LITERARY WOMEN
Celebrating Women Authors Since 1982
Event Information
Date: March 7, 2026
Location: The Long Beach Convention Center 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, California.
Please note: Parking at the Convention Center is $15
Event Schedule
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 7:30 | Registration Opens |
| 7:45 | Doors Open for Seating -Coffee and Book Browsing- |
| 9:00 | Welcome and Announcements -Monica Leff, Chair- |
| 9:15 - 9:55 | BARBARA DEMICK |
| 10:00 - 10:40 | KARISSA CHEN |
| 10:40 - 11;00 | Socializing and Book Browsing |
| 11:05 – 11:45 | BREAKOUT SESSIONS: CLAIRE HOFFMAN (Room 201) NAYANTARA ROY (Room 202) ANAMELY SALGADO-REYES (Room 204) |
| 11:50 – 12:30 | Book Browsing & Autograph Session |
| 12:30– 1:20 | Luncheon in the Ballroom |
| 1:20 – 2:00 | AMANDA PETERS |
| 2:05– 2:45 | RUFI THORPE |
| 2:45 – 2:50 | Final Announcements |
| 2:55 | Book Buying & Autograph Session |
___FESTIVAL OF WOMEN AUTHORS__ MARCH 7, 2026
Karissa Chen
BALLROOM SPEAKER
In her debut novel, Homeseeking, Karissa Chen delivers an epic tale of love, loss, and longing shaped by the Chinese diaspora. The novel follows the lives of Suchi and Haiwen, a couple separated by history and circumstance, through a compelling dual narrative structure—Suchi’s story unfolds chronologically forward, while Haiwen’s moves in reverse. This innovative approach offers a profound exploration of their dreams for the future and the weight of their past decisions.
Visit Karissa Chen’s website ›
Barbara Demick
BALLROOM SPEAKER
American journalist Barbara Demick’s latest work, Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, a True Story, is narrative non-fiction at its best. She brings China’s one-child policy to life with the heartfelt story of twin sisters separated at birth: one growing up in China with her mother, the other with her adoptive family in Texas. She expertly combines rich characters, a thought-provoking subject, and historical facts to produce a gripping and engaging read you will not soon forget.
Visit Barbara Demick’s website ›
Claire Hoffman
BREAKOUT SPEAKER
In Sister, Sinner, author and journalist Claire Hoffman masterfully brings to life the spectacular and intriguing tale of Aimee Semple McPherson, a celebrity evangelist who built a megachurch in Los Angeles in the early part of the 20th century which spread nationally and globally and remains in existence today. Punctuated by family, love, mystery, death, passion, scandal, and politics, this historical biography details McPherson’s vast sphere of influence driven by the power of belief.
Visit Claire Hoffman’s website ›
Amanda Peters
BALLROOM SPEAKER
Written before her award-winning debut novel, The Berry Pickers, Amanda Peters’ collection of short stories, Waiting for the Long Night Moon, was “her writing training wheels.” Her stories in this collection are deeply rooted in the Canadian Indigenous experience. Whether re-imagining a story passed down from her elders or creating a story entirely from her own imagination, Peters explores a broad spectrum in time and place with unflinching honesty and offers a glimpse into the creative brain of a gifted storyteller.
Visit Amanda Peters’s website ›
Nayantara Roy
BREAKOUT SPEAKER
In her sweeping multi-generational debut novel, The Magnificent Ruins, Nyantara Roy brings us the story of Lila De, a young Indian American editor in New York who inherits her family’s sprawling ancestral mansion in Kolkata, India. The inheritance forces her to confront her multi-generational family and particularly brings her face to face with her estranged mother. Lila discovers long-buried secrets, and her own conflicted feelings about her heritage and the two places she calls home.
Visit Nayantara Roy’s website ›
Anamely Salgado Reyes
BREAKOUT SPEAKER
A Mexican-American girl is forced to help her estranged grandmother’s spirit cross over by fulfilling her ornery spirit’s wish that her body be taken back to Mexico. In My Mother Cursed My Name a decade worth of resentment, secrets, generational curses and well-intentioned mistakes threaten to extinguish her private yearning and damage her relationship with her mother. To save themselves, each woman must seek to find the true definition of home.
Visit Anamely Salgado Reyes’s website ›
Rufi Thorpe
BALLROOM SPEAKER
Blisteringly funny and filled with sharp insight, Margo’s Got Money Troubles is a bold, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartwarming story about one young woman’s attempt to navigate adulthood, new motherhood, and her meager bank account in our increasingly online world. Rufi Thorpe has created a tender tale starring an endearing young heroine in a playful and honest examination of the art of storytelling and controlling your own narrative.
Visit Rufi Thorpe’s website ›