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An Evening with Shelby Van Pelt

A special fund-raising event for Six Bridges Book Festival

2025-10-05 17:00:00 2025-10-05 20:30:00 America/Chicago An Evening with Shelby Van Pelt Join us on Sunday, October 5, for An Evening with Shelby Van Pelt at the Ron Robinson Theater. This ticketed event will raise funds so the festival can continue providing free public programs in Central Arkansas. Ron Robinson Theater -

Sunday, October 05
5:00pm - 8:30pm

Add to Calendar 2025-10-05 17:00:00 2025-10-05 20:30:00 America/Chicago An Evening with Shelby Van Pelt Join us on Sunday, October 5, for An Evening with Shelby Van Pelt at the Ron Robinson Theater. This ticketed event will raise funds so the festival can continue providing free public programs in Central Arkansas. Ron Robinson Theater -

Join us on Sunday, October 5, for An Evening with Shelby Van Pelt at the Ron Robinson Theater. This ticketed event will raise funds so the festival can continue providing free public programs in Central Arkansas.


Every year, the Six Bridges Book Festival presented by the Central Arkansas Library System hosts approximately 50 authors for free panel discussions, readings, book signings, and other fun and enriching programs. In addition to offering an opportunity for thousands of readers to meet some of their favorite authors, the festival sends many of the presenters into local schools to inspire our next generation of readers and writers.  

On October 5, 2025, Shelby Van Pelt, author of New York Times bestseller Remarkably Bright Creatures, will speak about her novel and her inspiration, and will take questions from audience members. 

Published in 2022, Remarkably Bright Creatures became an instant New York Times Bestseller and a Read with Jenna Today Show book club pick. The novel has sold more than two million copies and is now being adapted by Netflix into a feature film starring Sally Field. The novel tells the story of a widow’s unlikely friendship with a giant Pacific octopus reluctantly residing at the local aquarium—and the truths she finally uncovers about her son’s disappearance 30 years ago. 

This ticketed event will raise critical funding so the festival can continue providing free public events to the Central Arkansas community. Festive drinks and bites will be included in the ticket price, and Shelby Van Pelt will be available to sign books.  

Event Schedule: 

  • 5:00 – 6:30 pm: Cocktail hour with heavy hors d'oeuvres 
  • 6:30 – 7:30 pm: Presentation with Shelby Van Pelt 
  • 7:30 – 8:30 pm: Book signing 

About the Presenter: 

When Shelby Van Pelt isn’t writing, she’s herding cats and wrangling children. Her debut novel, Remarkably Bright Creatures (Ecco, 2022) was an Instant New York Times Bestseller and a Read With Jenna Today Show book club pick. In 2023, she was awarded the Heartland Prize for Fiction and the McLaughlin-Esstman-Stearns First Novel Prize from The Writer’s Center. Remarkably Bright Creatures has sold over two million copies. It has spent, in aggregate, over a year on the New York Times Hardcover Bestseller list. 

The paperback version of Remarkably Bright Creatures was released on April 29, 2025. 

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, she’s now missing the mountains in the Chicago area with her family. 

Ron Robinson Theater

Phone: 501.320.5715

Hours

Ron Robinson Theater

Today's hours

We're open 9:00AM to 5:30PM


Address
100 River Market Avenue
Little Rock, AR 72201
Tel: 501.320.5715

About the branch

The Ron Robinson Theater is a 315-seat multi-purpose event venue. Part of the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Main Library campus, it is designed to provide programs for all ages including films, music performances, plays, readings, lectures, speakers, and children’s activities. The theater is equipped with a state-of-the-art DCI-compliant Barco digital cinema projection system and 32′ wide retractable screen; and, a versatile sound system capable of Dolby 5.1 surround audio for movies, with a CL3 digital mixing console with ample inputs for traditional music concerts.

Upcoming Events

Fri, Jun 27, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Join us Friday, June 27th for a special concert with award-winning pianist, composer, band director, and music instructor, Julia Buckingham!Register

Sat, Jun 28, 12:30pm - 2:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
In partnership with Summer @ CALS (the library's summer reading program), we are pleased to offer family-friendly films each Saturday. Individuals who sign up for the program can earn badges and choose a free movie pass as their prize! Register

Sat, Jun 28, 3:00pm - 6:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Join us for our next screening of National Theatre Live!Register

Sat, Jun 28, 7:00pm - 11:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
The journey ends, but the legend lives on.Register

Tue, Jul 01, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Join us for our next Terror Tuesday!Register

Sat, Jul 05, 12:30pm - 2:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
In partnership with Summer @ CALS (the library's summer reading program), we are pleased to offer family-friendly films each Saturday. Individuals who sign up for the program can earn badges and choose a free movie pass as their prize! Register

Sat, Jul 05, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
He’s a what? He’s a what? He’s a movie musical legend! Register

Sat, Jul 05, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Nothing says Fourth of July like Will Smith punching an alien in the face!Register

Tue, Jul 08, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Join us for our next Terror Tuesday!Register

Thu, Jul 10, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Nobody puts Baby in a corner!Register

Fri, Jul 11, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Join us on the 2nd Friday of each month for Art Night at the Theater during downtown's 2nd Friday Art Night!Register

Sat, Jul 12, 12:30pm - 2:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
In partnership with Summer @ CALS (the library's summer reading program), we are pleased to offer family-friendly films each Saturday. Individuals who sign up for the program can earn badges and choose a free movie pass as their prize! Register

Sat, Jul 12, 4:00pm - 5:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers are some of the most iconic paintings in the world. What many mistake for one masterpiece, are actually five paintings of sunflowers in vases scattered across galleries in Amsterdam, London, Munich, Philadelphia & Tokyo.Register

Sat, Jul 12, 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Let’s do the Time Warp again!Register

Tue, Jul 15, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Join us for our next Terror Tuesday!Register

Fri, Jul 18, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Get ready for one of the wildest nights you’ll ever have at the movies.Register

Sat, Jul 19, 12:30pm - 2:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
In partnership with Summer @ CALS (the library's summer reading program), we are pleased to offer family-friendly films each Saturday. Individuals who sign up for the program can earn badges and choose a free movie pass as their prize! Register

Sat, Jul 19, 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Featuring Amy Garland Angel, Charlotte Taylor, Emily Fenton, and King Honey!Register

Tue, Jul 22, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Join us for our next Terror Tuesday!Register

Thu, Jul 24, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
The Coen Brothers reimagine Homer’s Odyssey in this hilarious, heartwarming Southern-fried musical journey.Register

Fri, Jul 25, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
As you wish! Whether it’s your first time or your hundredth, there’s no resisting the wit, heart, and swashbuckling fun of The Princess Bride.Register

Sat, Jul 26, 10:00am - 12:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Rocktown Naturals is a NANBF sanctioned amateur drug free body building show.

Sat, Jul 26, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
I'll be right here...Register

Sat, Jul 26, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
John Carpenter’s legendary sci-fi horror film is paranoia and terror at their most intense.Register