Join us for Six Bridges Book Festival 2024!

Schedule of Events:

September 22, 2024

A celebration of Local Authors

2:00pm - 4:30pm
Terry Library
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Literature & Language

Manisha Sinha
6:30pm - 7:30pm
Virtual
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Virtual, Literature & Language, History & Genealogy
Award-winning author Manisha Sinha is the James L. and Shirley A. Draper Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut and the president-elect of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic.

September 23, 2024

Kevin Brokcmeier
5:30pm - 6:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Age group:   Teens ages 12-19  Adults
event type:  Literature & Language
Kevin Brockmeier, an award-winning novelist and short-story writer who has been called one of America's best practitioners of fabulist fiction, has participated in the Six Bridges Book Festival each year since its inception.

Danielle Bayard Jackson
5:30pm - 6:30pm
Fletcher Library - Community Room
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Virtual, Society & Culture, Literature & Language
CALS Community Engagement Coordinator Jessica McDaniel invites you to mingle with friends old and new, enjoy festive refreshments, and learn from friendship coach and educator Danielle Bayard Jackson.

Toluse Olorunnipa
7:00pm - 8:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Age group:   Teens ages 12-19  Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language, History & Genealogy
Author and journalist Toluse "Tolu" Olorunnipa is the White House Bureau Chief of the Washington Post. His Name Is George Floyd, which Olorunnipa co-authored with Robert Samuels, won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction.

Peter Hoey and Maria Hoey
7:00pm - 8:00pm
Virtual
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Virtual, Literature & Language
Trading back and forth from their studios in Northern California and New York, the brother-sister artist team of Peter and Maria Hoey draw for publications of all kinds.

September 24, 2024

Creative Writing Workshop(Jobe)
6:30pm - 8:00pm
Thompson Library
Age group:   Teens ages 12-19  Adults
event type:  Literature & Language
Whether you're an aspiring writer or just interested in how the writing process works, you are invited for a writing workshop hosted by Jobe, programmer with the CALS Writing Circle.

Creative Writing Workshop(Alex Vernon)
6:30pm - 8:00pm
Nixon Library
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Literature & Language, History & Genealogy
Alex Vernon, the M.E. and Ima Graves Peace Distinguished Professor of English at Hendrix College, leads an introductory workshop on Writing Memoir and Personal Essay.

September 25, 2024

Ayana Gray
4:30pm - 5:30pm
Williams Library - Meeting Room
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Literature & Language
Gray, who now lives in Arkansas, is a New York Times bestselling novelist whose critically acclaimed works have been translated into eleven languages across five continents.

Isabel Wilkerson
6:00pm - 7:00pm
Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language, History & Genealogy, Art
Isabel Wilkerson is a trailblazing journalist and author, whose work has earned her numerous accolades, including the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

September 26,2024

Regina Porter
Thursday, September 26: 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Hearne Fine Art/Pyramid Art, Books, & Custom Framing
Age group:   Preschoolers ages 3-5  Pre-teens ages 9-12  Kids ages 6-8  Families  All ages
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language, Art
Regina Porter, a graduate of the MFA program at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, is an award-winning playwright and the author of The Travelers, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel and longlisted for the Orwell Political Fiction Prize.

Carrie Sun and Jasmin Graham
Thursday, September 26: 6:00pm - 7:00pm
 Ron Robinson Theater
Age group:   Teens ages 12-19  Adults
event type:  Small Business & Entrepreneurship, Science & Nature, Literature & Language
Join us for a discussion with authors Carrie Sun (Private Equity) and Jasmin Graham (Sharks Don't Sink).

Nate Powell and Sally Nixon
Thursday, September 26: 7:30pm - 8:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Age group:   Teens ages 12-19  Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language, Art
Join us for the artistic author pairing of Nate Powell (Lies My Teacher Told Me, Fall Through) & Sally Nixon (Let's Go to the Mall: An '80s Seek-and-Find).

September 27, 2024

Kickoff Party
Friday, September 27: 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Music, Literature & Language, Food & Drink
Let's have a Kickoff Party! Food, drinks, fun, and plenty of things Six Bridges. Sponsored by Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and ProSmart Printing

September 28, 2024

Anne Byrn
Saturday, September 28: 10:00am - 11:00am
Williams Library
Age group:   Teens ages 12-19  Adults
event type:  Literature & Language, Food & Drink
Anne Byrn is a New York Times bestselling food writer and cookbook author. She writes the weekly newsletter Between the Layers, one of the top 20 food and drink newsletters worldwide on Substack.


Gwenna Laithland  and Jess H.Gutierrez
Saturday, September 28: 10:00am - 11:00am
UA Little Rock Downtown
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language
Parenting tips, and/or fails, from Gwenna Laithland (Momma Cusses) & Jess H. Gutierrez (A Product of Genetics (and Day Drinking)).

Garrard Conley
Saturday, September 28: 10:00am - 11:00am
Rock It! Lab
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language
Garrard Conley is the New York Times bestselling author of the memoir Boy Erased, as well as the creator and co-producer of the podcast UnErased: The History of Conversion Therapy in America.

Alice Driver and Boyce Upholt
Saturday, September 28: 10:00am - 11:00am
Ron Robinson Theater
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Science & Nature, Literature & Language, History & Genealogy
Discussion with Alice Driver (Life and Death of the American Worker: The Immigrants Taking on America's Largest Meatpacking Company) & Boyce Upholt (The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi).


Crystal Wilkinson
Saturday, September 28: 11:30am - 12:30pm
 Williams Library
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language, Food & Drink
Crystal Wilkinson, Kentucky's Poet Laureate from 2021 to 2023, is the award-winning author of Perfect Black, The Birds of Opulence, Water Street, and Blackberries, Blackberries.

Myrah Ariel and Susie Dumond
Saturday, September 28: 11:30am - 12:30pm
UA Little Rock Downtown
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language
Add a little romance to your like with this joint session of Myah Ariel (When I Think of You) & Susie Dumond (Looking for a Sign).

Debbie Urbanski and Jedediah Berry
Saturday, September 28: 11:30am - 12:30pm
Rock It! Lab
Age group:   Teens ages 12-19  Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language
Join us for a session with Debbie Urbanski (After World) & Jedediah Berry (The Naming Song).

Samuel G.Freedman and Randall Woods
Saturday, September 28: 11:30am - 12:30pm
 Ron Robinson Theater
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language, History & Genealogy
Presidential history in this dual session with Samuel G. Freedman (Into the Bright Sunshine: Young Hubert Humphrey and the Fight for Civil Rights) & Randall Woods (John Quincy Adams: A Man for the Whole People).

Lana Williams(Gardening Workshop)
Saturday, September 28: 1:00pm - 2:00pm
 UA Little Rock Downtown
Age group:   Teens ages 12-19  Adults
event type:  Science & Nature, Literature & Language, Fun & Play
Lana Williams is the owner of the Tender Gardener, a plant shop and design company that opened in 2020 in Oakland, California.

Phyllis R. Dixon, Jen Fawkes, & Margot Livesey
Saturday, September 28: 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Rock It! Lab
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language, History & Genealogy
A can't miss session with Phyllis R. Dixon (A Taste for More), Jen Fawkes (Daughters of Chaos), & Margot Livesey (The Road from Belhaven).

Bettina L. Love
Saturday, September 28: 1:00pm - 2:00pm
 Ron Robinson Theater
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language, History & Genealogy
In the New York Times bestseller Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal, Love serves up a blistering account of four decades of educational reform through the lens of the people who lived it.

Elliott West
Saturday, September 28: 2:30pm - 3:30pm
UA Little Rock Downtown
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language, History & Genealogy
Elliott West, Alumni Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Arkansas, is a specialist in the social and environmental history of the American West and of western Native peoples.

John Vercher & Phillip B. Williams
Saturday, September 28: 2:30pm - 3:30pm
Rock It! Lab
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language, History & Genealogy
Discussion with authors John Vercher (Devil Is Fine) & Phillip B. Williams (Ours).

Eli Cranor & Gabino Iglesias
Saturday, September 28: 2:30pm - 3:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language
Thrills and chills with Eli Cranor (Broiler) & Gabino Iglesias (In House of Bone and Rain).

Kamilah Cole
Saturday, September 28: 4:00pm - 5:00pm
UA Little Rock Downtown
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Literature & Language
A graduate of New York University, Kamilah Cole worked as a writer and entertainment editor at Bustle for four years, and her nonfiction work has appeared in Marie Claire and Seventeen.

Marcela Fuentes & Santiago Jose Sanchez
Saturday, September 28: 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Rock It! Lab
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language, History & Genealogy
Hear emerging voices with Marcela Fuentes (Malas) & Santiago Jose Sanchez (Hombrecito)

Brian Fairbanks & Stephen Koch
Saturday, September 28: 4:00pm - 5:00pm
 Ron Robinson Theater
Age group:   Teens ages 12-19  Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Music, Literature & Language, Art
Let the music speak with Brian Fairbanks (Willie, Waylon, and the Boys: How Nashville Outsiders Changed Country Music Forever) & Stephen Koch (Almeda to Zilphia: Arkansas Women Who Transformed American Popular Song).

Ilyon Woo
Saturday, September 28: 5:30pm - 6:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language
Ilyon Woo is a Pulitzer Prize winning, New York Times bestselling author whose writing has appeared in the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and the New York Times.

September 29, 2024

Little Readers Rock
Sunday, September 29: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Children's Library - Activity Room,Maker Space Lab,Meeting Room,Sunroom,Theatre
Age group:   Teens ages 12-19  Preschoolers ages 3-5  Pre-teens ages 9-12  Kids ages 6-8  Families  Babies & toddlers ages 0-2  All ages  Adults
event type:  Games, Fun & Play, Food & Drink
Little Readers Rock is an outdoor fair featuring games, inflatables, crafts, roving characters, face painting, music, special appearances, book giveaways, crafts, snacks, and activities. Built for the little ones, fun for all!

Pie Contest
Sunday, September 29: 2:00pm - 4:00pm
The Root Café
Age group:   Teens ages 12-19  Families  All ages  Adults
event type:  Fun & Play, Food & Drink
A Six Bridges Book Festival tradition. Pie Contest at the Root Café!

An Evening with Ann Patchett & Robin Preiss Glasser
Sunday, September 29: 5:30pm - 8:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Age group:   Adults
event type:  Society & Culture, Literature & Language, Art
Join us on Sunday, September 29, for An Evening with Ann Patchett & Robin Preiss Glasser at the Ron Robinson Theater. This ticketed event will raise funds so the festival can continue providing free public programs in Central Arkansas.

Date: September 22 - 29, 2024

Location: Various Venues

Register here

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