TIMELINE: A history of the Festival of Books

Stacks of books

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For the 11th year, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is returning to USC’s campus for a weekend of events, performance and connection through a shared love of literature. This timeline follows the history of this annual event.

1996

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books begins, incited by a lack of book festivals located in the community

L.A Times reporters Narda Zacchino and Lisa Cleri Reale conceived the idea for the festival at an American Booksellers Association event held at the L.A. Convention Center

2005

In the 10th Festival of Books in 2005, participating authors included Madeleine Albright, Ray Bradbury and Carrie Fisher

2011

2011 was the first year the Festival was held on USC’s University Park Campus, where it has remained ever since

2015

In the 20th Festival of Books in 2015, participating authors included LeVar Burton, Octavia Spencer and Patton Oswalt

2020, 2021

In 2020 and 2021, the Festival was held online due to the coronavirus pandemic

2022

The Festival received the highest number of attendees in 2022, with an estimated 155,000 participants

2023

This year, more than 500 authors and artists will participate