2026 Authors & Speakers

Watch this space for 2026 Author and Speaker announcements. 

We have a remarkable roster of speakers for the Ninth Annual Sonoma Valley Authors Festival. Make sure you are on our mailing list for the latest announcements. 

Rick Atkinson

Pulitzer-Prize-winning author, journalist, and military historian Rick Atkinson’s eight books provide gripping narrative accounts of five different American wars. His latest is the second in a watershed trilogy about the Revolutionary War.

Dave Barry

Beloved author, journalist, and Pulitzer-Prize-winning humor columnist Dave Barry is a household name across America, having written dozens of bestselling books. His latest, Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass, is garnering enthusiastic praise for its humor and heart.

Jeffrey Brown

PBS NewsHour senior correspondent Jeffrey Brown will return to the SVAF stage in 2026 as a lead moderator. During his long and illustrious career, Brown has reported on a wide range of national and international issues. His book of prose and poetry, The News, explores the intersections between politics and poetry.

Richard Haass

Richard Haass is a prolific author, a veteran American diplomat, and a foreign policy expert who served under four U.S. presidents in key roles and led the Council on Foreign Relations for two decades. In his latest book, The Bill of Obligations, Haass explores the concept of citizenship.

Jeanne Walker Harvey

Jeanne Walker Harvey is a celebrated children’s book author, known for her captivating picture book biographies and heartwarming stories about marine mammal rescue.

Michelle Kaufman

Known for her dynamic presence and insightful sports reporting, longtime Miami Herald columnist Michelle Kaufman has covered 14 Olympics, six World Cups, Wimbledon, US Open, Super Bowls, as well as countless NCAA and NBA games.

Stephen Kotkin

Renowned for his multi-volume biography of Joseph Stalin, there is perhaps no greater expert on Soviet and Russian history than Stephen Kotkin. He has taught at Princeton for 33 years, mentoring a new generation of historians and greatly influencing modern Russian history scholarship. Kotkin is also currently a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, teaching and writing the 3rd book of his trilogy on Stalin.

Colum McCann

Irish literary giant Colum McCann’s new novel, Twist, is set against the backdrop of undersea fiber-optic breaks off the coast of Africa. McCann’s bestsellers include Apeirogon and TransAtlantic, and he won a National Book Award for Let the Great World Spin.

Maria Semple

Bestselling novelist and accomplished television screenwriter Maria Semple’s novel, Where’d You Go Bernadette?, spent over a year on the New York Times bestseller list. She is the author of three acclaimed novels and is widely praised for her witty, insightful, and darkly comedic writing style.

Admiral James Stavridis

Retired four-star U.S. Navy Admiral and the 16th Supreme Allied Commander at NATO, Admiral James G. Stavridis is renowned for his strategic military expertise and global diplomacy. His new book, to be published May, 2026, envisions a near-future global conflict ignited by climate collapse, where equatorial nations push back against historically richer powers through warfare over survival.

2025 Authors & Speakers

Masters of Ceremony and Moderators

2024 Authors & Speakers

Masters of Ceremony and Moderators

Stimulating the minds and nurturing the souls of readers

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