From novel to memoir, family recipes to sci-fi saga, stories have the power to connect us. Since 2020, San Mateo County Libraries has celebrated both stories and storytellers through our Adult Author Talk series, offering a behind-the-scenes look into how a writer transforms an idea into your next favorite book.
This month, we’re hosting not one, not two, not even three but four incredible authors, sharing fiction from a wide range of topics and styles.
We've already given you a sneak peek into Janelle Brown’s visit to the Atherton Library on Saturday, June 7. Now, we’re thrilled to highlight the three other writers lighting up our June line-up.
Meet Jemimah Wei, Author of The Original Daughter
On Wednesday, June 11 at 6:00 PM, log onto Zoom for a virtual talk with Jemimah Wei, author of The Original Daughter.
Register today to receive your Zoom link.
A Good Morning America Book Club Pick and a New York Times Editors’ Pick, Wei’s debut follows two unexpected sisters as they discover, bond with and betray each other over the course of their lives in Singapore. At the core of this complex sibling dynamic? In Wei’s words, opens a new window, “While working with these girls, I kept asking myself what love could endure, what keeps us choosing each other over and over every morning when the choice to walk away and live a life society might perceive as individually free is right there.”
Learn more about former Stegner Fellow Jemimah Wei.
Meet Isaac Fellman, Author of Notes From a Regicide
San Mateo County Libraries and the San Mateo County Pride Initiative are thrilled to welcome local author Isaac Fellman on Saturday, June 14, at 1:30 PM. As part of this year’s San Mateo County Pride Celebration, opens a new window, this talk will take place in San Mateo Central Park’s Recreation Center, opens a new window.
Notes from a Regicide is a trans family saga set in a far-off, familiar future. After the family who taught him how to be trans is executed, Griffon clings to his father’s prison journal to understand the love, art and persecution that marked their lives.
As Fellman says, opens a new window, “The book has a pretty shameless message: it’s worth trying things that you honestly believe are impossible, whether that’s remaking society into something kinder or just connecting fully with the people around you.”
Learn more about award-winning author Isaac Fellman.
Meet Jon Hickey, Author of Big Chief
On Sunday, June 29, at 1:00 PM, Jon Hickey visits the San Carlos Library for a conversation about his new novel, Big Chief, which has been named a Most Anticipated Book of 2025 by The Washington Post, Debutiful, San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times.
Big Chief is an unforgettable story about power, corruption and the search for belonging—to an ancestral and spiritual home, to a family and to a sovereign people at a moment of great historical importance.
Praise from the San Francisco Chronicle, opens a new window: “What Jon Hickey has created with Big Chief is a masterclass on identity and what it feels like to be at peace within our skin. There is power in those actions… A dazzling, fast-paced pressure-cooker journey about not letting others define who we are, but rather deciding that for ourselves.”
Learn more about Jon Hickey, also a former Stegner Fellow.
Explore all our upcoming author talks!
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