Grammy-nominated country artist Ty Herndon will headline the Palm Springs Public Library Foundation's fifth annual Pride on the Page Book Festival on November 14, appearing in conversation about his memoir before a community reception closes out the free, all-day event at the Palm Springs Cultural Center.
Herndon's evening conversation will be moderated by festival co-creator Corey Roskin, who will discuss the singer's memoir, *What Mattered Most*, according to Gay Desert Guide. The outlet also notes Herndon's 2014 coming-out. The festival, which runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and is free to attend, will also include panel discussions, book signings and an outdoor vendor tent featuring local publishers and organizations, according to MyNewsLA.com. This year's theme is “Our Lives, Our Words, Our Stories,” and the day will close with an evening reception with featured authors.
A Fifth Year Built on a Growing Author Roster
Confirmed authors for this year's lineup include Murray Hill, Daniel Jaffe, Phill Branch and Sandra Butler, per the same MyNewsLA report. The festival, which focuses on memoirs and personal narratives, will offer a limited number of books at author presentations while supplies last, and organizers say further details on the full slate of attending authors and registration will be released later.
Pride on the Page was co-created by Corey Roskin, according to the City of Palm Springs. The festival's fifth-anniversary edition has hosted LGBTQ+ and affirming authors, the city says. This year's sponsors include Sibling Rivalry Press, Stacked Deck Press, the Palm Springs Cultural Center, the LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert, the Saguaro Hotel, Rattling Good Yarns, Best Bookstore in Palm Springs, and the City of Palm Springs itself.
Independent Presses Take the Stage
Among this year's programming is a panel titled “The Memoir in Collaboration,” featuring author Daniel M. Jaffe and publisher Ian Henzel discussing author-publisher partnerships, according to AllEvents.
A City Where Nearly Half the Population Identifies as LGBTQ+
The festival's setting is no accident. An estimate puts the share of Palm Springs' population that identifies as LGBTQ+ at around 50%, according to Connecticut Voice. The outlet also describes Palm Springs as having the highest per-capita queer year-round population in the United States and notes that the city elected the nation's first all-LGBTQ+ city council in 2017. That demographic reality gives a free literary gathering like Pride on the Page a natural, built-in audience well beyond the usual book-festival crowd.
California's Book-Protection Laws Frame the Moment
The festival also arrives amid a broader national fight over LGBTQ+ literature. The American Library Association reported 4,240 unique book titles were targeted for censorship across U.S. school and public libraries in 2023, a 65% total increase and a 92% surge specifically in public libraries compared to the year before, according to Chico State's Meriam Library. Nearly half of those national challenges targeted works with LGBTQ+ themes or characters of color, the library adds.
California has moved in the opposite direction. The state also enacted Assembly Bill 1078 in September 2023, which prohibits school boards from banning instructional materials or library books that present diverse cultural, ethnic or LGBTQ+ perspectives, according to the Office of the Governor of California, which said the bill was a response to rising book challenges in school districts nationwide.
Library System Mid-Renovation During Festival Season
The festival also lands during a major transition for the city's library system.
While the main branch remains closed, daily library operations have moved to a storefront at Rimrock Plaza on East Palm Canyon Drive, according to the City of Palm Springs. City library programming during construction is also being distributed across Welwood Murray Memorial Library and the Mizell Center, the city says.
Pride on the Page itself will still be held at the Palm Springs Cultural Center on November 14, and the entire festival is free to attend, per MyNewsLA's report. Additional information is available at pslibraryfoundation.org/pride-on-the-page-2026, and the Palm Springs Public Library Foundation says further details on attending authors and registration will be announced later.
