Grab a drink, get comfy, and join book lovers from around the country for a conversation with five amazing authors.
United for Libraries, a national network of enthusiastic library supporters who believe in the importance of libraries as the social and intellectual centers of communities and campuses, is hosting a free virtual Gala Author Tea today, July 30, 2026, at 3:30 p.m. CT!
Moderated by Donna Seaman, Editor, Adult Books at Booklist, the American Library Association’s book-review magazine, this virtual author talk brings together Claire Boyles (“Appraisals”), Elizabeth Letts (“Fallen for France”), Lisa Kleypas (“Queen of Lombard Street”), and Eli McCann (“Stitched”).
The panelists:
Claire Boyles is a writer and former farmer. A 2022 Whiting Award winner in fiction, she is the author of “Appraisals” and “Site Fidelity,” which won the High Plains Book Award and was longlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Award, the Colorado Book Award, and the Reading the West Award. Her nonfiction has appeared in Sierra Magazine and Virginia Quarterly Review, among other journals, and she is a screenwriter with multiple credits on the Hallmark Channel.
Lisa Kleypas graduated from Wellesley College with a political science degree. Her novels are published in forty different languages and are bestsellers all over the world. Currently she lives in California with her husband Gregory.
Elizabeth Letts is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of “The Eighty-Dollar Champion” and “The Perfect Horse,” which won the PEN Award for Research Nonfiction, and “The Ride of Her Life.” She is also the author of the novels “Finding Dorothy,” “Quality of Care,” and “Family Planning.” She lives in Maryland.
Eli McCann is a Salt-Lake-City-based lawyer, writer, and podcaster. He writes a monthly humor column for The Salt Lake Tribune, where he frequently explores cultural and religious ideas, usually through his experiences living as a gay man in Utah. Since 2016, McCann has produced and cohosted the storytelling podcast and live storytelling show, “Strangerville.” His writing and storytelling has been featured in publications throughout the world, including The Washington Post, Newsweek, HuffPost, BBC, and many others.
Donna Seaman is Editor, Adult Books at Booklist. A recipient of the James Friend Memorial Award for Literary Criticism and the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award, Seaman has written for the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and other publications. A member of the Content Leadership Team for the American Writers Museum and a frequent presenter at various literary events and programs, Seaman has collected her author interviews in “Writers on the Air: Conversations about Books.” Her most recent book is “Identity Unknown: Portraits of Forgotten Women Artists.”
Registration for the gala is free and open to all. It’s the perfect opportunity for library supporters and book lovers to connect over a shared love of reading with your favorite authors.
Register here: https://www.ala.org/united/2026-tea.
See you there!
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