Great Authors at the Library

WE ARE THRILLED to present An Evening with Ken Liu on October 10, at 7 pm.

Ken Liu is an American author of speculative fiction who has won multiple Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards for both his own books and for his translations. The talk is free and open to everyone. No reservations needed. Doors open at 6:30 pm. Read more »

Since 2016, the Great Authors at the Library series has brought 22 award-winning, New York Times bestselling authors to Champaign, where they have been welcomed by more than 4,700 community members.

Each author presents a public talk about their writing, signs books, and meets local readers. We often set up book giveaways in advance, sharing ”Read and pass along” copies of the author’s books with community members. For authors of children’s books and teen titles, we set up school visits so that area schoolchildren can meet these literary giants. We also provide books to our partnering Champaign Unit 4 School District libraries. And for the community’s youngest readers, we give out books at storytimes to help families build home libraries.

Acclaimed speakers in the Great Authors at the Library series have included New York Times bestselling authors Doris Kearns Goodwin, Terry McMillan, Lisa See, Eric Litwin, Scott Turow, Colson Whitehead, Lisa Scottoline, Jamie Ford, Nnedi Okorafor, Luis Alberto Urrea, Nikki Grimes, Elizabeth Berg, and David Sheff.

Great Authors at the Library visits are made possible with support from the Library Foundation and Library Friends.

Great Authors books in our collection »

Bestselling author Brendan Slocumb spoke to a full house during his visit to Champaign in October 2023. He also presented a talk earlier in the day including a violin performance.