Event Recap: 2025 Columbus Book Festival

This past July, the Columbus Book Festival returned for its third year of celebrating readers, writers, and the joy of reading at Columbus Metropolitan Library (Main) and Topiary Park. The free, two-day event brought 200+ national and local authors, a variety of panels, community energy, and a vibrant Festival Marketplace filled with books, independent creators, and local vendors.

What the Festival Looks Like

• Panel Discussions & Author Talks: Inside the historic Main Library and outside in tents, readers gathered to hear authors discuss craft, creativity, and their latest books.
• Official Festival Bookstore: New titles from featured authors were sold and signed with fans lining up to connect and collect.
• Indie Author Alley & Marketplace: Outside in Topiary Park, dozens of independent and self-published authors exhibited books directly to visitors, alongside bookish merch and community tables. Interested folks can apply here!
• Food, Music & Community Vibes: Local food vendors, entertainment, and the bustle of fellow book lovers made the weekend feel like a neighborhood block party with a literary heart.

Of course, I was there to see a whole bunch of my fav YA and queer authors! I went to Columbus Book Festival this summer mostly to listen (Oh, and moderate two panels!). What surprised me was how often different conversations kept circling the same ideas, even when the books themselves couldn’t have been more different.

There was a lot of relief in the way authors talked about writing queer stories, especially adult ones. Relief like I don’t have to explain myself anymore; writing adults who get to be complicated, sexual, funny, and messy. A few authors talked about coming from fanfic or YA and how writing for adults felt like exhaling. Like refilling a creative well that had been running dry.

Some of the most interesting moments were about where stories come from in the first place. LT Thompson talked about pirate communities as queer-safe spaces, not romanticized, just practical. When the world shuts you out, you build something else. Carlyn Green talked about writing a book inspired by theme parks (while living in LA…;)) and the quiet weirdness of places built entirely for joy, setting it around concepts like the opening of Galaxy’s Edge and letting death exist in the background anyway. That idea stayed with me: even the happiest places are still built on real ground.

I loved hearing how writers figure out their characters. Mia P. Manansala wrestled with why a seventeen-year-old would realistically get pulled into a case at all and ended up leaning into Veronica Mars and tarot. Literally pulling cards and letting them guide the story. Jenna Voris writes by assigning songs to scenes, putting the playlist on shuffle, and following wherever it lands. No neat rules. Just whatever keeps the story moving.

Not everything was light. There were conversations about writing big Black families (looking at you, Julian Winters) and what it means to move through publishing as a Black queer author, the extra calculations, the things you’re asked to carry that others aren’t. Adib Khorram talked about being deeply aware of the AIDS crisis and the Reagan era while writing, and choosing joy on purpose when telling stories that stretch beyond personal experience.

Book bans came up, too. The reality of them, not the sound bite version. Sales dropping, not spiking. Adults not trusting young people to know what they want to read. The quiet pressure to be “brave,” without anyone being clear about what that actually costs.

One of the highlights of BookFest for me was moderating two panels that reminded me why I love these conversations so much. I moderated Second Chance: Queer Romance with Lauren Marie Fleming (Because Fat Girl), Amy Spalding (On Her Terms), and Julian Winters (I Think They Love You). We talked broadly about starting over, fake relationships, ambition, and what it means for queer characters to risk love and happiness in pursuit of the lives they want. I also moderated Not Quite Human: Otherworldly Characters with Lindy Ryan (Another Fine Mess), Vivian Shaw (Strange New World), and Nghi Vo (Don’t Sleep with the Dead). That panel explored how ghouls, demons, angels, zombies, and other non-human figures can illuminate very human fears, desires, and survival instincts, often revealing that the true danger isn’t the monster at all. If you have a chance to have a conversation with Nghi Vo, please don’t pass it up.

I left the festival tired in a good way. Full of other people’s thoughts. Grateful for rooms where writers can be honest about how hard this is, and why they keep doing it anyway. Readers, that is us!

I can’t wait to see how 2026 goes – join us July 11-12, 2026!