{"id":998916,"date":"2026-08-13T21:26:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T21:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/998916\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T21:26:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T21:26:26","slug":"free-library-of-philadelphia-reveals-fall-author-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/998916\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Library of Philadelphia reveals fall author events"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year, The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation<\/a> curates a lineup of writers, public figures, journalists, and local icons for its fall author events season\u2014and 2026 is looking to be the biggest page-turner yet.<\/p>\n

The schedule offers audiences numerous opportunities to engage in conversations spanning literature, history, politics, technology, and contemporary culture like Philly sports and music.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe strength of this season is its range,\u201d says Daniel Blank, Managing Director of Public Programs, Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation. \u201cIt brings together major national voices, beloved Philadelphia figures, and acclaimed writers across genres, with conversations spanning politics, history, literature, music, sports and more. We\u2019re proud that these authors have chosen Philadelphia and the Free Library to share their new books.\u201d<\/p>\n

Running from September through December, all events will take place at the Parkway Central Library (1901 Vine Street). With most programs priced at just $5 \u2014 and some offered free of charge \u2014 the series remains intentionally accessible year after year. A small number of events will also include book bundles, giving attendees an opportunity to engage with some authors directly.<\/p>\n

September will launch the series with Erin Riley, who will discuss \u2018The Mighty WMMR<\/a>\u2019 in conversation with John DeBella on Sept. 15. On Sept. 22, acclaimed classicist and translator Emily Wilson will present \u2018Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea\u2019. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear will follow on Sept. 23 with \u2018Go and Do Likewise\u2019, a conversation about public service and leadership with Michael Smerconish (this event is sold out, but a rush line will be available). The month continues on Sept. 28 with Marcia Chatelain, who will discuss \u2018How Bright the Path Grows.\u2019<\/p>\n

September\u2019s schedule also includes the season-opening event on Sept. 9 featuring historian and ‘New Yorker’ staff writer Jill Lepore, whose event will explore a timely question: How technology and artificial intelligence are reshaping democracy and the future of government. Drawing on her 2024 New Yorker essay, inspired in part by Hannah Arendt\u2019s \u2018The Origins of Totalitarianism\u2019, Lepore\u2019s new work examines the growing influence of artificial intelligence on political life and human society. Dubbed \u2018The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State\u2019, the event will kick off at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

October will bring another rich lineup to the series with programs spanning literature, culture, journalism, music, and the arts. The month opens on Oct. 1 with Elizabeth Alexander and \u2018Signals Across Vast Distances: Essays and Tales\u2019, followed by Imbolo Mbue on Oct. 8, discussing her latest work, \u2018Every Story Is a Love Story.\u2019 On Oct. 14, Malcolm Gladwell will examine the history and consequences of America\u2019s gun violence in \u2018The American Way of Killing: The Invention of an Epidemic.\u2019<\/p>\n

The following evening, Oct. 15, cartoonist Roz Chast will present \u2018The Two Saddest Kitchens: A Comics Conversation.\u2019 Novelist Yiyun Li will then take the stage on Oct. 20 with \u2018Music Against the Night: A Novel\u2019, and the month will close on Oct. 27 with acclaimed countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo<\/a>, who will discuss his memoir, \u2018Countertenor.\u2019<\/p>\n

November will continue the fun with a lineup that moves across memoirs, history, music, and Philadelphia sports. The month opens on Nov. 3 with Angela Nissel and \u2018Good Grief, Pass the Bread, Mom Is Dead,\u2019 followed by Jesse Wegman on Nov. 4 with \u2018The Lost Founder.\u2019 On Nov. 12, Anthony Tommasini will present \u2018Voice of a Century,\u2019 exploring the life and legacy of one \u201cremarkable musical voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, on Nov. 17, Philadelphia sports icon Ray Didinger<\/a> will take the stage with \u2018Look What the Kid Wrote Today: Quotes, Anecdotes and Other Musings.\u2019 \u00a0<\/p>\n

Didinger\u2019s book takes its title from a phrase his grandfather used when \u201cproudly displaying Didinger\u2019s newspaper articles in his Southwest Philadelphia bar.” The collection brings together memories of some of the people and moments that shaped his career.<\/p>\n

In the book’s chapters, Didinger recalls walking the Merion golf course with Jack Nicklaus, shooting pool with Mean Joe Greene, visiting Foxcatcher Farms with John du Pont, and spending time with Mark Wahlberg during the filming of ‘Invincible<\/a>.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

The season will then continue into the last month of the year, with Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor, who will present ‘Something We Said’ on Dec. 3, bringing the fall series to a close.<\/p>\n

A full schedule and description of each event is available online at freelibraryfoundation.org\/events<\/a><\/p>\n

MORE: Philadelphia Bookstore Crawl returns with nearly 60 stops, author events and giveaways<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\t\tKeywords<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tFree Library of Philadelphia,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Parkway Central Library,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Philadelphia events,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t books,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t authors,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Ray Didinger,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Malcolm Gladwell,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Jill Lepore\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every year, The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation curates a lineup of writers, public figures, journalists, and local…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":998917,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,13709,1022,13712,400129,400128,1448,400126,2830,1311,95978,400127,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-998916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-america","tag-authors","tag-books","tag-free-library-of-philadelphia","tag-jill-lepore","tag-malcolm-gladwell","tag-pa","tag-parkway-central-library","tag-pennsylvania","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-events","tag-ray-didinger","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/998916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=998916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/998916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/998917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=998916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=998916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=998916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}