YALLFest 2026 begins with this keynote from three powerhouse authors—Veronica Roth (Divergent, The Sixth Faction), Cassandra Clare (City of Bones, The Last Queen of Faerie), and Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me, Escape Me) who have all built worlds we love to explore and characters we dream about! 

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Please note that keynote tickets are exclusively for keynote attendance and do not guarantee a place in the signing line for the authors.

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VERONICA ROTH is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of When Among Crows, Arch-Conspirator, Poster Girl, Chosen Ones, the Divergent series, and the Carve the Mark duology. Veronica lives in Chicago, Illinois.

CASSANDRA CLARE is the author of the #1 New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Shadowhunter Chronicles and the New York Times bestselling Sword Catcher. The Shadowhunter Chronicles have been adapted as both a major motion picture and a television series. Her books have more than fifty million copies in print worldwide and have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. Cassandra lives in western Massachusetts with her husband and four fearsome cats.

TAHEREH MAFI is the #1 New York Times bestselling, #1 international bestselling, and National Book Award-nominated author of over a dozen novels. Best known for the Shatter Me series, her books have sold millions of copies, and have been translated into over thirty languages. She currently resides in Southern California with her husband, fellow author Ransom Riggs, and their daughter. 

YALLFest 2026's closing keynote brings together four sensational YA authors—fantasy powerhouse Ayana Gray (Beasts of Prey, Hawk & Sparrow), sparkling debut F A Davidson (Flickerstate), YA legend Sarah Dessen (Change of Plans, Along for the Ride) and prolific bestseller Ann Liang (To Dream in Darkness, I Could Give You the Moon) for a conversation

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Please note that keynote tickets are exclusively for keynote attendance and do not guarantee a place in the signing line for either author.

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AYANA GRAY is a New York Times-bestselling author of speculative fiction. Her works have been translated in more than a dozen languages across five continents and have received critical acclaim at the state and national level. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, she now lives and writes in Arkansas.

F. A. DAVIDSON is a freelance writer based in North Carolina. She holds a B.A. in English from Yale University, where she studied creative writing. She is an alum of Viable Paradise and the Tin House YA Workshop.

SARAH DESSEN is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen novels for teens, including The Truth About Forever, Just Listen, and Change of Plans. Her work has been published in over thirty countries and sold millions of copies worldwide. She is the recipient of the 2017 Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association for outstanding contribution to young adult literature. She lives in North Carolina.

ANN LIANG is the New York Times, USA Today, and Indie bestselling author of critically acclaimed young adult and adult fiction. Her books have been sold in over twenty foreign territories. Her work has been featured on Good Morning America as a GMA Book Club pick, and on the Today show, as well as in Cosmopolitan, PEOPLE, Harper’s Bazaar, Forbes, and more. Born in Beijing, she grew up traveling back and forth between China and Australia, but somehow ended up with an American accent. She now lives in Melbourne. You can find her on Instagram at @annliangwrites, or by visiting her website, annliang.com.

YALLFest's annual game show closes out the 2026 festival, hosted by veteran YALLWEST Smackdown host Ryan La Sala and first time co-host Kat Cho.

See some of your favorite authors on stage as they battle it out in games inspired by the literary world—will they have to fight for their favorite trope? Or become their favorite book cover? Only time will tell. 

There are no guarantees in life, but there are two guarantees in Smackdown—it'll be a lot of fun and it'll be a lot of chaos.