Utah Humanities Book Festival
Photo: Zadie Smith and Michael Chabon in conversation about human values at the Utah Humanities Book Festival and the Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah. Image courtesy of the Tanner Humanities Center.
The 2023 Utah Humanities Book Festival
Join us for the 26th Annual Utah Humanities Book Festival during October's National Book Month.
Our 2023 Utah Humanities Book Festival marks 26 years of improving Utah communities through reading, literature, and conversations with authors and each other. We look forward to celebrating with you!
As our annual statewide celebration of literature, we work with partners in many Utah communities. Organizations across the state will again host book festival events featuring both national and local authors, in both in-person and virtual formats. As always, participants will engage with authors in new, creative, and meaningful ways that are designed to connect readers, authors, and communities.
If you have any questions, please contact Kase Johnstun at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 801.359.9670.
Digital Program
This year's digital program is in production, so stay tuned!
New Podcast
As part of this year's Book Festival, we are launching a new literary-focused podcast. We'll be adding episodes soon!
Utah Humanities Book Festival:
A Lasting Legacy
The Annual Utah Humanities Book Festival is Utah’s oldest and only statewide book festival and has become Utah’s signature literary event. Each year, the festival is a chance for book lovers of all types to enjoy some great, free-of-charge literary events at locations throughout Utah.
Since 1998, we've inspired Utah communities by offering the state's largest annual book festival. Our inaugural festival, known then as The Great Salt Lake Book Festival was a one-day event featuring 30 authors at Westminster College. Twenty years later, our annual Utah Humanities Book Festival is now a month-long celebration in October's National Book Month. We've grown to scores of events in communities throughout the state, and consistently feature many relevant authors. We've expanded our reach by partnering with libraries, community centers, cultural organizations, and more to serve upwards of 12,000 Utahns every fall.
Each year, we hear very personal stories about how an author or book has generated conversation, insight, and understanding. We hear about communities coming together and collectively immersing in books of all types - everything from historical fiction to comedy to poetry. We listen to individuals talk about how their personal or professional lives were affected in life-changing ways by talking with an author who inspired them. We hear about how we've helped to improve Utah communities through books, reading, and the resulting conversations . . . in short, through the humanities.
Many thanks to the Book Festival’s sponsors: The George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation, the Salt Lake City Arts Council, Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts & Parks Fund, Weber County RAMP, the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, The King’s English Bookshop, Weller Book Works, Under the Umbrella Bookstore, The Book Bungalow, the B.W. Bastian Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, ESRR Endowments, the Salt Lake Tribune, and SLUG Magazine.
