Dear book lover, storyteller, creator, writer, or secret dreamer,
What will you find at this year’s festival?
You may have seen the phrase—over 100 speakers, 50 stellar events, one day—or heard about inspiring entertainment, including The Naruwan Taiko Drummers, DJ and Poet Gill Sotu DJing in the quad, open-mic poetry, and brand new this year, the stunning Voices of Our City Choir performing at noon on the Main Stage.
But the festival is more than just workshops, panels, interviews, and entertainment—it’s about taking a day to fall in love with your dreams.
What if?
What if you took one day to leave the inner critic (and the rest of the world) behind, grab a notebook, and allow yourself to dive into a space where ideas are bountiful and inspiration is around every corner? What might you create?
What if you heard an author’s backstory and heard the echo of your own?
What if you attended an event for a genre you’ve never read, realized it resonated, and opened a window to a new world of words?
Not to mention that you will get to meet and be embraced by a vibrant, creative community.
Below are just a few selected highlights of the more than 100 speakers attending the festival.
But first: The Easter Egg at the 2025 San Diego Writers Festival
To help celebrate our 6th annual festival, we are giving away $100 to spend at the Barnes and Noble Onsite Festival Store.
How to win? Write “Be the Change” on a piece of paper. Head over to the IMWA (International Memoir Writers Association) table at the front of the festival entrance and hand them the paper. If you are the 6th person to do so, you will be given $100 credit to use at the onsite Festival Barnes and Noble bookstore. (Money must be used on April 5 at that festival bookstore—no exceptions.)
Good luck!
A few highlights:
Ed Begley Jr. is an actor known for his long career, appearing in hundreds of television shows and films, from his Emmy-nominated role in St. Elsewhere to more recent TV roles in Better Call Saul, Modern Family, and Young Sheldon. He’s equally known for his environmental activism and famously takes public transportation to the Academy Awards. Ed talks about all of this—and more–in his memoir, To The Temple of Tranquility…and Step On It! Main stage w/Marni Freedman at 12:45 PM. Bring your questions.
Hank Phillippi Ryan is a multi-award-winning and bestselling author. You can find her in conversation with Anastasia Zadiek about her latest thriller, One Wrong Word, on the Main Stage at 9:30 AM.
Tembi Locke, author, co-creator, and Executive Producer of the Netflix film adaptation, From Scratch, will be interviewed on the Main Stage stage at 2:15 PM.
Leslie Zemeckis, best-selling author, actress, and award-winning documentarian, will show her critically acclaimed documentary Grandes Horizontals;
John Kenney, NYT bestselling and Thurber-award-winning humorist, discusses his latest book, I See You’ve Called in Dead.
Brandon Som, Pulitzer 2024 Prize-winning Poet and UCSD professor, will read from his work with other renowned poets, including American Book Award-winner Tommy Pico and San Diego Poet Laureate Paola Capó-García.
Anneliese Judge, book influencer and Sweet Magnolia actress, will share tips and tricks on building an authentic following, and Matthew Quirk, bestselling political thriller writer, will talk with audience members after a screening of an episode of the hit Netflix show based on his book The Night Agent.
Just a SAMPLE of our stellar panels
“Mind Games: Creating Wickedly Unforgettable Psychological Thrillers” featuring multiple award-winning authors Rachel Howzell Hall, Lee Goldberg, and Hank Phillippi Ryan.
“Publishing While Black” featuring UT columnist Lisa Deaderick, Tamela Gordon, Justin Key, Vanessa Walters, and Laura Cathcart Robbins, discussing the unique challenges black authors face in the publishing world.
Caldecott Award-winning author Matt de La Peña will appear on the panel “A Writer’s Life” to discuss building a successful creative career with award-winning author Minh Le, author, artist, and poet Ted Washington, PNLU writing professor Dr. Katie Manning, and Grant Oliphant, CEO of Conrad Prebys.
“Weaving Fact and Fiction: How to Bring History to Life” with award-winning and bestselling historical fiction authors Jennifer Coburn, Elizabeth DeLozier, Stephen Kiernan, and Trisha Thomas.
”Branding and Social Media for People Who Don’t Like Branding and Social Media,” with true-crime novelist and Social Media Strategist Sara DiVello.
“Reclaiming Women’s History,” with Elizabeth Cobbs, Gioia Diliberto, Elizabeth St.John, and Dawn Tripp, author of the bestselling novels Georgia and Jackie.
But that is not all. This year, the festival will expand its offerings to include creative experiences to help unblock creativity, such as mindfulness-into-writing, sound-bathing into writing, and Francesca Simpa’s groundbreaking breathwork-into-writing.
Want to learn how to get unblocked in 20 minutes? Come see Francesca on the main stage!
Did you think there was only one easter egg? The 10th person to hand in the “Be the Change” note to the IMWA table will get a free one-year membership to IMWA.
Warmly,
Marni, Caroline, Anastasia, and the entire SDWF Team
