Berthoud Library Festival keynote
The Berthoud Community Library & Friends Present
Berthoud Literary Festival
Join us September 18 through 19, 2026, for our third annual Berthoud Literary Festival! This is your opportunity to interact with local authors and dive headfirst into literature.
An ASL Interpreter will be present for all events!
Old Firehouse Books will provide copies of our author's books for purchase.
Author Event Line-Up:
All events take place at the Berthoud Community Library,
236 Welch Ave., Berthoud CO 80513.
Friday | September 18th
6:30-7:30PM
Erika Krouse
Opening Keynote Speaker
Saturday | September 19th
11AM-12PM
Erika J. Simpson
Drop-In Event
12:30-1:30PM
Megan E. Freeman
Drop-In Event
2-3PM
Chris Ryall
Drop-In Event
3:30-4:30PM
Claire Boyles & Kate Garrick
Drop-In Event
6-7PM
Craig Johnson
Closing Keynote Speaker
*Ticketed Event - $10
Food Truck Line-Up:
Page Guide:
5-8PM
Chef JB's
Satisfying Vegan Comfort Food
Friday | September 18th
10AM-2PM
Sunny's
Breakfast Sandwiches & Bowls
Saturday | September 19th
4-8PM
MT's Fry Bread & Indian Tacos
A Native American couple bringing Native American culture to Colorado!
Joyful Brews
Coffee while supplies last
Click here to sign up for the email list for the Literary Festival!
Author Bios:
Erika Krouse:
Erika Krouse is the author of four books of fiction and nonfiction, including her new collection of short stories, Save Me, Stranger, which won the 2006 Joyce Carol Oates Prize, awarded by New Literary Project, and was longlisted for The Story Prize. Erika is a two-time winner of the Edgar Award, and her memoir, Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation, was also a New York Times Editors’ Choice.
Erika J. Simpson:
Erika J. Simpson is a Southern girl living in Denver, Colorado, with her partner and their black cat. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Kentucky and is the recipient of the 2021 MFA Award in Nonfiction. This Is Your Mother is her debut memoir, and she also writes fiction for the page and screen.
Simpson will be joined in conversation by Thora Siemsen.
Megan E. Freeman:
Megan E. Freeman attended an elementary school where poets visited her classroom every week, and she has been a writer ever since. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling and award-winning ALONE series, as well as her young adult debut, The Secret to Belonging, which comes the week of the Literary Festival!
Chris Ryall:
Chris Ryall has had a prolific career as a writer, editor, and publisher. He is the author of the 2025 graphic novel adaptation of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis. Recent books include The Mighty Marvel Calendar Book; Origins of Marvel Comics: The Deluxe Edition, and The Marvel Age of Comics: Daredevil: Born Again. In July 2025, he assumed a seat on San Diego’s Board of Library Commissioners.
Claire Boyles & Kate Garrick
Claire Boyles (she/her) is a writer, mom, and former farmer who lives and writes in Colorado. Her debut novel, Appraisals, came out this August. A 2022 Whiting Award winner in fiction, she is the author of Site Fidelity, which won the 2022 High Plains Book Award for Short Stories.
Boyles will be joined in conversation by her literary agent Kate Garrick, traveling to Berthoud from Portland, Oregon to speak to the curious writers in our community about the author-agent relationship.
Craig Johnson
Craig Johnson is the New York Times bestselling author of the Longmire mysteries, the basis for the hit Netflix original series Longmire. He is a two time recipient of the Western Writers of
America Spur Award for fiction, multiple Will Rogers Medallion Awards, and his novella Spirit of Steamboat was the first One Book Wyoming selection. Craig is the 2025 recipient of the Owen
Wister Award for Lifetime Contributions to Western Literature. He lives in Ucross, Wyoming, population 26.
