Explore the full list of featured authors and speakers for the Petersburg Book Fest. The event schedule includes readings, panel discussions, and workshops.
Featured Panelists & Moderators
Brea Baker
Panelist
Brea Baker is a writer and activist whose book, ROOTED: The American Legacy of Land Theft & The Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership, details her family’s experiences across the South and makes another case for reparations to include land distribution. ROOTED has been celebrated in The New Yorker, The Guardian, Apple Books, the New York Times, iHeart Radio’s The Breakfast Club, Harper’s BAZAAR, Ms. Magazine, and was honored as a BCALA 2024 Nonfiction Honor award winner. With a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University, Brea believes deeply in political imagination and the need for nuanced storytelling that doubles as ancestral veneration. She is currently working on her next book — a biography of Jazz Age artist and nightclub owner, Ada "Bricktop" Smith.
Title: Rooted
ISBN: 9780593447376
Release Date: June 18, 2024
Regina Black
Panelist
Regina Black is a former litigator, current law school administrator, and lifelong romance reader who writes about art, identity, and love in the modern South. Her debut, The Art of Scandal, was named a best romance of 2023 by Publishers Weekly, Amazon, Audible, and the Chicago Public Library. Her second novel, August Lane, became an instant USA Today bestseller and was praised as a "powerhouse of the genre" by The New York Times Book Review. Regina currently lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, with her husband and daughter.
Title: August Lane
ISBN: 9781538767528
Release Date: July 29, 2025
Danielle Brooks
Moderator
Danielle Brooks hails from Richmond, Virginia, with a lifelong love for writing and reading. In 2023, Danielle Brooks embarked on her journey as a Contemporary Romance author. She is most notable for her Firefighter Romance series, Fire Company 143, but has released over 10 books with Black Love as the focal point. Currently, Danielle Brooks resides in Richmond with her two children, family and friends.
Title: Hearts at Turn One
ISBN: 9781970670042
Release Date: May 2, 2026
Niccara Campbell
Moderator
Niccara Campbell-Wallace is the founder of The Bookish Hottie, a Baltimore-based literary lifestyle brand, and the host of ...But Make It Books — a podcast on the Mahogany Books Podcast Network anchored in the belief that books are a powerful vehicle for healing and self-understanding. Through her brand, Niccara has built a vibrant community of readers at the intersection of literature, lifestyle, and culture, producing live events, longform conversations, and editorial content that challenge how we engage with books and the stories they carry.
DeAndra Davis
Panelist
DeAndra Davis is an award-winning neurodivergent, Jamaican-American author who lives somewhere in the mountains. Her critically acclaimed books include ALL THE NOISE AT ONCE and THE LOVERS, THE LIARS, AND ME. When she isn't 100%’ing video games and reading worlds more interesting than the one she lives in, she's being distracted by her too many kids, dogs, and songs from Wicked on her phone. Her claim to fame is that her Florida man birthday headline features an alligator and a drive-thru and that is very on brand for her. DeAndra can be found on most socials @deandrawrites
Title: The Lovers, the Liars and Me
ISBN: 9781665952682
Release Date: June 23, 2026
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Chrystal D Giles
Panelist
Chrystal D. Giles (she/her) is an acclaimed voice in middle grade literature. Her previous novels, Take Back the Block and Not an Easy Win, received multiple starred reviews, appeared on numerous state award lists, and were recognized as best-of-the-year selections by Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, NPR, and more. Known for centering community, justice, and emotionally authentic young protagonists, Giles consistently delivers stories that resonate deeply with tween readers and the adults who champion them. Chrystal lives outside Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband and son and is currently working on her next middle-grade novel.
Title: Listen To The Girls
ISBN: 9780593651711
Release Date: May 5, 2026
Lamar Giles
Moderator
Lamar Giles is the author of the acclaimed novels Ruin Road, The Getaway, The Last Last-Day-of-Summer, Not So Pure and Simple, SPIN, Fake ID, and has written for globally beloved brands like DC Comics, Star Wars, and National Geographic. He is a three-time Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award nominee, a recipient of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association's Youth Literary Award, and founding member of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books. He resides in Virginia with his family.
Title: Star Wars: Sanctuary
ISBN: 9780593874462
Release Date: August 5, 2025
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C.M. Lockhart
Panelist
C. M. Lockhart (also known as Chelsea) is a best-selling author who writes books about Black girls who aren't all that nice. She is the founder of Written in Melanin LLC — which includes a podcast and YouTube channel of the same name — and the Melanin Library, an online database of books written by Black authors.
Her short stories have been published with FIYAH Literary Magazine and other anthologies; she is a contributing editor for Magic in the Melanin: A Black Fantasy Anthology. Her debut novel, We Are the Origin, was an Indie Ink Award Finalist in four categories; her novel, We Are Dying Gods, was a #1 Bestseller on Amazon; her latest series, The Lady Widow, is her first venture into the sci-fi genre.
Title: Captured Among The Stars
ISBN: 9781952978197
Release Date: May 26, 2026
Jacinta Howard
Panelist
Jacinta Howard is an Atlanta-based author and culture journalist who's spent more than a decade covering the city's music, food, art, and entertainment scenes. Her work has appeared in Eater, Atlanta Magazine, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Shondaland, BET, and Rock The Bells, LL Cool J's media company, where she also served as an editor. Her 2022 article on the chicken wings at Magic City was nominated for an American Society of Magazine Editors Award, and her story on the Atlanta University Center's influence on hip-hop was included in The City of Atlanta's Hip Hop 50 Time Capsule. Her novels have been featured in USA Today, Book Riot, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Title: When Forty Blooms
ISBN: 9781967565047
Release Date: July 15, 2025
Tiffany D Jackson
Panelist
Tiffany D. Jackson is the highly acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of YA and MG novels such as Blood in the Water, Monday's Not Coming, Allegedly, The Scammer, and more. She is also the coauthor of Blackout and Whiteout, and author of the picture books Santa in the City and Trick-or-Treating in the City.
Title: Ghost In The Night
ISBN: 9798225017477
Release Date: August 4, 2026
Sadeqa Johnson
Panelist
Sadeqa Johnson is a New York Times Bestselling author of six novels. Her previous novel, The House of Eve was an instant New York Times Best Seller, Reese’s Book Club selection, Target Book Club pick, nominated for a NAACP Image Award and a 2023 Goodreads Choice award finalist.
Her previous novel, Yellow Wife, was named by Oprah Magazine as “27 of 2021 Most Anticipated Winter Historical Fiction books.” Yellow Wife was also a 2021 Goodreads Choice Award finalist for historical fiction, a 2022 Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy finalist, a BCALA Literary Honoree, the Library of Virginia’s Literary People’s Choice Award winner, and a Barnes & Noble book club pick in paperback.
Her latest novel, Keeper of Lost Children, explores how one American woman’s vision in post WWII Germany will change the course of countless lives. Originally from Philadelphia, Sadeqa currently lives near Richmond, Virginia.
Title: Keeper of Lost Children
ISBN: 9781668069912
Release Date: February 10, 2026
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Frederick Joseph
Panelist
Frederick Joseph is a three-time New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. His books span both the adult and children's book spaces, including The Black Friend; Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Courage to Dream; Patriarchy Blues; and, most recently, This Thing of Ours. His work has been well celebrated and recognized in many ways: being named an Amazon Editors' pick, notable by the International Literacy Association, being selected as Best Children's Book of the Year by Bank Street College, being a Booklist Editors' Choice, and many, many more. He lives with his wife, Porsche, and his dog, Stokely, in New York City.
Title: This Thing of Ours
ISBN: 9781536233469
Release Date: May 6, 2025
Michael LaBorn
Moderator
Michael LaBorn is an author, book reviewer and passionate advocate for marginalized people. He is the founder of Left Unread Books, a publishing imprint of Bindery Books, that makes space for Black and brown writers in an industry that has forgotten how badly it needs them. Michael loves reading anything that pushes back against systemic barriers or challenges him to see the world through a wider lens.
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Dr. Lauranett Lee
Moderator
As a public historian Dr. Lauranett Lee teaches, collaborates, and works with diverse community and academic audiences for the purpose of engaging with our historical past from a more inclusive and expanded perspective. In her public engagements – from museum and public speeches and community service commitments Lauranett creates spaces where participants feel heard and respected. Her facilitated discussions invite curiosity and truth-telling. In the classroom she encourages students to listen closely, think critically, work collaboratively, and engage in thoughtful discourse. Her academic training in nineteenth century southern history is the foundation that prompts inquiry into the roots of race and racism and the impact of history on contemporary society. She was a lecturer in the Jepson School of Leadership Studies from 2012-2024.
Bernice L McFadden
Panelist
Bernice L. McFadden is a national bestselling, award-winning author celebrated for her richly layered novels that center ancestry, memory, and the enduring strength of Black women. She is the author of Sugar, The Book of Harlan, Praise Song for the Butterflies, and other acclaimed works of fiction. Her writing has earned numerous honors, including the American Book Award and an NAACP Image Award.
Her most recent publication, Firstborn Girls: A Memoir, is a deeply personal exploration of generational trauma, maternal legacy, and spiritual reckoning that traces her own story alongside the lives of the women who came before her.
Title: Camila's Roses
ISBN: 9780593472804
Release Date: June 10, 2025
Beronda L Montgomery
Panelist
Beronda L. Montgomery is writer, science communicator, and plant biologist. She has been named one of the journal Cell‘s Inspiring Black Scientists in America and was awarded the 2022 Cynthia Scott Science Writing Award, 2022 Adolph E. Gude, Jr. Award for outstanding service to the science of plant biology, and 2023 Hutchinson Medal of the Chicago Horticultural Society. Dr. Montgomery is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Plant Biologists, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the American Academy of Microbiology. In 2025, she received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, the Nation's highest honors for mentors. She is the Sally Starling Seaver Fellow at the Harvard University Radcliffe Institute for 2025–2026. Dr. Montgomery is author of Lessons from Plants (Harvard University Press, 2021) and When Trees Testify (Henry Holt, 2026).
Title: When Trees Testify
ISBN: 9781250335166
Release Date: January 20, 2026
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Tatiana Obey
Panelist
Tatiana Obey is a Locus award-nominated author who writes badass characters slaying dragons. She is the author of Bones to the Wind, a 2022 BBA Award Winner, and Sistah Samurai: A Champloo Novella, a 2023 Indie Ink Award Winner. She has short stories published with various anthologies, including FIYAH Literary Magazine and Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2025. She is also a contributing editor for Magic in the Melanin: A Black Fantasy Anthology. She taught English in South Korea, studied abroad in Japan, and spent her debut year traveling the world. Learn more about her at www.tatianaobey.com.
Title: Return of the Sistah Samurai, Mix #2
ISBN: 9781967908998
Release Date: June 19, 2025
Tanvier Peart
Panelist
Tanvier Peart is a future bestselling romance author with a healthy obsession for snacks and happily ever afters. She is a good girl with kinks who spends her days working on public policy in New York and enjoys the wild life of being a wife and PTA mom. By night, she writes and reads romance books with steamy scenes. When she’s not lost in the land of smut, Tanvier enjoys long walks down snack aisles and the chorus of grunts at the gym.
Title: Big Trouble In A Little Mafia
ISBN: N/A
Release Date: July 31, 2026
Julian Randall
Panelist
Julian Randall is a Living Queer Black poet from Chicago. His poetry and essays are published in New York Times Magazine, POETRY, and Vibe. He is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize. Julian holds an MFA in Poetry from Ole Miss. His first book, Refuse, won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize and was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. Julian has previously worked as a youth mentor, teaching writing workshops to children on house arrest. He is the author of the Pilar Ramirez duology, The Chainbreakers, and Shook.
Title: Shook
ISBN: 9781250882059
Release Date: August 4, 2026
Ashante M Reese
Panelist
Dr. Ashanté M. Reese is an award-winning author, anthropologist, and teacher. Weaving together food justice, geography, and care, she offers stories about the practices that sustain and free us. Her first book, Black Food Geographies: Race, Food Access, and Self-Reliance in Washington, D.C. (UNC Press, 2019), developed a theory of how anti-Blackness constrains urban residents’ choices and how they, then, respond through placed-based efforts to practice self-reliance. Her latest book, Gather: Black Food, Nourishment, and the Art of Togetherness (W.W. Norton, 2026), argues for a vision of food justice that centers knowledge and traditions that already exist in Black communities and invites us to embrace them as the foundation of nourishment. She teaches at The University of Texas at Austin.
Title: Gather
ISBN: 9781324076469
Release Date: April 14, 2026
Nic Stone
Panelist
Nic Stone is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin, the novel that launched her career in 2017 and encourages readers of all ages to examine the biases in their own lives and to have honest discussions about race in today’s world. Nic’s mission is to create books and stories that speak to kids underrepresented in YA literature today—and her aim is to not only create windows in which young people are introduced to new perspectives but also mirrors in which children see their experiences and identities fully represented. Born and raised in a suburb of Atlanta, GA, Nic grew up with a wide range of cultures, religions, and backgrounds, and constantly strives to bring diverse voices and stories to her work. All her novels have been widely embraced by teens and adults and have been the recipients of numerous accolades, awards, and starred reviews. In addition to Dear Martin, her books include Dear Justyce, Blackout, Whiteout, and middle-grade novels, Clean Getaway and How to Be a (Young) Antiracist, all New York Times bestsellers, Odd One Out, Jackpot, the Shuri (Black Panther) novels as well as Fast Pitch. Her final installment in the Dear Martin trilogy, Dear Manny, will be available in March 2025. A Spelman College graduate, Nic lives in Atlanta with her family. Find her online at nicstone.info or @nicstone.
Title: Breakout
ISBN: 9780063217508
Release Date: June 2, 2026
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Ravynn K. Stringfield
Author
Ravynn K. Stringfield is a writer and professor originally from Suffolk, Virginia. Love Requires Chocolate is her debut novel, and her second, Love in 280 Characters or Less, will publish on April 15, 2025. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in publications such as Shondaland, ZORA, and Catapult Magazine. She can often be found haunting coffee shops in search of the perfect hazelnut latte, knee deep in art supplies, or curled up with her dog, Genghis, telling him about her Lois Lane obsession. Connect with Ravynn on Instagram (@RavynnKaMia) or via her website, www.ravynnkstringfield.com.
Title: Love in 280 Characters or Less
ISBN: 9781250899385
Release Date: April 15, 2025
Dr. Christina A Tillery
Moderator
Dr. Christina A. Tillery is a counselor educator, researcher, and former school counselor whose work centers on youth mental health, literacy, and student voice. A former middle school teacher and high school counselor, her work explores how stories, books, and community spaces can support identity, belonging, and healing for young people, especially Black girls and other historically marginalized youth. She is the founder of She Reads, She Leads, a bibliocounseling and literacy initiative designed to empower girls through culturally relevant books and conversation. Dr. Tillery is passionate about helping young readers see themselves reflected in stories and believes deeply in the power of literature to inspire connection, confidence, and change.
Neena Viel
Panelist
Neena Viel is a horror writer who lives in a cabin in the Washingtonian woods with her husband and the best dog on the planet. Her passion for philanthropy (almost) rivals her love for ghost stories. Listen To Your Sister is her debut novel.
Title: I'll Watch Your Baby
ISBN: 9781250906342
Release Date: May 26, 2026
Arriel Vinson
Panelist
Arriel Vinson is a Midwesterner who writes about being young, Black, and in search of freedom. Her debut YA novel-in-verse, Under the Neon Lights, is a 2026 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award winner, a Reese’s Book Club LitUp selection, and a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection. Arriel earned her MFA in Fiction from Sarah Lawrence College and is a Tin House YA Scholar, Highlights Foundation scholarship recipient, and Walter Grant recipient. Her sophomore novel, If This World Were Mine, is forthcoming in spring 2027. You can connect with her on social media at @arriwrites and find her work at arriwrites.com.
Title: Under The Neon Lights
ISBN: 9780593858592
Release Date: June 3, 2025
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Gwendolyn Wallace
Panelist
Gwendolyn Wallace (she/her) is an award-winning children’s literature author and multidisciplinary historian reimagining public scholarship. She is currently a PhD student at MIT in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, & Society (HASTS), studying the relationship between race, science, and the environment. She is the author of three picture books: The Light She Feels Inside (2023), Joy Takes Root (2023), and Dancing With Water (2025). Imagine New Suns, Gwendolyn’s fourth book and the first picture book biography of science fiction author Octavia Butler, is forthcoming in 2027.
Title: Dancing With Water
ISBN: 9780593617908
Release Date: August 12, 2025
Nikesha Elise Williams
Panelist
Nikesha Elise Williams is a two-time Emmy Award–winning producer, an award-winning author, and producer and host of the Black and Published podcast. A narrative strategist by day and journalist always, her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Essence, and Vox. Nikesha is a Kimbilio Fiction Fellow and a DeGroot Foundation Writer of Note grantee. A Chicago native, she lives in Florida with her family.
Title: The Seven Daughters of Dupree
ISBN: 9781668051948
Release Date: January 27, 2026
Shanora Williams
Panelist
Shanora Williams is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author known for her versatile voice, diverse characters, and high-stakes love stories. Whether grounded in reality or set in a magical world, her books explore connection, chaos, and the kind of love that lingers long after the last page. When she isn’t writing, she’s deep in family life, binge-watching her favorite shows and movies, working out, or getting cozy with a book. She lives near Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband and three sons.
Title: Mayhem and the Mortal
ISBN: 9781649379122
Release Date: October 7, 2025
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