The Los Angeles Festival of Books returns to USC campus

The LA Festival of Books will be held in person for the first time since the start of the pandemic. In was virtual in both 2020 and 2021.

Among the festival’s lineup are a few celebrity names. Actor Terry Crews will discuss his book, “Tough: My Journey to True Power,” on Sunday at the Main Stage. Singer-songwriter, actress, and producer Janelle Monae will join in a conversation on Saturday at Bovard Auditorium.

Joining these names is Amanda Gorman, who is the youngest inaugural poet in US History. On Saturday at the main stage, she’ll talk about and read from her new poetry collection, “Call Us What We Carry.”

USC students should prepare for a lot of extra people and vehicles on campus this weekend. The festival usually draws roughly 150,000 visitors.

There’s something for everyone, but it must be especially exciting for an English major, like Megan. Her classes have been talking about the festival, and will be going to a poetry event.

Megan: We just talked a lot about how it’s a good opportunity to buy straight from the publisher and not buy from a third party and also have the opportunity to speak with the writers and kind of why they wrote it or where they hope for the book to go or something like that.

Other students, like Dehlia are excited to see the celebrity guests.

Dehlia: We were very interested in hearing Janelle Monae and Max Greenfield.

All are welcome to come, whether you’re a student, local, or have traveled to LA for the event. General admission to the Festival of Books is free, although tickets are required for some select author discussions and panels.