PITTSBURGH, PA (March 2025) – The Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books will turn a new page this year, with an exciting change of venue to Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s historic Main library in Oakland for its fourth annual Festival on May 31, 2025.
The location change marks a poignant moment in Pittsburgh’s literary history, which dates as far back as 1895 when Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh became one of the first public libraries established by industrialist Andrew Carnegie. It now serves close to 3 million patrons a year in its 20 locations across the city, welcoming all neighbors to unlock knowledge, discover new passions and form connections.
As the presenting sponsor of the Festival, the Library serves as a natural home for an event fit for celebrating the love of reading and storytelling in all its forms. The free 2025 Festival will feature over 100 authors and poets across all genres, offering something for everyone, and a diverse lineup of panels, workshops and hands-on activities.
Confirmed headlining programs includes:
- Rachel Khong, author of Goodbye, Vitamin, will speak on her newest release and New York Times bestseller, Real Americans.
- Torrey Peters, award-winning author of Detransition, Baby, will speak on her forthcoming release, Stag Dance.
- Grammy Award-winning artist Judy Collins will read from her new poetry collection, Sometimes, Its Heaven: Poems of Loss, Love and Redemption, sponsored by The International Poetry Forum, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit which recently re-established its world-renowned influence on the art after a 14-year hiatus.
Convening book lovers to help literacy flourish
The event’s new location also underscores the Festival and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s collective mission to foster literacy among readers of all ages.
Research from the National Center for Education Statistics hightlights many opportunities for continued growth in literacy across Pennsylvania in children and adults.
Andrew Medlar, president and director of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, says the Festival and other Library initiatives spearheaded under his leadership play an important role in achieving that by expanding access to experiences that nurture people’s natural curiosities.
“People deserve access to the tools and resources needed to unlock their potential,” said Medlar. “By bringing the Festival into our space, we can welcome even more neighbors to experience the joy of this great literary tradition and reinforce the role books and libraries play in people’s daily lives – in a whole new way.”
Registration information and schedule of events, including featured authors and activities, for the 2025 Festival will be announced later this spring. To learn more about the Festival, visit: PittsburghBookFestival.org.
ABOUT THE GREATER PITTSBURGH FESTIVAL OF BOOKS
The Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books is a nonprofit initiative committed to nurturing, celebrating and sharing Pittsburgh’s vibrant literary community with the greater region. With a strong emphasis on inclusion and eliminating barriers to literacy, the festival is free for all and includes programming across several genres and age groups. The Festival held in 2024 gathered locally and nationally renowned authors, poets, publishers, bookstores and thousands of registrants and more at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Learn more at PittsburghBookFestival.org and follow us on Instagram @pghbookfest and our Facebook page: Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books.
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Fostering Literacy, Enabling Exploration and Creating Connections with All Our Neighbors.
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh supports individual and collective achievement, access to knowledge, and a sense of joy and belonging. With the community’s investment, the Library is enhancing the lives of people in the greater Pittsburgh region with dynamic and diverse collections and resources such as creative learning programs for children and teens, job and career assistance for our community’s workforce, and free computer and Internet access for all. Through community connections, responsive services, regional cooperation and organizational excellence, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is positively impacting the lives of our neighbors.
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