore is an independently owned bookstore in Pittsburgh that celebrates varied communities through literature. Reading ahead will help you engage more deeply in the craft-focused sessions our authors will be offering, allowing you to ask thoughtful questions and apply their insights to your own writing and creative efforts. Plus, having a copy on hand is a great way to follow along with discussions, reference key ideas, and take advantage of book signing opportunities!
Book Club Quick Kits
Cameron Barnett
Clare Beams
Sherrie Flick
Cynthia Kadohata
Kassia Krone
Diana Khoi Nguyen
Billie R. Tadros and Elias Kerr