Albany Book Festival Celebrates Books, Authors and Readers

  • A man speaks at a podium with the words Albany Book Festival behind him on a large screen.

    (Photos by Patrick Dodson)

  • A woman, a man and another woman are seated at a table on a stage with a large electronic sign behind them.

    (Photos by Patrick Dodson)

  • An interior of a large auditorium from the seats looking toward a stage with a table and several people seated at it.

    (Photos by Patrick Dodson)

  • A man is seated signing books as several people line form to get autographs and a woman leans over a book she has placed in front of him.

    (Photos by Patrick Dodson)

  • A green owl sign wearing a shirt that says Albany Public Library is set up outside of a conference room.

    (Photos by Patrick Dodson)

  • A young girl with a white bow in her hair reads from a book at a microphone in front of an audience.

    (Photos by Patrick Dodson)

  • A woman stands near a stage holding a microphone in front of a young girl as she reads a book in front of an audience.

    (Photos by Patrick Dodson)

  • An African American woman and an older white man in a suit sit a table in front of an audience.

    (Photos by Patrick Dodson)

  • A large group of people move between aisles of people seated with their books during a book show in an auditorium

    (Photos by Patrick Dodson)

  • A large group of people move between aisles of people seated with their books during a book show in an auditorium

    (Photos by Patrick Dodson)

    By Michael Parker

    ALBANY, N.Y. (Sept. 28, 2026) — Readers, writers and book lovers gathered at UAlbany Saturday for the ninth annual Albany Book Festival. The event featured a full day of author conversations, book signings, children’s activities, open mic readings and opportunities to meet local writers and publishers. Despite a steady downpour, readers turned out in force for the festival, presented by the New York State Writers Institute and UAlbany.

    Featured writers included Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist Elizabeth Kolbert, novelist Gish Jen, psychologist and author Carol Gilligan, biographer Richard Brookhiser, novelist and Harvard professor Namwali Serpell, bestselling thriller writer John Katzenbach, restaurateur and memoirist Keith McNally and Iranian and Iranian-American writers Amir Ahmadi Arian, Arash Azizi and Porochista Khakpour.

    “We’re grateful to everyone who joined us for another terrific Albany Book Festival, including our featured authors, local writers, volunteers, students, exhibitors and community partners,” said Paul Grondahl, Opalka Endowed Director of the New York State Writers Institute. “It was wonderful to see so many people come together at UAlbany to celebrate books, writers and the joy of reading.”

    The Writers Institute’s fall season continues today with poet and scholar Joshua Bennett, author of the new book-length poem We (The People of The United States). Bennett, a professor of literature and Distinguished Chair of the Humanities at MIT, will take part in a conversation and Q&A at 4:30 p.m. in the Campus Center West Multi-Purpose Room.

    The event is cosponsored by UAlbany’s Great Dane Dialogue series as part of the University’s commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary.