The American Booksellers Association's 21st annual Winter Institute, which will be held February 23-26 in Pittsburgh, Pa., is featuring the following keynote speakers:
Tuesday, February 24
LeVar Burton, the award-winning actor, director, producer, and podcaster whose decades-long body of work includes Roots, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Reading Rainbow. As a lifelong literacy advocate, Burton has dedicated decades to encouraging children to read. He's the ABA's current Indie Bookstore Ambassador.
Janet Webster Jones, owner of Source Booksellers, Detroit, Mich., and a retired educator from the Detroit Public Schools, where she spent a 40-year career. She has been in the bookselling business since 1989.
Wednesday, February 25
Xochitl Gonzalez, the author of Anita de Monte Laughs Last, a Reese's Book Club Pick and longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize, and the award-winning Olga Dies Dreaming.
Audrey I-Wei Huang, a frontline bookseller at Belmont Books in Belmont, Mass. She served on a number of awards and bookselling committees, and was named Handseller of the Year by the Book Publisher Representatives of New England in 2024.
Marlon James, author of the Booker Prize-winning A Brief History of Seven Killings and the award-winning novels Black Leopard, Red Wolf; Moon Witch, Spider King; The Book of Night Women; and John Crow's Devil.
Min Jin Lee, author of the novels Free Food for Millionaires and Pachinko, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and one of the New York Times "100 Best Books of the Century."
Colson Whitehead, the author of 12 works of fiction and nonfiction, a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and a National Book Award winner.
Thursday, February 26
Isaac Fitzgerald, the author of Dirtbag, Massachusetts and the children's book How to Be a Pirate; and co-author of Pen & Ink and Knives & Ink.
Aimee Nezhukumatathil, the author of two illustrated collections of essays (Bite by Bite and World of Wonders), four award-winning poetry collections; and has served as a poetry editor for environmental magazines.
Thursday, February 26, Featured Speaker
Brenna Connor, industry analyst, Circana Books, who has been working with data and analytics for a decade in roles including marketing, research, and insights. She is an expert on trends in the book industry.