The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Festival of Books presented by the University of San Diego, College of Arts and Sciences connects readers, booksellers, authors and businesses around a common love of the written word at its first-ever virtual festival!

The festival is FREE to attend. Festival goers must register via Eventbrite to receive important day of information. All of the festival content will be accessible and viewable on sdfestivalofbooks.com on Aug. 29.

Attendees can expect the following:

• More than 75 award-winning authors will be featured during this virtual event. Headlining authors include Walter Mosley, Robert Crais, Shilpi Somaya Gowda, Jean Guerrero, Matt de la Peña, Adalyn Grace, Rae Armantrout, Chuck Klosterman and more!

• This year’s virtual festival will also feature a special social justice panel featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Wesley Lowery, author of “They Can’t Kill Us All: The Story of the Struggle for Black Lives.”

• Additional festival highlights include interactive panel sessions, a virtual children’s stage with readings and activities, poetry readings, art and writing workshops, livestream music and entertainment, and Spanish language and bilingual programming.

• KPBS returns as a festival partner this year and will announce the selections for One Book, One San Diego, now in its 14th year.

• The San Diego Council on Literacy is the festival’s nonprofit partner.

Local independent bookstores play an important role in the festival each year, helping with programming and suggesting authors for the panel discussions. Attendees are encouraged to support these local bookstores, which include The Book Catapult, Diesel A Bookstore, The Library Shop, UC San Diego Bookstore, Warwick’s, Run for Cover Bookstore, Mysterious Galaxy and La Playa books.

Our presenting sponsor is the University of San Diego, College of Arts and Sciences. Other sponsors include USD Humanities Center, KPBS, Amor 102.9, Qué Bueno 106.5 and Stats Digital.

For sponsorship opportunities, please contact fiona.leung@sduniontribune.com.