Eight women and their literary works will be honored when the Festival of Authors returns to the Long Beach Convention Center on March 9.

The day-long event includes morning coffee, lunch, and panels with all of the featured authors, who will discuss their experiences and the inspiration behind their writing. Tickets are $120 and are available for purchase here.

Meet the featured authors:

Diane Marie Brown, a Long Beach local, will also be there to speak about her debut novel, “Black Candle Women.” Brown previously had a career in public health, including at the Long Beach Health Department, before shifting to fiction writing. The book centers on one family with four generations of Black women who hold a surprising secret that sends them back in time to unravel.

Check out Post multi-media columnist Jackie Rae’s discussion with Brown here.

The festival is organized by Literary Women, a non-profit organization founded in Long Beach in 1982. Co-founders Harriet Williams and Virginia Laddey created the festival to showcase women authors after noticing a lack of representation in school curriculum.