Harriet Williams, a voracious reader and community leader, could not believe it when her son brought home his high school reading list in the early 1980s. There were 98 male authors on that list — but only two women.
Not one to complain and do nothing, Williams, a member of the Long Beach school board, had an idea: Why not bring women authors from around the nation to Long Beach to showcase their talents and change the imbalance that favored male authors?
With the help of a friend, Virginia Laddey, Williams’ idea led to the creation in 1982 of Literary Women and its Festival of Authors, which has since become one of the hottest tickets to get in Long Beach. The festival will return on Saturday, March 7.
The Literary Women Festival of Authors is being held at the Long Beach Convention Center, March 9, 2024. (Photo by Stephanie E’amato, Contributing Photographer)
Guest browse through books at the Literary Women Long Beach Festival of Authors in Long Beach, CA, on Saturday, February 11, 2023. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
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The Literary Women Festival of Authors is being held at the Long Beach Convention Center, March 9, 2024. (Photo by Stephanie E’amato, Contributing Photographer)
In recent years, some 800 women, and a handful of men, have packed the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center to hear an all-star cast of women authors talk about their books.
This year, Literary Women will celebrate its 44th year with another outstanding lineup of authors.
But if you were thinking of going to the event, you’re much too late.
This year’s event sold out in an amazing time of less than 48 hours, said Dr. Monica Leff, chair of the festival.
“We got such an enthusiastic response,” Leff said. “There’s something magical about spending a day immersed in books and conversation. Each year, the festival reminds us how powerful stories can be when we share them. Harriet Williams would be pleased.”
The first festival started by Williams and Laddey got off to a modest start, with 200 attending to hear a few speakers at a local hotel. Little did Williams and Laddey know how popular their idea would become.
Williams died in 2016 at the age of 89 after struggling with Parkinson’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis. She died in Berkeley, where she started a similar Festival of Women Authors at the YMCA Berkeley/Oakland.
This year’s lineup of authors is exactly what Williams and Laddey had in mind when they created Literary Women. The books, all written by women, offer a wide variety of subjects to appeal to the literary tastes of all word lovers.
Here is the list of speakers, with book descriptions provided by Literary Women:
Karissa Chen: In her debut novel, “Homeseeking,” Chen delivers an epic tale of love, loss and longing shaped by the Chinese diaspora. The novel follows the lives of Suchi and Haiwen, a couple separated by history and circumstance.
Barbara Demick: Journalist Demick’s latest work, “Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, a True Story,” is narrative non-fiction at its best. She brings China’s one-child policy to life with the heartfelt story of twin sisters separated at birth: one growing up in China with her mother, the other with her adoptive family in Texas.
Claire Hoffman: In “Sister, Sinner,” author and journalist Hoffman brings to life the spectacular and intriguing tale of Aimee Semple McPherson, a celebrity evangelist who built a mega chuch in Los Angeles in the early part of the 20th century, which spread nationally and globally — and remains in existence today.
Amanda Peters: Written before her award-winning debut novel, “The Berry Pickers” is a collection of short stories, while “Waiting for the Long Night Moon” is how she got started in writing. Her stories in this collection are deeply rooted in the Canadian indigenous experience.
Nayantara Roy: In her sweeping multi-generational debut novel, “The Magnificent Ruins,” Roy writes of Lila De, a young Indian American editor in New York who inherits her family’s sprawling ancestral mansion in Kolkata, India. The inheritance forces her to confront her multi-generational family and, in particular, her estranged mother. Lila discovers long-buried secrets and her own conflicted feelings about her heritage and the two places she calls home.
Anamely Salgado Reyes: “My Mother Cursed My Name” is about a Mexican American girl who is forced to help her estranged grandmother’s spirit cross over by fulfilling her spirit’s wish that her body be taken back to Mexico. In the book, a decade’s worth of resentment, secrets, generational curses and well-intentioned mistakes threaten to extinguish her private yearning and damage her relationship with her mother.
Rufi Thorpe: Funny and filled with sharp insight, “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” is a bold and heartwarming story about one young woman’s attempt to navigate adulthood, new motherhood and her meager bank account in an increasingly online world. Thorpe has created a tender tale starring an endearing young heroine in a playful and honest examination of the art of storytelling and controlling your own narrative.
In keeping with its mission, Literary Women has also invited emerging writers from Long Beach City College, Cal State Long Beach, Chapman University and PEN America Los Angeles to attend the event.
“It is our hope,” Leff said, “that these emerging writers will be encouraged to pursue literary aspirations as envisioned by our festival founders.”
Book lovers going to this year’s festival are in for a treat.
For the rest of you, start planning for next year’s festival, which is scheduled for March 6, 2027. If you need more information, go to literarywomen.org.