UNP will be at the South Dakota Festival of Books!

This year, the festival takes place from Friday, September 20 to Sunday, September 22 in Brookings, SD. The festival is the state’s premier literary event, celebrating literature in South Dakota and beyond by connecting the very best regional and national writers with local readers for conversations, presentations, panel discussions, book signings, and special events.

Be sure to visit UNP’s booth in the Exhibitors’ Hall to find your next read! Information on the author panels can be found below. Click here to view the full Festival Schedule.

David Joseph Charpentier

David Joseph Charpentier is the director of St. Labre Indian School’s Alumni Support Program and executive director of the Bridge Foundation. For more information about the author, visit davidjcharpentier.com.

Friday, Sept. 20 @ 4:30 p.m. – Author Signing Event – The Oscar, Fishback Studio Theater (154), Brookings

Saturday, Sept 21 @ 9:00 a.m. – “The Maurice Effect” – How an Unlikely Friendship Led to Connection – The Oscar, Classroom 105, Brookings

Saturday, Sept. 21 @ 4:30 p.m. – Author Signing Event – The Oscar, Fishback Studio Theater (154), Brookings

Richard Moves Camp

Richard Moves Camp (Oglala Lakota) is a fifth-generation Lakota healer, tribal historian, and spiritual leader. He teaches at Sinte Gleska University and lectures on Lakota history, culture, and traditions. In 2021 he was named a Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellow.

Friday, Sept. 20 @ 4:30 p.m. – Author Signing Event – The Oscar, Fishback Studio Theater (154), Brookings

Saturday, Sept 21 @ 12:45 p.m. – My Grandfather’s Altar: Five Generations of Lakora Holy Men – The Oscar, Multi-Use South (195A), Brookings

Saturday, Sept. 21 @ 4:30 p.m. – Author Signing Event – The Oscar, Fishback Studio Theater (154), Brookings

Jim Reese

Jim Reese is Associate Professor of English and Director of the Great Plains Writers’ Tour at Mount Marty University in Yankton, South Dakota. His latest books are Dancing Room Only: New and Selected Poems and the essay collection Bone Chalk. His next project, Coming to a Neighborhood Near You (Potomac Books, Fall 2025), draws on his extensive work with both the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the South Dakota Department of Corrections.

Friday, Sept. 20 @ 11:30 a.m. – Midwestern Life in Poetry – The Oscar, Multi-Use South (195A), Brookings

Friday, Sept. 20 @ 4:30 p.m. – Author Signing Event – The Oscar, Fishback Studio Theater (154), Brookings

Saturday, Sept 21 @ 2:00 p.m. – Writing Law Enforcement in Fiction and Nonfiction – Brookings Public Library, Cooper Rooms A & B

Saturday, Sept. 21 @ 4:30 p.m. – Author Signing Event – The Oscar, Fishback Studio Theater (154), Brookings