Some excellent novelists are coming to Southern California for the Pasadena Festival of Women Authors on March 14. The lineup will include authors Virginia Evans (“The Correspondent”), Karen Russell (“The Antidote”), Kathy Wang (“The Satisfaction Cafe”), Amity Gaige (“Heartwood”), L eila Mottley (“The Girls Who Grew Big”), Susanna Kwan (“Awake in the Floating City”), Daria LaVelle (“Aftertaste”) and Alice Austin (“33 Place Brugmann”). The only hitch? The annual event sells out quickly, so if you didn’t already have a ticket or a spot on the waiting list, you might not be able to experience it. Until now. SEE ALSO: Like books? Get our free Book Pages newsletter about bestsellers, authors and more On Wednesday evening, the organizers sent out an email explaining that due to the high demand for tickets to the $125-a-seat event, the nonprofit organization would make a livestream of the fundraiser available for free to those who signed up to watch via the group’s email: [email protected]. That’s right, for free. Book covers of the work of authors appearing at the Pasadena Festival of Women Authors. (Courtesy of the publishers) “Right now, we have the largest waiting list we’ve ever had,” said Norah Morley, the co-chair of the event, who added that they always aim to get everyone into the event. But even if last-minute seats opened up, the group could see that it was unlikely they’d be able to provide a spot for everyone who wanted to attend. “Our mission is to celebrate women authors,” she said. “So this is a way we can reach a larger audience, and more people can enjoy these great authors.” Now in its 18th year, the nonprofit has awarded more than $500,000 in grants to community organizations that have literary programs, including Pasadena City College’s Writer-in-Residence Summer Creative Writing Academy; Pasadena Public Library’s One City, One Story program; Pasadena Senior Center’s Masters in Learning Series; PEN Center Los Angeles’s workshops; WriteGirl’s Creative writing workshops and mentoring for high school girls; and an Altadena Library poetry program. SEE ALSO: Where’s the nearest bookstore? See our map of 80+ SoCal bookshops I attended in 2022 and enjoyed it all: the author talks, the readings by student writers, the book signings and the enthusiasm of the attendees. “We’re kind of a literary event/fundraiser. We have some very generous people who are sponsors in the community,” she says. “We feel lucky for their support. It’s really through the community sponsors and the patrons to the event that we’re able to have proceeds to then grant out to these organizations.” Morley praised the team that finds the talent for the event. “They read an amazing amount of books and then choose who they want to invite,” she says. “Somehow, they’re able to get amazing authors.” In fact, Evans, the author of the massive bestseller, “The Correspondent,” had been invited to appear in one of the breakout rooms before her novel took off, says Morley. With the increased interest in her book, she was moved to the main ballroom, which allowed space for another author to join the roster. It sounds like the event is going to just keep getting more popular. “Someone said we could go to the Rose Bowl,” says Morley. “But I think that’s a little big.” To request access to the livestream, email the group at [email protected] To watch some of the previous year’s recordings, go to the Pasadena Literary Alliance’s YouTube channel. To make a donation, go to the group’s website. SEE ALSO: This week’s bestsellers at Southern California’s independent bookstores The Audies created a Hall of Fame, and a Southern California narrator is in its inaugural class. Audiobook narrator and actor Simon Vance, who estimates he has narrated a thousand or so books in his career, inside his home studio in Altadena, CA. (Photo by Erik Pedersen) The 2026 Audie Awards, which honor audiobook and spoken-word achievement, were announced this week in New York City. Narrated by Jefferson White, Suzanne Collins’ latest Hunger Games book,  “Sunrise on the Reaping,” won the Audiobook of the Year award. (See the full list of winners here.) The Audies also introduced its inaugural Hall of Fame class, inducting George Guidall, Hillary Huber, January LaVoy, Robin Miles and Simon Vance. Longtime readers of our book coverage might remember the last name on the list, Simon Vance. I was such a fan of the British-born Vance’s narration that I sought him out to talk, expecting to find him intoning poetry from a windswept cliff in England … only to find out he lived about a mile away from me in Altadena. In 2019, I interviewed him at his beautiful home, which was also his workspace, and took photos of him in his sound booth. That phone booth-sized space had heard a lot of stories. Vance estimated back then that he’d narrated more than one thousand audiobooks, including novels by George R.R. Martin, Frank Herbert, Stieg Larsson, Patrick O’Brian and many more. SEE ALSO: 24 award-nominated 2025 books to read and add to your TBR pile Vance and his wife, Jan Hetherington, lost their house in the Eaton Fire, and a friend set up a GoFundMe. In the days after the fire, I’d reached out to Vance, and he’d let me know they were safe. So much has occurred in the 14 months since the fires, and so much still needs to happen, but it was a real pleasure to log onto the Audies website and the first face you see is one of Southern California’s own. “It really is a marathon,” said Vance in 2019, talking about narrating. “You need stamina.” Spoken like a true Hall of Famer. See the full list of winners. 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