Bad Girls : Santa Barbara Literary Festival

Bad Girls brings together three fearless writers who explore women on the margins—rule breakers, rebels, and antiheroines who refuse to behave. Leslie Zemeckis, Ivy Pochoda, Alycia Vreeland, and Kari Ferrell examine how “bad” women have been portrayed, misunderstood, sensationalized, and reclaimed across history, true crime, and fiction. From scandal and survival to power and reinvention, this conversation digs into why stories about transgressive women both unsettle and captivate us. Together, these authors challenge cultural myths, interrogate morality, and reveal what happens when women step outside the lines—and claim their own narratives.

Kari Ferrell is a producer, writer, speaker, activist, and creator. Her work is centered around incarceration and the justice system, mental health, adoption, and other human rights issues she feels passionately about.

Kari's memoir, YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE ME: A Life of Lies, Second Tries, and Other Things I Should Only Tell My Therapistreceived a rave review from the New York Times (also featured on the cover of the New York Times Book Review), a starred review from Publishers Weekly, and was named a Goodreads Readers’ Most Anticipated Book of 2025. She is developing a scripted television program with Warner Brothers Discovery and Mindy Kaling’s Kaling International, and has other upcoming television projects.

Ivy Pochoda is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Wonder Valley, Visitation Street, These Women, and Sing Her Down which won the LA Times Book Prize. Her forthcoming novel, Ecstasy, will release on June 17, 2025. She won the 2018 Strand Critics Award for Best Novel and the Prix Page America in France, and has been a finalist for the the Edgar Award, among other awards. For many years, Ivy has led a creative writing workshop in Skid Row, Los Angeles where she helped found Skid Row Zine. She is currently a professor of creative writing at the University of California Riverside-Palm Desert low-residency MFA program. She lives in Los Angeles.

Leslie Zemeckis is a best-selling author, award-winning actress, and award-winning documentarian whose work spotlights formerly marginalized and stigmatized trailblazing women on our pop culture. Her books including the Amazon Editor’s pick Behind the Burly Q, Goddess of Love Incarnate and Feuding Fan Dancers. She has acting opposite Steve Carell Tom Hanks, Richard Lawson, and Colin Firth.

She is a founder of Stories Matter, a mentorship initiative supporting emerging female storytellers sponsored by ENTITY Magazine and the SBIFF. She writes a monthly book column in the Montecito Journal is a TedX speaker and was honored with the Ellis Island Island Medal of Honor in part for “sharing and preserving stories of women.

Zemeckis’s extensive experience as a writer and producer of acclaimed literary events and film projects is an invaluable asset to the Santa Barbara Literary Festival.

Alycia Vreeland is a writer, illustrator, who teaches art to little people, while residing below the American Riviera, close to the ocean, where you might find her looking for treasures, nibbling nachos while her toes are being caressed by the sand and sea.

Author and illustrator of Baby Darlin’, an award winning memoir. A 2024 Wishing Shelf finalist for best non fiction and cover design, 2024 Pushcart Nominee for “Pull the Plug”, and 2024 Titan award for best non fiction.

The Santa Barbara Literary Festival brings together readers and writers of every genre for a two day celebration of storytelling and inspiration. Engaging panels, enlightening workshops, pop-up events, and welcoming social gatherings, bring together established authors, emerging writers, and passionate readers in a uniquely intimate setting that fosters community centered around a shared love of the literary arts.

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