The Folger and the Eudora Welty Foundation join together to welcome award-winning author Kate DiCamillo as she delivers the 2026 Eudora Welty Lecture, inspired by the writing and life of famed author Eudora Welty. Author Ann Patchett, who delivered the lecture in 2021, will introduce DiCamillo.
DiCamillo is one of America’s most beloved storytellers; some of her best-known novels include Because of Winn-Dixie (2000), The Tale of Despereaux (2003), and Flora & Ulysses (2013). She is a former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and a two-time Newbery Medalist.
The lecture, which will be followed by a book signing, is produced with the Eudora Welty Foundation.
Please note: Children under the age of 4 are not permitted.
About the speakers
Kate DiCamillo
Kate DiCamillo is one of America’s most beloved storytellers. She is a former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and a two-time Newbery Medalist. Born in Philadelphia, she grew up in Florida and now lives in Minneapolis.
Ann Patchett
Ann Patchett is the author of novels, nonfiction, and picture books. She is the owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2021 she gave the Eudora Welty lecture in Miss Welty’s home in Jackson. Kate DiCamillo is her dearest friend.
About the Eudora Welty Foundation
The Eudora Welty Foundation was established to assist the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to achieve its goals of celebrating the legacy of Eudora Welty, enhancing appreciation of her work, and encouraging reading and the efforts of young writers. The Foundation’s broad mission is to fund educational and research activities and to develop programs that will enhance Eudora Welty’s legacy and ensure that her work continues to be recognized as among the greatest in American literature. To visitors from across America and around the world, the Welty Home provides a literary experience to enhance the understanding of Welty’s life and work. Welty’s fiction affirms that the imagination can be a powerful force to combat suffering, both physical and spiritual. Programming emphasizes Welty’s striking intellect and creative powers, her devotion to the humanities, the place of literature in our lives, and the role of the writer in our society. Learn more
Photo galleries from past lectures
The 2025 Eudora Welty Lecture with Amor Towles
The 2024 Eudora Welty Lecture with Natasha Trethewey