The Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on fairs, festivals, and other industry meetings both in the U.S. and abroad last year, and the outlook for the second half of 2021 remains in flux. But with the waning of the pandemic and increased vaccinations around the United States and the world, numerous book festivals are returning with live events this July and August.
Notably, many of the live U.S. events focus on genre work in comics, mystery, and romance. Among the biggest events will be Bouchercon, which will be held live in New Orleans this August 25-29 under the motto “blood on the bayou,” and where Michael Connelly will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. On the international stages, July will see the return of the Hong Kong International Book fair and the Bogota International Book Fair.
Still, many of the forthcoming industry events remain in flux. PW will continue to provide a two-month look ahead at conferences, listing only those events whose plans are firm at the time of publication.
January
ALA Midwinter Meeting, online, January 22–26
Albuquerque Comic Con, Albuquerque, N.Mex., January 15–17
Angoulême International Comics Festival, Angoulême, France, hybrid, January 28–31
AniMore Anime Con, Baltimore, Md., canceled
Cairo International Book Fair, Cairo, Egypt, postponed to June 30–July 15
Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, Dubai, U.A.E., January 29–February 13
International Kolkata Book Fair, Kolkata, India, postponed
Jaipur Literature Festival, Jaipur, India, online, January 28–February 1
Taipei International Book Exhibition, Taipei, Taiwan, January 26–31
February
ABA Winter Institute, online, February 18–20
Amelia Island Book Festival, Amelia Island, Fla., canceled
AniMangaPOP, Plymouth, U.K., postponed to 2022
Foire du Livre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium, postponed
Latvia Book Fair, Riga, Latvia, postponed to May 7–9
PubWest, online, February 2–4
San Francisco Writers Conference, San Francisco, postponed to 2022
San Miguel Writers Conference, online events, October 2020–March 2021
Savannah Book Festival, planning online events
Vilnius Book Fair, Vilnius, Lithuania, postponed to May 6–9
March
AWP Conference & Bookfair, March 3–7
Chicago Humanities Festival, Chicago, ongoing
Left Coast Crime, San Diego, Calif., postponed to 2022
Lehigh Valley Book Festival, Lehigh Valley, Pa., March 26–May 1
Moscow Non/Fiction Book Fair, Moscow, March 24–28 (in-person)
New Delhi World Book Fair, New Delhi, March 6–9
North Texas Teen Book Festival, Irving, Tex., March 6
Palm Beach Book Festival, Palm Beach, Fla., March 19–20
SleuthFest, Boca Raton, Fla., March 19–21
South by Southwest, Austin, Tex., March 16–20
Southern Kentucky Book Fest, Bowling Green, Ky., postponed to 2022
Tech Forum and E-bookcraft, Toronto (events in March and April)
Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, New Orleans, March 24–28
Tucson Festival of Books, Tucson, Ariz., March 6–7
Virginia Festival of the Book, Charlottesville, Va., March 13–26
WonderCon, Los Angeles, March 26–28
The Write Stuff Writers Conference, Bethlehem, Pa., March 25–28
April
Alabama Book Festival, Montgomery, Ala., dates to be announced
Bangkok Book Fair, Bangkok, April 17–22 (in-person)
Book Lovers Con, Nashville, postponed to December
Eurasian International Book Fair, Astana, Kazakhstan, April 21–25 (in-person)
Geneva Book and Press Fair, Geneva, Switzerland, April 28–May 2 (canceled)
IBPA Publishing University, Redondo Beach, Calif., April 7–10
L.A. Times Festival of Books, Los Angeles, April 17–23
Newburyport Literary Festival, Newburyport, Mass., April 23–25
Norwescon, SeaTac, Wash., April 1–4
Quebec International Book Fair, Quebec City, Canada, April 7–11
San Antonio Book Festival, San Antonio, Tex., April 9–11
Texas Library Association Conference, Houston, April 22–24
YALLWest Book Festival, Santa Monica, Calif., April 24
July
ThrillerFest, New York City, June 28-July 10 (virtual)
Malice Domestic, Bethesda, Md., July 14–17 (virtual)
Hong Kong Book Fair, Hong Kong, July 14-20 (in-person)
Writer’s Digest Conference, New York City, July 22-24 (virtual)
Comic-Co@Home, San Diego, Calif., Jul. 23–25 (virtual)
PoetryFest, New York City, July 24-25 (in-person)
August
Romance GenreCon, Kansas City, Mo., Aug. 3-5 (virtual)
Romance Slam Jam, Norfolk, Va., Aug 4–8 (virtual)
Atlanta Comic Convention, Atlanta, Aug. 6–8 (in-person)
Otakon, Washington, D.C., Aug. 6–8 (in-person)
Bogotá International Book Fair, Bogotá, Colombia, Aug 9–23 (in-person)
Writers at Woody Point, Woody Point, Newfoundland, Canada, 17-22 (in-person)
Killer Nashville, Nashville, Aug. 19–22 (in-person)
Mississippi Book Festival, Jackson, Miss., Aug. 21 (in-person)
Beijing International Book Fair, Beijing, China, Aug. 25–28 (hybrid)
Bouchercon, New Orleans, August 25-29 (in-person)
Ghana International Book Fair, Accra, Ghana, Aug. 26–29 (TBD)
This article has been updated with further information. No updates were made to this piece for May and June.
