Author & Publisher Events
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Author and publisher events are a must-do at PLA Conference. Join your fellow book lovers to hear from award-winning authors, socialize with your colleagues, and get your books signed! All times are Central Daylight Saving Time. ($) indicates an event requiring a separate paid registration or ticket.  (★) indicates an event requiring a separate free registration or ticket.
Audio Publishers Association Lunch ($)
Wednesday, April 1, 2026, 12:30 PM–1:45 PM
$70
Join your fellow conference attendees to hear from award-winning authors and audiobook narrators, network and socialize with your colleagues, and get your books signed!
Children's-Author Breakfast (★)
Thursday, April 2, 2026, 7:00 AM–8:00 AM
This event requires a separate registration but is currently sold out.
Start your day with a complimentary breakfast and hear from renowned children’s authors.
Donna Barba Higuera is the New York Times bestselling author. Her books reinvent history, folklore, and her own life experience into compelling storylines. She lives in Washington State with her family. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages and include Lupe Wong Won't Dance, El Cucuy Is Scared, Too!, The Last Cuentista Series, The Yellow Handkerchief, and have won awards including: the Newbery medal, both Pura Belpré medal and honor, PNBA best book of the year award, and the Sid Fleischman award for best children's humor book of the year.
Sara Pennypacker is the author of several acclaimed novels for middle-grade readers, including The Lions’ Run; the #1 New York Times bestselling Pax (a National Book Award Longlist title) and Pax, Journey Home; the Clementine series (Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor) and its spinoff series, Waylon; and Summer of the Gypsy Moths, Here in the Real World, and Leeva at Last. She divides her time between Cape Cod and Southern California.
Marley Dias made headlines as a sixth grader when she started the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign to collect children's books featuring Black protagonists. Her initiative led to national media attention and served as a springboard to Marley’s global literacy advocacy work and social activism. Her book Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You! was hailed in a Kirkus Reviews starred review as “an irresistible call to action for people of all ages.” Marley is currently the Ambassador of National Educational Association (NEA) Read Across America and serves as Host and Executive Producer of Netflix’s “Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices.” The Dias family lives in New Jersey. To learn more, visit marleydias.com/about.
Katherine Applegate is the Newbery Medal-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author of numerous books for young readers, including the One and Only series, the Endling series, Wombat Waiting, Crenshaw, Wishtree, Willodeen, Odder, the Roscoe Riley Rules chapter books series, and the Animorphs series. She lives with her family in Nevada.
Author Lunch with Ann Patchett & Kate DiCamillo ($)
Thursday, April 2, 2026, 12:30 PM–1:45 PM
$70
Join us on Thursday to hear from award-winning authors Ann Patchett and Kate DiCamillo!
Ann Patchett is the author of novels, most recently the #1 New York Times bestselling Tom Lake, works of nonfiction, and children's books. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the PEN/Faulkner, the Women's Prize for Fiction in the UK, and the Book Sense Book of the Year. Her novel The Dutch House was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages, and Time magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. President Biden awarded her the National Humanities Medal in recognition of her contributions to American culture. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she is the owner of Parnassus Books. Her novel Whistler is forthcoming in June of 2026.
Kate DiCamillo is one of America’s most beloved storytellers. She is a former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and a two-time Newbery Medalist. Born in Philadelphia, she grew up in Florida and now lives in Minneapolis.
Author Lunch with Colson Whitehead ($)
Friday, April 3, 2026, 12:30 PM–1:45 PM
$70
Join us on Friday to hear from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead!
Colson Whitehead is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twelve works of fiction and nonfiction, and is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, for The Nickel Boys and The Underground Railroad, which also won the National Book Award. A recipient of MacArthur and Guggenheim fellowships, he lives in New York City.
Book Buzz Stage
Thursday, April 2–Friday, April 3, 2026
Hear the latest publisher buzz for 2026 at the Book Buzz Stage! Stay tuned for more information.
PLA thanks Ingram for its support of the Book Buzz Stage.
Ingram is a platinum-level sponsor of the PLA 2026 Conference.
