Sanibel Public Library: Author Series

For more than a decade, the Library, partnering with the Sanibel Public Library Foundation, has connected local readers to award-winning authors by bringing in high caliber writers for an intimate evening, followed by a book signing and champagne reception.

One of America’s most celebrated literary figures, Joyce Carol Oates, called the Sanibel Public Library “spectacular,” in her 2011 bestseller, A Widow’s Story: A Memoir. The author appeared in 2008 at “An Evening with Joyce Carol Oates,” the inaugural event of the (now annual) Sanibel Public Library Author Series.

Author Series has presented multiple award winners, including:

-Pulitzer Prize winners: Edwin Burrows, Jennifer Egan, Robert K. Massie, Elizabeth Strout

-National Book Award winner: Joyce Carol Oates

-Margaret Atwood, winner of two Booker Prizes, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, Franz Kafka Prize, National Book Critics and PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Awards

-Billy Collins, who served as U.S. Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2003

-Blockbuster bestsellers: David Baldacci, Lee Child, Harlan Coben, Clive Cussler, Dennis Lehane, Amor Towles

Past Author Series speakers also include Sue Monk Kidd, Jodi Picoult, Lee Child, Erik Larson, Peter Bergen, Debbie Macomber, and Lisa Scottoline.

In 2012 a luncheon with author Sue Miller was held to benefit the SPL Foundation, which supports programs and resources of the Library. Since then, the annual Lunch with the Author has hosted more than ten critically-acclaimed authors including Chris Bohjalian, Paula McLain, Melanie Benjamin, and Martha Hall Kelly.

Sanibel Public Library Author Series

2008 – 2022