Kate DiCamillo Delivers Folger’s 2026 Eudora Welty Lecture
On Thursday, March 26 at 7:30pm, the Folger Shakespeare Library and the Eudora Welty Foundation welcome one of America’s most beloved storytellers, author Kate DiCamillo, to deliver the 2026 Welty Lecture, inspired by the writing and life of famed author Eudora Welty. DiCamillo will talk about her career as a best-selling author including stories about her early experiences with the publishing industry to her writing influences and the evolution of her work.
Some of DiCamillo’s best-known novels include Because of Winn-Dixie (2000), The Tale of Despereaux (2003), and Flora & Ulysses (2013), which have all been adapted into popular family films. She is a former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and a two-time Newbery Medalist.
“I was nineteen years old when I read Eudora Welty’s ‘Why I Live at the P.O.’” DiCamillo shared. “The story electrified and delighted me. I remember thinking, ‘This is what I want to do.’ Welty’s words have been a beacon for me since that moment. I owe her a tremendous debt. It is a very great honor for me to give this lecture.”
“Kate DiCamillo writes books for children that can also be read by adults, adults who can bear to remember how terrifying and mystifying and full of wonder childhood actually was,” added former Welty Lecturer and acclaimed author Ann Patchett (Bel Canto, The Dutch House), who will introduce DiCamillo. “When, in my fifties, I read her books, I felt like I had found a magic portal. All I had to do to pass through was believe that I was still small enough to fit.”
A book-signing and wine reception will follow the talk.
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at folger.edu/welty or by contacting the Folger Box Office at (202) 544-7077. The Welty lecture will also be available for online viewing from April 6 through June 30 for $15 at the above link.
Previous Welty Lectures were delivered by Salman Rushdie, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Richard Ford, Jesmyn Ward, Ann Patchett, Elizabeth Strout, Natasha Trethewey, and Amor Towles.