Literary Feast

Featured Authors

The Broward Public Library Foundation was honored to host

the featured authors of Literary Feast 2026.

The authors participated in moderated panel discussions at LitLIVE! on Friday, April 17,

and were featured at the annual fundraising event, A Night of Literary Feasts, on Saturday, April 18.

A professional headshot of author Jeff Boyd. He is a Black man with a short-trimmed beard and mustache, looking directly at the camera with a thoughtful expression. He has one hand resting against his cheek with his index finger pointed upward. He is wearing a dark charcoal gray cardigan over a light-colored shirt, set against a softly blurred outdoor background of trees and sunlight.

Jeff Boyd’s crime novel Hard Times unfolds across the streets and suburbs of Chicago, following the story of Buddy Mack, a well-meaning English teacher at a South Side high school that is lauded for its football team, but at risk in every other way. When a tragic incident rocks the school, two worlds collide and Buddy has to choose a side and fight for all he holds dear. Author Ivy Pochoda describes the book as “extraordinary – compassionate, gripping, and propulsive.” Boyd, a former Chicago public school teacher, is also the author of The Weight, a coming-of-age novel about a young Black musician navigating his identity, faith, and relationships. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.


Dinner Hosts:

BURR & FORMAN - Hosted by CHRISTINA and DREW SARANGOULIS with SAMUEL F. MORRISON and JAMES HUTCHENS


Dinner Location:

Bonnet Room, The Westin

 Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort

321 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard,

Fort Lauderdale


Author Website:

The book cover for
A professional black and white headshot of author Chanel Cleeton. She is a woman with long, dark wavy hair, smiling warmly at the camera. She is wearing a sleeveless dark top and a delicate gold necklace. The background is a soft-focus, bright outdoor setting with greenery and natural light.

Chanel Cleeton, a bestselling author and Florida native, grew up on stories of her family’s exodus from Cuba following the events of the Cuban Revolution. Her love of history is displayed through her many novels, including her latest, The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes. The multi-generational story spans three timelines and three generations (London, 2024; Havana, 1966; Boston, 1900), and tells the tale of three women who are united by a mysterious book. Cleeton studied in London where she earned degrees in international relations and global politics. In law school at the University of South Carolina, she discovered her passion for writing novels. One of her previous books, Next Year in Havana, was a Reese’s Book Club pick.


Dinner Host:

ANN BURRIS


Dinner Location:

60 Royal Palm Drive, Fort Lauderdale


Author Website:

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A professional headshot of author Scott Eyman. He is an older man with short, silver hair and glasses, smiling at the camera. He is wearing a dark suit jacket over a blue collared shirt. The background is a simple, out-of-focus indoor setting with warm lighting.

In Joan Crawford: A Woman’s Face, film historian and New York Times bestselling biographer Scott Eyman explores the complex and controversial life of this movie star legend of the ‘30s and ‘40s. Eyman draws on never-before-seen documents from the Crawford Estate to create a candid account of Crawford’s private life, work, and rise to fame. Eyman is the author or coauthor of 18 books, including the bestseller John Wayne and two acclaimed collaborations  with actor Robert Wagner: Pieces of My Heart and You Must Remember This. Formerly the literary critic at The Palm Beach Post, he also writes book reviews for The Wall Street Journal, and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Chicago Tribune.


Dinner Hosts:

DENISE and ANGELO ELIA with KIP and JOEY EPSTEIN, and ADELE STONE and JESSE DINER


Dinner Location:

Casa D’Angelo Ristorante

1201 North Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale


Author Website:

The book cover for
A professional headshot of author Nicole Glover. She is a Black woman with dark hair pulled back, wearing glasses and a dark blazer over a teal top. She is smiling warmly at the camera against a neutral, blurred indoor background.

Themes of magic and murder mash up into a mysterious plot in Nicole Glover’s fantasy story, The Starseekers. Set in the 1960s at a NASA research facility, the novel, with its Space Race backdrop, is a whimsical mystery and adventure, with staircases made out of books, spells in parasols and enchanted inks and cards. Library Journal said, “Glover’s ability to weave and construct historical events within a layer of magic is astounding.” The author of the historical fantasy series, Murder and Magic, which also includes The Conductors, Glover has been a Locus Bestseller and won the 2024 Webster Award. When she’s not writing, she’s working as a UX researcher.


Dinner Hosts:

SHERYL DICKEY with DOROTHY KLEIN


Dinner Location:

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar

401 East Las Olas Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale


Author Website:

The book cover for
A professional headshot of author Deborah Goodrich Royce. She is a woman with blonde, shoulder-length hair and a warm smile, wearing a dark navy blue blazer over a white top. She is posed against a soft-focus background of an indoor room with a bookshelf and warm lighting.

Deborah Goodrich Royce’s literary thrillers are known to examine puzzles of identity. Her newest, Best Boy, was an instant Indie Press bestseller. The gripping psychological thriller teeters on the edge of memory and identity when the arrival of a shocking letter threatens the carefully constructed life of a woman desperate to outrun her past. Goodrich Royce began her career as an actress in multiple films and on the daytime soap opera, All My Children, before transitioning to the role of story editor at Miramax Films, developing Emma and early versions of Chicago and A Wrinkle in Time. With her husband, she has also restored the Avon Theatre, Ocean House Hotel, Deer Mountain Inn, and numerous revitalization projects in Rhode Island and the Catskills.


Dinner Hosts:

JENNIFER and JOHN UUSTAL


Dinner Location:

15 th Street Fisheries

1900 Southeast Fifteenth Street, Fort Lauderdale


Author Website:


The book cover for
A professional black-and-white headshot of Oliver Munday. He is a man with short hair and a beard, wearing a dark button-down shirt. He is looking directly at the camera with a neutral, calm expression. The background is a simple, solid light color.

Visual artist and author Oliver Munday explores the complexities and evolving role of fatherhood in contemporary society in his book, Head of Household. Booklist describes the collection of short stories, which tackle such topics as divorce, financial anxiety and sexuality, as “warm, engaging and full of revelatory insights into parenting.” Best known for his book cover designs, Munday is the executive director of art and design at Doubleday. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Sewanee Review and LitHub.


Dinner Hosts:

BURR & FORMAN - Hosted by CHRISTINA and DREW SARANGOULIS with

SAMUEL F. MORRISON and JAMES HUTCHENS

 

Dinner Location:

Bonnet Room, The Westin

Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort

321 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard,

 Fort Lauderdale


Author Website:

The book cover for
A candid, joyful photo of chef Lenore Nolan Ryan in a bright teal top. She is laughing while leaning over a kitchen counter, wearing her glasses perched on top of her blonde hair and colorful layered necklaces. She is playfully holding a bunch of whole carrots above the feed tube of a silver food processor.

Filled with anecdotes and life lessons, Lenore Nolan-Ryan’s cookbook, Love Is the Main Ingredient, is much more than a collection of recipes. It reflects her lifelong passion for food and encourages readers to embrace feelings of love through cooking and life. A South Florida native, her more-than-35-year culinary career has included restaurant ownership, catering and private chef roles. She believes the kitchen is a blank canvas, and every recipe you make becomes a unique creation – never an identical dish twice. Nolan-Ryan is the owner of Lenore Nolan-Ryan Catering & Cooking School , where she teaches others the “gift of deliciously good taste.”


Dinner Hosts:

SOUTH FLORIDA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA –

Hosted by JACQUELINE LORBER and SEBRINA ALFONSO


Location:

Lenore Nolan-Ryan Catering & Cooking School

3311 North Ocean Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale


Author Website:

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A professional headshot of author Hannah Pittard. She has shoulder-length brown hair and is looking at the camera with a soft, pleasant expression. She is wearing a dark top. The photo is taken from a medium-close range against a simple, neutral gray background.

Hannah Pittard’s autofiction, If You Love It, Let It Kill You, centers around a novelist who learns that an unflattering version of herself will appear prominently – and soon – in her ex-husband’s debut novel. Pittard’s book, about art, domesticity, freedom, and the intricacies of the 21st-Century female experience, has received rave reviews from NPR, the Washington Post, and the Chicago Tribune. The New York Times describes it as “a dishy work of autofiction that everyone will be talking about.” Pittard, an author of six books, has been twice long-listed for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and is a winner of the Amanda Davis Highwire Fiction Award, and a MacDowell Fellow.


Dinner Hosts:

KIMPTON SHOREBREAK

FORT LAUDERDALE BEACH RESORT –

Hosted by ALIN BODEA


Dinner Location:

La Fuga, Kimpton Shorebreak

 Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort

2900 Riomar Street, Fort Lauderdale


Author Website:

The book cover for
A professional headshot of author ReShonda Tate. She is a Black woman with shoulder-length, dark hair, smiling warmly at the camera. She is wearing a bright red top and subtle jewelry. The background is a soft, warm-toned indoor setting that puts the focus entirely on her.

As a national bestselling author of more than 50 books, and an investigative journalist, ReShonda Tate doesn’t just tell stories, she reclaims them. In her latest historical fiction novel, With Love From Harlem, Tate delivers an emotionally-charged story inspired by the forgotten legacy of jazz legend Hazel Scott, a woman who fought for civil rights and refused to be silenced. Tate is the recipient of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature for her book Say Amen, Again and was also nominated for her books Mama’s Boy and The Secret She Kept. Her novel, Let the Church Say Amen, was made into a film directed by actress Regina King, and produced by TD Jakes and Queen Latifah.


Dinner Hosts:

DIANA VERITY with JOEY CRAWFORD

and RACHEL KANTOSKY


Dinner Location:

Tower Club Fort Lauderdale

100 Southeast Third Avenue, 28 th Floor, Fort Lauderdale


Author Website:


The book cover for
A professional headshot of author Brad Taylor. He is a man with short, salt-and-pepper hair and a friendly expression. He is wearing a blue patterned button-down shirt. The photo is taken outdoors with a soft, sun-drenched background of green foliage.

New York Times bestselling author and former United States Army Special Forces officer Brad Taylor is back with a dynamic political thriller – Shadow Strike – featuring Pike Logan as he goes head-to-head with an old enemy, and renowned assassin. Literary Feast guests will get an early look at the book, officially scheduled for release on April 21. His debut novel, One Rough Man, was an immediate success and launched the Pike Logan series. Now with more than 18 installments and nearly 4 million copies sold, the series has consistently hit the New York Times bestseller list. When not writing, he serves as a security consultant for various agencies on threats of terrorism, cyberwarfare and weapons of mass destruction.


Dinner Host:

THE WESTIN FORT LAUDERDALE BEACH RESORT –

Hosted by BATUHAN PEKTAS



Dinner Location:

Lona, The Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort

321 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale


Author Website:

The book cover for
A professional headshot of author Robert Watson. He is a man with short white hair and a friendly, open expression. He is wearing a dark blue suit jacket over a crisp white dress shirt. The background is a solid, neutral gray, focusing the attention on the subject.

Having authored nearly 50 published books and 200 scholarly articles and essays, Robert P. Watson is no stranger to the topics of politics, military, and social history. His current title, Declaration The Story of American Independence, uncovers the lesser-known stories, and forgotten voices behind the most iconic document in U.S. history. Drawing from a wealth of primary sources, including letters, diaries, newspapers, and diplomatic communiqués, Watson reconstructs the debates, drafts, and drama that surrounded the Declaration’s creation. Watson, a history professor at Lynn University in Boca Raton, is the recipient of many awards for his contributions to the study of the presidency, election commentary and community service.


Dinner Hosts:

MERRIE MEYERS with MARI ADAM


Dinner Location:

Café Vico

1125 North Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale


Author Website:

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