Authors at the Library

Authors at the Library
We’re bringing you face-to-face with authors you love and up-and-coming authors working in a wide variety of genres. You’ll get first looks at new books and just might discover your next favorite author!
Don’t miss out! Visit this page for updates, sign up here for our Check It Out emails and follow us on social media.
Mary Robinette Kowal
and John Scalzi
Sunday, March 23 | 2 p.m.
Main Library | Reading Room
Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of The Martian Contingency, the fourth book in her acclaimed Lady Astronaut series. She is also the author of The Glamourist Histories series, Ghost Talkers, The Spare Man.

John Scalzi is the author of Old Man’s War, his debut novel that won him the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His New York Times bestsellers include The Last Colony, Fuzzy Nation among others. When the Moon Hits Your Eye is his newest book.
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Vashti Harrison
Saturday, April 5 | 11 a.m.
Main Library | Reading Room
Vashti Harrison is the New York Times bestselling creator of Big, which was awarded the 2024 Caldecott Medal, a Coretta Scott King Book Award Author Honor as well as Illustrator Honor. Harrison is also the #1 New York Times bestselling creator of Little Leaders, Little Dreamers and Little Legends and illustrator of Lupita Nyong’o’s Sulwe, Matthew A. Cherry’s Hair Love, Andrea Beaty’s I Love You Like Yellow and Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic’s Hello, Star, among others. Harrison is also a two-time recipient of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Children.
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This program is made possible by Battelle, whose gift to the Columbus Metropolitan Library Foundation helps make it possible for us to host additional author talks for kids and teens.
Nora Neus
Friday, April 11 | 4 p.m.
South High Branch
Nora Neus is an Emmy-nominated producer, author and freelance journalist with bylines in CNN, The Guardian, Teen Vogue, VICE News, POLITICO Magazine, The Washington Post and more. Her YA historical fiction graphic novel, Renegade Girls: A Queer Tale of Romance and Rabble-Rousing, is a swoon-worthy queer romance set against a riveting story of social change in the 1880’s.
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This program is made possible by Battelle, whose gift to the Columbus Metropolitan Library Foundation helps make it possible for us to host additional author talks for kids and teens.
Loung Ung
Tuesday, April 15 | 6 p.m.
Main Library | Auditorium
Loung Ung was five when Khmer Rouge soldiers forced her family from their home during a mass evacuation. By 1978, the regime had killed her parents and two siblings, and she was trained as a child soldier before being reunited with living family after the war. Ung will sign her bestselling memoir, First They Killed My Father, following the talk. Register now to reserve your free copy.

You must be present at the event to receive a book.
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Presented in collaboration with and funded by the Ohio Holocaust and Genocide Memorial and Education Commission.
Past Author Events

Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries: Saturday, Jan. 25
Author and history professor at The Ohio State University, Jeffries regularly shares his knowledge of African American history and contemporary Black politics through lectures, workshops, op-eds and interviews. 

Lisa Genova: Sunday, Jan. 26
Acclaimed as the Oliver Sacks of fiction and the Michael Crichton of brain science, Genova is the New York Times bestselling author of Still Alice, adapted into an Oscar-winning film.

Amber McBride: Friday, Jan. 31
McBride’s debut young adult novel, Me (Moth) was a finalist for the National Book Award and won the 2022 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent.

An Evening with Rick Steves: Thursday, Feb. 20 (Wexner Mershon Auditorium)
Presented by 12 central Ohio library systems: Bexley, Columbus, Delaware, Grandview Heights, Granville, London, Marysville, Plain City, Southwest, Upper Arlington, Westerville and Worthington.

Rick Steves
An Evening with Rick Steves
Thursday, Feb. 20 | 7 p.m.
Mershon Auditorium | 1871 N. High St.
Join popular travel writer and public television host Rick Steves as he recalls adventures from his new book On The Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer, which features curated and transcribed journal entries and stunning photographs chronicling his 1978 journey on the famed Hippie Trail, a 3,000-mile trek from Istanbul to Kathmandu.
Presented by 12 central Ohio library systems: Bexley, Columbus, Delaware, Grandview Heights, Granville, London, Marysville, Plain City, Southwest, Upper Arlington, Westerville and Worthington.
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Tickets will be sold through Ticketmaster starting Friday, Dec. 20 at 10 a.m.
Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries
Saturday, Jan. 25 | 10:30 a.m.
Main Library | Reading Room

A passionate, curious crowd filled the Reading Room on Jan. 25 to hear Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries’ talk, “How Did We Get Here? (Re)Building Community.” Dr. Jeffries explored the ways our society has interacted with racism and its effects throughout history. 

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This program was made possible, in part, by Ohio Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Lisa Genova
Sunday, Jan. 26 | 2 p.m.
Main Library | Reading Room

On Jan. 26, eager Lisa Genova fans gathered to hear about her newest book and the experience of writing fiction as a neuroscientist. Genova shared stories from her career, celebrated being the No. 1 bestseller in Canada and dropped tantalizing hints about upcoming casting for her book’s screen adaptation.

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Amber McBride
Friday, Jan. 31 | 10 a.m.
Main Library | Reading Room

Hundreds of high school students and other readers gathered on Jan. 31 to hear from award-winning author Amber McBride. She talked about weaving the rich tradition of storytelling into her books and spent a generous amount of time answering questions from young readers. 

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This program is made possible by Battelle, whose gift to the Columbus Metropolitan Library Foundation helps make it possible for us to host additional author talks for kids and teens.
Main Library is at 96 S. Grant Ave., Columbus, OH 43215
Don’t miss the Columbus Book Festival July 12-13

Celebrating a Community of Book Lovers
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* Battelle’s generous gift to the Columbus Metropolitan Library Foundation helps make it possible for the library to host additional author talks for kids and teens.

*Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Ohio Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.