Welcome to the first full day of events for the 10th anniversary of the Montclair Literary Festival.
All of these events take place in downtown Montclair on May 2 in the First Congregational Church (FCC; two venues), the Montclair Public Library (MPL) Auditorium, and in Mills Auditorium (in the former United Way Building).
The majority of events are FREE, except for these three talks. Registration is not required for all other events.
Eugene Robinson at 12:15pm – tickets here
Colm Tóibín at 3:00pm – tickets here
Tom Perrotta at 5:30pm – tickets here
Metered parking is available in front of the FCC on South Fullerton and the Crescent, and free parking is available on surrounding streets (please check signs). Paid parking can be found at the Crescent, 1 Seymour Street and Glenridge Ave parking decks. See this map for more parking information.
A food truck – Silantro Lime Tacos – will be available outside the FCC for food purchases, or the fabulous restaurants along Church St are just a short stroll away.
We have an incredible line-up this year and hope you can join us!
SATURDAY MAY 2, 9:00 A.M. – 10:50 A.M. FREE EVENT
Venue: Mills Auditorium
POETRY CAFÉ
SATURDAY MAY 2, 10:00 A.M. – 11:00 A.M. FREE EVENT
Venue: First Congregational Church, The Guild Room
HOW TO GET PUBLISHED
SATURDAY MAY 2, 11:15 A.M. – 12:15 P.M. FREE EVENT
Venue: Montclair Public Library Auditorium
STEPHEN SONDHEIM:
ART ISN'T EASY
SATURDAY MAY 2, 11:15 A.M. – 12:15 P.M. FREE EVENT
Venue: Mills Auditorium
THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND HATE
POLITICS/RELIGION Comedian and broadcaster John Fugelsang—the son of a former Catholic nun and a Franciscan brother—delivers a deeply irreverent yet biblically grounded takedown of far-right Christian hatred in The Separation of Church and Hate, a book for believers, atheists, and agnostics alike. Told with Fugelsang’s trademark blend of radical honesty, sharp comedy, and deep political and religious insight, it is a rallying cry for compassion and clarity for anyone—of any faith or none—who is tired of seeing religion used as a cloak for hate. John will be in conversation with author and journalist Eric Roston.
SATURDAY MAY 2, 12:15 P.M. – 1:15 P.M. TICKETS $35
Venue: First Congregational Church, Sanctuary
FREEDOM LOST, FREEDOM WON
US HISTORY Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Eugene Robinson recounts America’s long and painful racial history through the story of his own family in Freedom Lost, Freedom Won. Beginning with his great-grandfather’s liberation from slavery and continuing through Robinson’s own life to the era of Black Lives Matter, the book asks a pressing question: will this moment finally bring lasting change? In conversation with Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security.
Tickets $35 including a copy of the book. Eugene will be signing books after the talk.
bit.ly-MLF-Freedom
SATURDAY MAY 2, 12:30 P.M. – 1:30 P.M. FREE EVENT
Venue: Montclair Public Library Auditorium
LEAN ON ME
FICTION Laurie Lico Albanese (Stolen Beauty, Hester) introduces two novels that celebrate the bonds that unite us in troubled times. In Wait for Me, Amy Jo Burns tells the story of two female folk singers, the love stories that haunt them, and the music that brings them together to burn bright. Emily Nemens’s Clutch follows a group of five women, friends for twenty years, as they go through the biggest challenges of their lives, asking: When you’re hanging on by your fingernails, how can you extend a hand to the ones you love?
SATURDAY MAY 2, 1:45 P.M. – 2:45 P.M. FREE EVENT
Venue: Montclair Public Library Auditorium
ROCK 'N' ROLL HALL OF FAME
BIOGRAPHY/MUSIC Take a front-row seat to the creative forces that reshaped modern music! Jim Windolf’s Where the Music Had to Go explores the remarkable relationship between Bob Dylan and the Beatles and the sparks that fly when legends collide. Warren Zanes (Petty, Deliver Me From Nowhere) joins Windolf to discuss this lively dual biography—an unexplored story of camaraderie, rivalry, and mutual evolution that transformed popular music. An unmissable experience for music lovers.
SATURDAY MAY 2, 1:45 P.M. – 2:45 P.M. FREE EVENT
Venue: First Congregational Church, The Guild Room
JOYCE CAROL OATES
SUSPENSE Double Trouble delivers a powerful dose of psychological suspense, pairing two complete novels and two rare short stories from six-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Joyce Carol Oates. Originally written four decades ago under the name “Rosamond Smith,” these works explore betrayal, deception, lust, and murder through stories of twins, doubles, and hidden identities—while Oates herself kept her own literary double life secret. Oates appears in conversation with bestselling author and artist Jonathan Santlofer.
SATURDAY MAY 2, 3:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. TICKETS $35
Venue: First Congregational Church, Sanctuary
THE NEWS FROM DUBLIN
SHORT STORIES Colm Tóibín—author of Brooklyn and Long Island and “one of the world’s best living literary writers” (The Boston Globe)—joins us to discuss The News from Dublin, his brilliant new story collection set across Ireland, Spain, and America. A master of both the novel and the short story, Tóibín brings extraordinary emotional depth to even the briefest tale, drawing with unforgettable empathy characters who face war’s aftermath, forbidden love, and the quiet struggles of ordinary life. In conversation with Garth Risk Hallberg (City on Fire, The Second Coming).
Tickets $35 including a copy of the book. Colm will be signing books after the talk.
bit.ly/MLF-Dublin
SATURDAY MAY 2, 3:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. FREE EVENT
Venue: Montclair Public Library Auditorium
JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
HISTORICAL FICTION Step back in time for a Jazz Age murder mystery and an epic multigenerational love story. In Valerie Wilson Wesley’s The Mysterious Death of Junetta Plum, set at the dazzling height of the Roaring Twenties, an independent Black intellectual and her foster child are drawn into the vibrant world of the Harlem Renaissance—and a shocking murder on Striver’s Row. Spanning over a hundred and fifty years, Morgan Jerkins’s extraordinary novel Zeal intertwines the stories of two star-crossed lovers and their descendants, illuminating the legacy of slavery and the power of romantic love. Moderated by Lisa Williamson Rosenberg (Mirror Me).
SATURDAY MAY 2, 4:15 P.M. – 5:15 P.M. FREE EVENT
Venue: Montclair Public Library Auditorium
WOMEN UNDER FIRE
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR These fearless journalists risked everything to report the truth. In Starry and Restless, Julia Cooke introduces three extraordinary writers—Martha Gellhorn, Emily “Mickey” Hahn, and Rebecca West—whose ambition, courage, and storytelling shaped the twentieth century. In Defiance, Syrian photojournalist Loubna Mrie recounts her journey from the streets of Aleppo to exile in New York, offering a powerful portrait of resistance and moral courage in the face of violence and authoritarianism. Moderated by Anastasia Rubis (Oriana).
SATURDAY MAY 2, 4:15 P.M. – 5:15 P.M. FREE EVENT
Venue: Mills Auditorium
EYE-OPENING DEBUTS
FICTION Three striking debut books explore the complexities of family, friendship, and belonging. In Every Happiness, Reena Shah follows two women across decades and continents as rivalry, class differences, and family pressures shape their lives. Vincent Yu’s Seek Immediate Shelter imagines an Asian American community thrown into chaos by a false missile alert in a gripping story of survival and hope. Jill Rosenberg’s Now I’m Photogenic and Other Stories I Tell Myself probes alienation and asks whether real connection is worth the risk of misunderstanding. Moderated by Janis Hubschman (Take Me With You Next Time).
SATURDAY MAY 2, 5:30 P.M. – 6:30 P.M. TICKETS $35
Venue: First Congregational Church, Sanctuary
GHOST TOWN
FICTION Bestselling author Tom Perrotta—hailed as “the Steinbeck of suburbia” (Time) and “an American Chekhov” (The New York Times)—joins musician, author, and producer Warren Zanes (Petty, Deliver Me from Nowhere) to discuss Perrotta’s new novel Ghost Town. Set in suburban New Jersey during a turbulent 1970s summer, the book follows a middle-aged writer looking back on a series of events that changed his life. Ghost Town is one of LitHub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2026. Co-presented with Watchung Booksellers.
Tickets $35 including a copy of the book. Tom will be signing books after the talk.
bit.ly/MLF-Ghost