Keep up with our literary programming—no matter where you live. Dive in to discover writers and performances featured at the Library of Congress.
Featured Videos
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Film, VideoFamily Day: Comics with Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud As part of a full day of free family-friendly fun and performances to celebrate the opening of The Source: Where Curiosity Sparks Discovery, join bestselling cocreators Raina Telgemeier and cartoonist Scott McCloud as they talk about their middle grade graphic novel, “The Cartoonists Club.” Participate in an exciting interactive program that includes inspiration for coming up with ideas for comics, live drawing and a…- Contributor: Werb, Shari - McCloud, Scott - Telgemeier, Raina
- Date: 2026-05-09
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Film, VideoA Conversation with U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze and U.K. Poet Laureate Simon Armitage U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze and U.K. Poet Laureate Simon Armitage will join the stage for the first time, to discuss their new books: Sze’s “Transient Worlds: On Translating Poetry” and Armitage’s “Gilgamesh: A New Verse Translation.” A book signing will follow.Arthur Sze is a poet, translator, and editor, and in 2025 he was named the 25th Poet Laureate of the United States. He…- Contributor: Werb, Shari - Sze, Arthur - Armitage, Simon
- Date: 2026-04-30
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Film, VideoNobel Laureate Poets: Gabriela Mistral, Nelly Sachs, Wisława Szymborska A celebration of Women’s History Month, a reading and conversation focused on three 20th century laureates. Featuring translators Edward Hirsch, Anna Deeny Morales, and Joshua Weiner, and moderated by poet and scholar Rosanna Warren.- Contributor: Warren, Rosanna - Gomez, Catalina - Weiner, Joshua - Deeny Morales, Anna - Hirsch, Edward
- Date: 2026-03-12
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Film, VideoA Conversation with Robert Pinsky Former three-time U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky returns to the Library for a discussion of his poetry and criticism with Ron Charles, who writes about books on Substack. A book signing will follow.Robert Pinsky was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, in 1940. His poetry collections include “Sadness and Happiness” (1975), “The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems 1966-1996” (1996), “At the Foundling Hospital”…- Contributor: Charles, Ron - Pinsky, Robert
- Date: 2026-03-05
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Film, VideoAn Evening with Norah O’Donnell “We the Women: The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America” is prominent broadcast journalist Norah O’Donnell’s new book, a kaleidoscopic portrait of unsung American women from 1776 to now who have shaped America, though they may not have received the credit they deserve. Join us as O’Donnell is in conversation with Dana Bash about these untold stories.- Contributor: Bash, Dana - Smith, Clay - O'Donnell, Norah - Donfried, Karen
- Date: 2026-03-05
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Film, VideoLove Is a Renaissance Love is an anchor in times of change. Bestselling novelists Isabel Ibañez and RaShonda Tate take us on a journey into the Italian and Harlem Renaissances to explore the power of love in times of uncertainty and innovation. Join us to hear from the authors behind “Graceless Heart” and “With Love From Harlem.”Moderated by Destinee Hodge. Book signing to follow. Enjoy the display of…- Contributor: Hodge, Destinee - Tate, Reshonda - Ibañez, Isabel - Dowdy, Sasha
- Date: 2026-02-12
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Film, VideoU.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze Opening Reading Award-winning poet Arthur Sze gave his inaugural reading as the 25th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress. The historic reading marked the beginning of Sze’s laureateship.- Contributor: Fernández, Rep. Teresa Leger - Sze, Arthur - Newlen, Robert Randolph
- Date: 2025-12-11
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Film, VideoArthur Sze with Kimiko Hahn U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze participated in an event at the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library of Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY) on Monday, December 8, 2025. Sze chose Queens College specifically because of their first-generation immigrant population and multitude of languages spoken on campus, as well as their MFA Program in Creative Writing and Literary Translation. At the event Sze and…- Contributor: Sze, Arthur - Hahn, Kimiko - V. Matos Rodríguez, Félix
- Date: 2025-12-08
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Film, VideoMac Barnett and Jennifer Garner Consider the Picture Book Bestselling children’s book author and National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Mac Barnett joins actress Jennifer Garner, a passionate advocate for children’s literacy, for a conversation about great literature hiding in plain sight: the children’s picture book. The National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature is a partnership between the Library of Congress and Every Child a Reader.- Contributor: Barnett , Mac - Garner , Jennifer
- Date: 2025-12-05
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Film, VideoKatherine Rundell Presents The Impossible Creatures Series Do you love a thrilling adventure, feisty characters, and a world full of remarkable creatures? Join Katherine Rundell, author of the bestselling children’s fantasy novel “Impossible Creatures,” as she shares the next book in the series, “The Poisoned King,” with fans of all things magical. Katherine Rundell is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of “Impossible Creatures” and “The Poisoned King.” Her other…- Contributor: Rundell, Katherine - Dowdy, Sasha
- Date: 2025-09-27
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Film, VideoLive! At The Library: An Evening with Mary Roach We live in a technologically advanced era, but is it so advanced that replacement body parts are common, even grown from 3D printers? What does it mean to be human when body parts may come from printers or animals? With her infectious curiosity, bestselling author Mary Roach, talked about her new book “Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy,” at this event. Mary Roach is…- Contributor: Roach, Mary - Larson, Christina - Harbster, Jennifer
- Date: 2025-09-25
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Film, VideoBlack Literary Heroes with A’Lelia Bundles and Glory Edim An evening celebrating Black women writers and literary heroes with A’Lelia Bundles (“Joy Goddess”), whose great-grandmother A’Lelia Walker was crucial to the Harlem Renaissance, and Glory Edim, whose new book is “Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me.” Marita Golden, novelist and co-founder of the Hurston/Wright Foundation, moderated.- Contributor: Bundles, A'lelia - Golden, Marita - Smith, Clay - Edim, Glory
- Date: 2025-07-17
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Film, VideoA Look Behind the Book A behind the scenes glimpse of Integrated Support Services and the work done to ensure the Library continues to meets its forward facing mission. Viewers have an opportunity to see the logistical operations of moving & storing items in the collection, maintaining the facility from interior design to water leaks to collections environmental needs and all the while ensuring employees health and safety are…- Contributor: Packer, Terrence - Gorrell, Shannon - Gibson, David - Nadzady, Joe - Iosefson, Ross - Price, Anthony - Slye, Derrick - Kelts, David - Ojegun, Milverton - Gunter, Tanesha - Studtmann, Naomi
- Date: 2025-07-17
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Film, VideoIntroduction to U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze. An interview with Arthur Sze, 25th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress. Interview conducted by Roswell Encina, former chief of the Office of Communications, Outreach and External Relations, on July 18, 2025 in the Thomas Jefferson Building.- Contributor: Sze, Arthur
- Date: 2025-07-17
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Film, VideoFamily Day: Juneteenth Author Program with Jewell Parker Rhodes As part of Family Day, bestselling and award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes discussed her new middle grade novel, “Will’s Race for Home,” a thrilling adventure story about a boy and his father who set out to win land during the Oklahoma Land Rush – if they can survive the journey. Set in 1889, twenty-five years after the Emancipation Proclamation, this story will resonate with…- Contributor: Rhodes, Jewell Parker - Brewer, Caroline - Dowdy, Sasha
- Date: 2025-06-21
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Film, VideoThomas Mallon on the Early Days of the HIV/AIDS Crisis Novelist Thomas Mallon talked about his recently-published book,”The Very Heart of It: New York Diaries, 1983-1994″ with Clay Smith. In 2022, The New Yorker published a selection of Mallon’s diaries from the early days of the HIV/AIDS crisis. The response was immense. The Library holds Mallon’s personal archives, including his diaries, book and article drafts, research files, and correspondence.- Contributor: Encina, Roswell - Smith, Clay - Mallon, Thomas
- Date: 2025-06-05
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Film, VideoJonathan Capehart in Conversation with Michele Norris Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jonathan Capehart came to the Library to talk about his memoir, “Yet Here I Am: Lessons from a Black Man’s Search for Home.” Capehart was in conversation with journalist Michele Norris.- Contributor: Capehart, Jonathan - Encina, Roswell - Norris, Michele
- Date: 2025-06-05
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Film, VideoMary Oliver Memorial Reading The second annual reading Mary Oliver Memorial Reading at the Library of Congress highlighted emerging poets writing on the natural world. Bestselling poet and writer Aimee Nezhukumatathil read with emerging poets Ariana Benson and Robin Walter. A moderated discussion and book signing followed the reading. Ariana Benson’s debut poetry collection, “Black Pastoral,” won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and…- Contributor: Casper, Rob - Walter, Robin - Benson, Ariana - Werb, Shari - Nezhukumatathil, Aimee
- Date: 2025-05-29
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Film, VideoPoet Laureate Closing Event with Ada Limón To conclude her historic two-term, three-year appointment as U.S. Poet Laureate, Ada Limón talked about the art of poetry. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress from 2022-2025, Ada Limón is the author of six books of poetry-including “The Carrying,” which won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her book “Bright Dead Things” was nominated for the National Book Award, the…- Contributor: Hayden, Carla - Limón, Ada
- Date: 2025-04-17
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Film, Video“The Great Gatsby” at 100: A Public Reading On the exact 100th anniversary of the publication date of “The Great Gatsby,” the Library of Congress is producing a full reading of the novel, livestreamed from our Thomas Jefferson building on Capitol Hill. Be an old sport and join us in-person or online to experience this classic American novel which entered the public domain in 2021.- Contributor: Harbster, Jennifer "Jj" - Broughton, Jason - Fox, Susan - Montelongo, Ofelia - Encina, Roswell - Riddell, Julia - Dickerson, Ashley - Sommers, Hannah - Klitzman, Zach - Philion, Norm ... Harbster, Jennifer "Jj" - Broughton, Jason - Fox, Susan - Montelongo, Ofelia - Encina, Roswell - Riddell, Julia - Dickerson, Ashley - Sommers, Hannah - Klitzman, Zach - Philion, Norm - Newlen, Robert - Long, Marissa - Lofton, Jeffrey - Choie, Diane - Werb, Shari - Chenevey, Steve - Smith, Monica M. - Schraf, Kim - Smith, Clay - Yang, Eun - Montgomery, Mimi - Amar, Chilli - Baiorunos, Karen - Martin, Michael - Ramsey, Ryan - Werb, Bret - Thuronyi, George - Harcourt, Xander - Neary, Denise - Charles, Ron
- Date: 2025-04-10
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Film, VideoDiscovery Night: Mindy Weisberger and Rebecca Lemov At a special discovery night at the Library, nonfiction writers Mindy Weisberger and Rebecca Lemov discussed their new books. In “Rise of the Zombie Bugs,” Weisberger reveals the history of zombifying parasitic insects. Lemov’s “The Instability of Truth: Brainwashing, Mind Control, and Hyper-Persuasion” details the hidden history of brainwashing.- Contributor: Weisberger, Mindy - Encina, Roswell - Lemov, Rebecca - Smith, Clay
- Date: 2025-04-03
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Film, VideoDouglas Kearney with Ron Charles Douglas Kearney speaks with Washington Post Book Critic Ron Charles about his groundbreaking new collection of visual poems, “I Imagine I Been Science Fiction Always.” Douglas Kearney has published eight books ranging from poetry to essays. In 2023, “Optic Subwoof,” a collection of his Bagley Wright lectures, won the Poetry Foundation’s Pegasus Prize for Poetry Criticism and the CLMP Firecracker Award for Creative Nonfiction.…- Contributor: Charles, Ron - Kearney, Douglas - Smith, Clay
- Date: 2025-02-27
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Film, VideoStory Time for Grownups with National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Award-winning author-illustrators Cece Bell and Raúl the Third, and 2008-2009 National Ambassador for Young People Literature Jon Scieszka, believe that picture books are important and give us an opportunity to be playful and mischievous, no matter our age. Learn about the surprising mechanics and artistry of picture books, enjoy stimulating read-alouds and indulge in storytime-themed beverages. We provide the blankets and hot chocolate, you…- Contributor: The Third, Raúl - Creightney, Anya - Bell, Cece - Scieszka, Jon - Barnett, Mac
- Date: 2025-02-06
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Film, VideoNational Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Inauguration: Mac Barnett Award-winning author Mac Barnett will be inaugurated as the 2025-2026 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, the ninth writer to hold this position. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden will lead a conversation with Barnett during the ceremony. The National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature is an initiative of the Library of Congress, in partnership with Every Child a Reader, with generous support from The…- Contributor: Hayden, Carla - Creightney, Anya - Birkhead, Shaina - Klassen, Jon - Barnett, Mac
- Date: 2025-02-06
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Film, VideoMeet Dav Pilkey! Meet bestselling author and illustrator Dav Pilkey! Inspired by one of the themes in the Dog Man series – that ordinary people can do extraordinarily good deeds – the event shined a spotlight on everyday heroes who make a positive impact in their own communities. Join the library for a very special start to Dav Pilkey’s U.S. tour at the world’s largest library! Dav…- Contributor: Hayden, Carla - Pilkey, DAV
- Date: 2025-01-29