Photos: Speakers and authors at the 2025 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

As the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books kicked off Saturday across the sprawling campus at USC, the event once again became a magnet for a mix of celebrity authors from across the entertainment world and beyond.

Special guests such as poet Amanda Gorman, actor Wil Wheaton, singer JoJo and comedian Hannah Berner popped by our photo studio to pose for portraits between their busy schedules speaking at panels in front of crowds at the festival.

Here are some of our favorite portraits of our special guests from this weekend:

Amanda Gorman

(Myung Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Amanda Gorman, author of the 2025 picture book “Girls on the Rise,” is the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. The award-winning writer, who graduated cum laude from Harvard University, came to prominence after her recitation of “The Hill We Climb” at the inauguration of President Biden.

Nikki Toscano

(Myung Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Nikki Toscano is a writer, producer and showrunner for television who served as co-showrunner and executive producer of the show “Hunters” on Amazon Prime and as showrunner and executive producer of Paramount+ miniseries “The Offer.”

Andrew Plotkin

(Myung Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Andrew Plotkin is executive vice president of drama development at Sony TV.

Liz Moore

(Myung Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Author Liz Moore is the author of the 2024 New York Times bestselling novel “The God of the Woods.”

Wil Wheaton

(Myung Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Actor Wil Wheaton is known for his role as Wesley Crusher in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and other classic roles including Gordie Lachance in the film “Stand by Me,” Joey Trotta in “Toy Soldiers” and Bennett Hoenicker in “Flubber.”

JoJo

(Myung Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Singer JoJo (Joanna Levesque) launched her career in music releasing chart-topping R&B and pop music, including breakout hit “Leave (Get Out).” She gained prominence as a young artist, made a name for herself in acting and released a book in 2024 titled “Over the Influence.”

Rebecca Yarros

(Myung Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Rebecca Yarros, author of the 2025 novel “Onyx Storm.” She is best known for the Empyrean fantasy book series, which will be adapted into a television series with Amazon.

Krysten Ritter

(Myung Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Actor Krysten Ritter is known for her leading role in the Emmy-winning Netflix series “Jessica Jones” the cult favorite, “Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23,” and AMC’s “Breaking Bad.” In 2025 she published the novel “Retreat” on Harper Books.

Paige DeSorbo and Hannah Berner

(Myung Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Actor Paige DeSorbo and comedian Hannah Berner are the co-authors of the 2025 book “How to Giggle: A Guide to Taking Life Less Seriously.”

Jason De León

Anthropologist Jason De León is the author of 2024’s “Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling.” León is a professor of anthropology and Chicana/o studies and director of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA.