Readers can attend the Twin Cities Book Festival at Union Depot in St. Paul on Saturday, Nov. 7, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The free festival, apart from a ticketed Friday opening reception, will bring more than 140 publishers, authors and literary organizations to the historic train station. This year's program includes appearances by Kate DiCamillo and U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze.
The event moved to Union Depot in 2025, a shift from its previous home, and drew roughly 10,000 people in its first year at the new venue, according to the Pioneer Press. The Star Tribune has also reported on the festival's move to Union Depot. Exhibitor counts vary slightly depending on the source: Explore Minnesota's official event listing cites over 140 publishers, literary organizations, book dealers and authors, while the festival's own schedule page puts the Book Fair specifically at 150 exhibitors spread across the Waiting Room and Head House on the main floor.
From the Fairgrounds to Union Depot
Rain Taxi says it launched the festival in 2001 to support readers, writers, publishers and booksellers and foster exchange in the Twin Cities literary community. Its 2016 festival listing places the event at the Progress Center and Fine Arts Building at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in St. Paul. After its move to Union Depot in 2025, the festival drew roughly 10,000 people in its first year at the venue, as noted above. Ramsey County describes Union Depot as both a major transportation center and an event venue in the heart of St. Paul; the festival directs visitors to its website for transportation, parking and schedule details.
DiCamillo Returns to the Rabbit That Started It All
DiCamillo, the Minnesota author behind Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tiger Rising, The Tale of Despereaux and the Mercy Watson picture book series, made her writing debut in 2000 and is scheduled to appear at 10 a.m. Saturday. She'll be marking the newly released twentieth-anniversary edition of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, first published in 2006 and the inspiration for both an opera and a stage version, according to the festival's own schedule of events.
The Pioneer Press traces the idea for the book to a resin rabbit given to DiCamillo by her teacher, mentor and friend Jane Resh Thomas. “Jane and I have been exchanging rabbits as gifts for years,” DiCamillo recalled; she said the oversized gift prompted her to ask Thomas for its name. Thomas called it Edward. A stage version of the book concluded its run Sunday, Nov. 1, at Theater in the Round.
A Second Term for the Nation's Poet
Arthur Sze, the twenty-fifth U.S. Poet Laureate, is serving a second term and will discuss his work at 1 p.m. Saturday with Eric Lorberer, editor and executive director of festival host Rain Taxi. The festival's presenting-authors page identifies Sze as the recipient of the 2025 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry for Lifetime Achievement. His book released earlier this year, Transient Worlds: On Translating Poetry, combines anthology, guide and literary essay, according to the festival.
Horror, Local Authors and the Book Fair Floor
Brian Evenson's novel Last Days was republished by Minneapolis-based Coffee House Press in 2016; the publisher's product listing for Last Days includes details about the book.
The Book Fair gives attendees a chance to browse independent authors and smaller presses alongside the festival's larger program. Books by presenting authors will be available for purchase throughout the day, with signings after each event, according to the festival's presenting-authors page.
Accessibility and Family Activities
All events held in the Red Cap Room will include American Sign Language interpretation, per the festival's schedule of events. Author presentations run throughout the day in program rooms on the second and third floors, and the festival also features a Little Free Library community build, with five finished libraries given away to local readers. Explore Minnesota's event page describes the day's offerings as including readings, activities and chances for attendees to meet and chat with dozens of authors.
Earlier coverage from the Star Tribune noted that past festivals at Union Depot have drawn children's activities, panel discussions, a used-book sale benefiting Rain Taxi, and food trucks parked near the depot, though that report listed the event date as Nov. 8 rather than the Nov. 7 date confirmed on this year's official festival materials. Organizers direct attendees seeking transportation, parking and full schedule details to twincitiesbookfestival.com.
