The Printers Row Lit Fest returns for its 41st year with a lineup of Chicago literary heavyweights, including best-selling author Scott Turow. The Midwest’s largest free outdoor literary festival will take place 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sept. 12-13 in Printers Row.
Festival Lineup
Turow will headline the festival alongside PBS NewsHour co-anchor Geoff Bennett. Turow will be joined by novelist Jane Hamilton to chat about his recent novel “Presumed Guilty.” Bennett will discuss his new book “Black Out Loud” about the history of Black comedy.
In addition to Turow and Bennett, the lit fest will feature book signings, writing workshops, booksellers, and children’s programs. Other headliners include Omar El Akkad, who won the 2025 National Book Award, and eight Pulitzer Prize-winning authors and journalists.
Historian Heather Ann Thompson will discuss her book “Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage.” Scott Simon, the longtime host of NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, will discuss his collection of essays “Ulysses S. Cat and Other Animals I Have Known.”
Chicago natives and authors, including Eve L. Ewing and Nikesha Elise Williams, will also speak about their work. Children’s programs at the Printers Row Lit Fest include a costume parade and performances from the children’s improv troupe Broadway Dropouts.
Original reporting: Block Club Chicago — read the source article.
