Keynote: Steven Rowley

Join bestselling author Steven Rowley for an intimate and inspiring keynote talk at the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara, as part of the Santa Barbara Literary Festival. Known for his heartfelt, witty, and emotionally resonant novels—including The Guncle, The Celebrants, and Lily and the Octopus—Rowley has become one of the most beloved voices in contemporary fiction.

In this keynote, Rowley will reflect on his creative journey, the themes that shape his work—love, grief, family, identity, and chosen community—and the craft behind writing stories that balance humor with profound emotional depth. He will also discuss his latest book, offering insight into his writing process, character development, and the personal experiences that inform his storytelling.

Both moving and laugh-out-loud funny, this conversation offers a behind-the-scenes look at a writer who has redefined modern queer fiction while speaking to universal human experiences.

A must-attend event for readers, writers, and anyone who believes in the transformative power of storytelling.

The Santa Barbara Literary Festival celebrates storytelling as a communal act. This keynote invites readers to connect deeply with an author whose work reminds us of literature’s power to illuminate even the darkest corners of the human experience.

Steven Rowley is the New York Times bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus, a Washington Post Notable Book of 2016, The Editor, named by NPR as one of the Best Books of 2019, The Guncle, a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist for 2021 Novel of the Year and winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor, The Celebrants, a TODAY Show Read With Jenna Book Club pick, the instant USA Today Bestseller The Guncle Abroad and the forthcoming novella The Dogs of Venice. His fiction has been published in twenty languages.

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Host or Publisher Santa Barbara Literary Festival