The Annual Utah Humanities Book Festival is Utah’s oldest and only statewide book festival and has become Utah’s signature literary event.
The Annual Utah Humanities Book Festival
Our 2025 Utah Humanities Book Festival marks 28 years of strengthening Utah communities through reading, literature, and conversations with authors and each other. Held during October’s National Book Month, the Book Festival offers virtual and in-person events.
As our annual statewide celebration of literature, we work with regional partners in many Utah communities to highlight events with local interest. As always, participants will engage with authors in new, creative, and meaningful ways that are designed to connect readers, authors, and communities.
The 2025 Regional Calendar:
Wasatch Back: October 1-5
Boulder, Utah (Boulder Book Festival): October 2-4
Southern Utah: October 2-9
Salt Lake County: October 4-12
Northern Utah: October 9-20
Utah Book Award Reading and Celebration: October 10 (NEW This Year!)
Moab: October 23-25
Utah County: October 20-25
Utah Horror Day: October 25 (NEW This Year!)
University of Utah Tanner Humanities Center: Readings by Utah Book Award honorees from the University of Utah: October 28
2025 Featured Writers (in order by date of event):
Sy Montgomery: October 4, 7pm,
Folklore Bookshop, Midway
Daniel Miyares: October 10, 3:30pm, Treehouse Museum, Ogden
Ellen Hopkins: October 11, 12:30pm, Salt Lake City Library, Salt Lake City
Lyla Sage: October 17, 6pm, Weber County Pleasant Valley Branch, South Ogden
Ally Condie, Andrea Bartz, and Lauren Ling Brown: October 18 (Reese’s Book Club “Mystery Night”), 7pm, Ogden Union Station, Ogden
Chris LaTray: October 23, 7pm, Grand County Library, Moab
Stephen Graham Jones: October 25 (Utah Horror Day), 3pm, Utah Cultural Celebration Center, West Valley City
Philip Fracassi: October 25 (Utah Horror Day), 11am, Utah Cultural Celebration Center, West Valley City
We are committed to ensuring that all people, regardless of ability, have equal and full access to our programs. If you require any accommodations, please submit a request to Kase Johnstun at
2025 Utah Humanities Book Festival Program
Browse the 2025 Utah Humanities Book Festival program to see events around the state and near you. You can also see all current Book Festival events in the online calendar section at the bottom of this page.
Utah Humanities Book Festival: A Lasting Legacy
The Annual Utah Humanities Book Festival is Utah’s oldest and only statewide book festival and has become Utah’s signature literary event. Each year, the festival is a chance for book lovers of all types to enjoy some great, free-of-charge literary events at locations throughout Utah.
For decades, we've inspired Utah communities by offering the state's largest annual book festival. Our inaugural festival, known then as The Great Salt Lake Book Festival, started in 1998 and was a one-day event featuring 30 authors at Westminster College. Our annual Utah Humanities Book Festival now spans several weeks and we've expanded our reach by partnering with libraries, community centers, cultural organizations, and more to serve upwards of 12,000 Utahns every fall.
Each year, we hear very personal stories about how an author or book has generated conversation, insight, and understanding. We hear about communities coming together and collectively immersing in books of all types - everything from historical fiction to comedy to poetry. We listen to individuals talk about how their personal or professional lives were affected in life-changing ways by talking with an author who inspired them. We hear about how we've helped to improve Utah communities through books, reading, and the resulting conversations . . . in short, through the humanities.
Many Thanks to Our Book Festival Sponsors
