Since 2017, the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference (SVWC) has partnered with The Community Library in Ketchum to host a free literary lecture for the local community. In 2021, the partnership expanded and has now become the year-round Community Speaker Series, featuring multiple free talks throughout the year, with a few speakers “bookending” the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference each July.

This year, we are excited to announce our 2022 July lineup, featuring three distinguished presenters. Award-winning author Imbolo Mbue will discuss her latest novel, How Beautiful We Were, on July 11. On July 13, Erich Schwartzel will be detailing China’s growing influence over the American film industry in a talk featuring his latest book, Red Carpet. And on July 20, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ayad Akhtar will talk with us about Homeland Elegies, the profound and provocative story of an immigrant father and his son searching for belonging in America.

All talks will be held at 7:00pm in Ketchum’s Forest Service Park. We welcome the community to bring blankets, low-back chairs, and picnics to this free outdoor evening series. No registration is required, and book signings will follow. In the event of poor weather, the lectures will be moved to the Lecture Hall at The Community Library.

If you can’t make it in person, livestreaming of this event will also be available at comlib.org. Visit svwc.com/community-speaker-series for more details. We hope to see you there!

We thank our donors and their generosity for making this special program possible.