Gala Keynote: Susan Orlean, Author, Staff Writer for The New Yorker
Susan Orlean, journalist, television writer, and New York Times bestselling author will serve as our 2025 Literary Lions Gala keynote. Author of several books, Orlean is best known for The Orchid Thief and The Library Book. She has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1992, and has contributed articles to many magazines including Vogue, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Outside. In 2021, Orlean joined the writing team of HBO's comedy series How To with John Wilson. The Library Book weaves Orlean's life-long love of books and reading with the fascinating history of libraries and the sometimes-eccentric characters who run them, presenting readers with a mesmerizing and uniquely compelling story. With her signature wit, insight, compassion and talent for deep research, Orlean investigates the legendary Los Angeles Public Library fire to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives, and reveals how these buildings provide much more than just books and are needed now more than ever.
