2026 West Virginia Book Festival Slated For Saturday

West Virginia Book Festival organizers estimate nearly 4,000 people visit the festival each year, held Oct. 24 at the at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center this year.  

Sarah Mitchell, co-chair of the festival and assistant director for Kanawha County Public Library, said it is an opportunity for people to meet nationally best-selling authors and also an opportunity to promote local authors on a national scale.     

Saturday’s lineup includes award-winning children’s horror writer R. L. Stine, nonfiction author Margot Lee Shetterley and New York Times bestselling historical novelist Kate Quinn. A full schedule of events is available at https://www.wvbookfestival.org/  

“(Stine) has been an inspiration for generations in introducing people to horror, but also comedy of his books,” Mitchell said. “I think it is just awesome to see the generations he’s touched, and that he’s coming to the West Virginia Book Festival, and he wants to be here this weekend in our state.”  

Local authors are also well represented by the inclusion of mystery author and West Virginia native Craig Johnson, and local author and illustrator Rosalie Haizlett. 

“Local authors were able to submit program proposals, and we selected the best of the best, and they get to present on different topics in our area. Some of them are presenting on their book, some of them are presenting on their writing process, and then they get to sell their book afterwards,” she said. “In addition to that, we have the marketplace, which has 45 vendors that will be selling their books. They include publishing companies that are based in West Virginia. They include those local authors, and they also include community partners that are just sharing resources for our community.” 

Mitchell said there is fun for the whole family in what she sees as a celebration of literature. 

“As a librarian, I love that we are just celebrating the written word, and everyone has a piece of it that they get to enjoy when they come to the book festival,” Mitchell said. “We have something for kids, we have something for the readers, we have people that are the inspiring authors that get to attend writing workshops, and I just enjoy that all these people love the book.”  

The festival hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. and admission is free. There is also a used book sale for visitors that goes to support the Kanawha County Public Library.  

“If they’re going to the used book sale, I do recommend bringing a wagon because that way you can load up as much as you need to bring back to your car and take home,” Mitchell said. 

Note: West Virginia Public Broadcasting is a sponsor of the West Virginia Book Festival.