Festival Submissions

Submissions for the 2026 Festival open on December 1, 2025
and close on January 1, 2026.

Every May, the Montclair Literary Festival presents a week of literary programming featuring participants in panel discussions, solo book talks, readings, masterclasses, or something completely new and original. Most Festival programs offer panels with two to three speakers and a moderator. Book sales and signings immediately follow in-person programs and are held in the same venue. 

We select speakers through active recruitment as well as open festival submissions during December annually. During this time, we invite submissions of new, published books of adult fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

Books may be submitted by authors, publicists, or other publishing professionals with permission. We encourage festival submissions by individuals from diverse backgrounds, including race and ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation.

We would like to include local voices and give those who are under-represented in the mainstream literary world the opportunity to participate. We welcome festival submissions from Essex County and further afield in the Tri-State area, but please note we do not cover travel expenses.

In 2026, the 10th annual Montclair Literary Festival will take place between May 2 and May 9 – with two Festival Saturdays and events in between. Events will be in person in venues at Montclair State University or downtown Montclair.

Preference is given to books released in hardback from January to May 2026 or late in 2025. Books published only as e-books will not be considered.

All book sales are organized by our bookstore partner Watchung Booksellers.

Please submit the following:

• A succinct (one page or less) outline of your proposal including theme, content, brief participant bios, and how the event will contribute to the festival. 
• Author’s name/s, contact information, and bio of 150 words or less. Please include Speaker’s website and social media handles, including but not restricted to X/BlueSky, Substack, Instagram, and/or Facebook.
• A synopsis of each book, with two (2) copies of a finished book/galley/ARC/manuscript available to be sent on request. Please do not send books unless requested.
• Authors with self-published books may submit work if 1) the book has a professional editor; and, 2) the book is available to booksellers with standard discount terms and returnable.
• We welcome proposals for a panel discussion combining two or three authors willing and available to participate in the festival.

Submission Deadline: January 1, 2026.

To submit, please email montclairliteraryfestival@gmail.com. Festival submission notifications will be provided by February 15, 2026.

Succeed2gether is a non-profit organization that addresses unequal access to educational resources by providing free, high-quality enrichment and academic programs to children in need from Montclair and Essex County. The Montclair Literary Festival is a community-wide event that promotes literacy and reading for all, encourages the exchange of ideas, and engages with different points of view. Heading into its 10th year, the Festival has expanded rapidly, with audiences growing from 1,500 in 2017 to over 7,200 in 2021. Past headliners include Frank Bruni, Ruth Reichl, Harlan Coben, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Jennifer Egan, Ann Napolitano, Elizabeth Alexander, Salman Rushdie, Imbolo Mbue, Colm Tóibín, Malcolm Gladwell, Erik Larson, Scott Turow, Nicholas Kristof, Joyce Carol Oates, Patti Smith, Trevor Noah, Paul Auster, Anna Quindlen, Thomas Friedman, Meg Wolitzer, Douglas Stuart, Emily St. John Mandel, Min Jin Lee, and many more. Details of the 2025 Festival can be found here.