An Evening with Shelby Van Pelt

A special fund-raising event for Six Bridges Book Festival

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. Moderated by Ashlei King.

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.

Host Committee: Best Ever Book Club, Booked Solid Book Club, Bookends Book Club, Lit Happens Book Club, Susan and Robin Borné, & the Who Picked This Book Book Club