Utah Humanities Book Festival Salt Lake County events 

• Courtesy photo
• Brandon Mull

Every October, the non-profit Utah Humanities presents the Utah Humanities Book Festival, a celebration of books and writers, with a focus on local creators, books and themes. The programming has been mostly separated by region for 2024, and events in the Salt Lake Valley wrap up over the course of the next several days. Here are some of the remaining highlights for those who just can't get enough bookishness in their lives; all events are free to the public.

AUTHOR EVENTS
Jeff Nichols: In works including creative non-fiction, short fiction, poetry and more, The Arches Reader collects examples of how the distinctive landscape of Arches National Park has inspired visitors. The 2024 anthology's editor, Jeff Nichols, discusses "Stories from the Arches" at Salt Lake City Library Auditorium (210 E. 400 South) on Friday, Oct. 18 at 4 p.m.

Brandon Mull: Fantasy writer Brandon Mull may be one of Utah's most popular literary exports, creating fantasy series like Fablehaven, Dragonwatch and Beyonders. Mull visits the Salt Lake City Library Auditorium (210 E. 400 South) for a discussion, reading and signing event Friday, Oct. 18 at 5 p.m.

Zak Podmore: Environmental journalist Zak Podmore explored the impacts of climate change on the American Southwest—with a focus on Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam—in his 2024 book Life After Dead Pool: Lake Powell's Last Days and the Rebirth of the Colorado River. The author discusses his book and what the future of the region could look like at the Salt Lake City Library Auditorium (210 E. 400 South) Friday, Oct. 18 at 6:30 p.m.

Mike Finkel: Stéphane Breitwieser, over the course of eight years and more than 200 heists, become the most prolific art thief in history, accumulating works for his own private collection and never benefiting from them financially. Park City-based author Mike Finkel explores Breitwieser's story in 2023's The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, and discusses the New York Times bestseller at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (20 S. West Temple) on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 6:30 p.m.

Tim Z. Hernandez: In 2017, author Tim Z. Hernandez published All They Will Call You, his exploration of the 1948 California plane crash that resulted in 32 fatalities, including 28 Mexican citizens being deported by the U.S. government. This year, he releases the new memoir They Call You Back, about his personal efforts to find the surviving family members of that crash's victims. He discusses his books at Ken Sanders Rare Books in The Leonardo building (209 E. 500 South) on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 6:30 p.m.

• Courtesy photo
• Laurie Lee Hall

Laurie Lee Hall: Living as a man, Laurie Lee Hall was a high-ranking elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and an architect who designed temples; when she decided to live her truth as a woman, she was excommunicated. Hall discusses her upcoming memoir Dictates of Conscience: From Mormon High Priest to My New Life as a Woman at the Salt Lake City Main Library Auditorium (210 E. 400 South) on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 4 p.m.

Al Hess: Writer Al Hess has found a unique niche folding the worlds of neurodivergent and queer characters into science-fiction tropes in books like Yours Celestially, World Running Down and the award-winning Hep Cats of Boise series. Hess discusses his work at The Legendarium bookstore (349 E. 900 South) on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 2 p.m.

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS
League of Utah Writers Banned Books Discussion: It's been an (unfortunately) eventful year in Utah for the subject of book-banning, with new legislative rules for our schools. The executive committee of the League of Utah Writers—including regular City Weekly contributor Bryan Young—discusses what has happened and what comes next at Salt Lake City Library's Marmalade Branch (280 W. 500 North) on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 11 a.m.

Creative Tensions: Freedom to Read: Salt Lake City Library executive director Noah Baskett and a panel of authors discuss the challenges to artistic freedom involved in book-banning and other censorship efforts at the Salt Lake City Library 4th Floor Conference Center (210 E. 400 South) on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 3 p.m.

Great Salt Lake Conversation: Authors, artists and activists join in a conversation about being inspired by the Great Salt Lake in an event at the Salt Lake City Library Auditorium (210 E. 400 South) on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 4 p.m.

WRITER RESOURCES
Great Writing No Matter the Genre: Writer/editor Lisa Mangum leads a workshop for writers exploring some of the fundamentals of creating characters, establishing conflict and other creative tools in the Salt Lake City Library 4th Floor Conference Center (210 E. 400 South) on Friday, Oct. 18 at 3 p.m.

The Joy, Wonder and Magic of Research in the Middle Grade Book: Authors of middle-grade books including Allison Hong Merrill and Amy Bearce discuss how researching their subjects enriches their writing, and their research processes, in a presentation on the lower level of the Salt Lake City Main Library (210 E. 400 South) on Friday, Oct. 18 at 4 p.m.