BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Book Festival's 2026 "One Book, One Festival" discussion group will be focused on Louisiana native Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire" to commemorate the book's 50th anniversary. 

The festival also falls on Halloween, making the story of vampires Louis de Pointe du Lac and Lestat even more fitting for the festival's scholar-led discussion.

"One Book, One Festival" participants are asked to read the featured material in advance and join the discussion with other event attendees at the State Library of Louisiana on Saturday, Oct. 31. The program is open to all festival attendees and there is no charge to participate.

"Anne Rice gave the world an unforgettable vision of New Orleans," Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser said. "There's no better way to mark the 50th anniversary of Interview with the Vampire than at the Louisiana Book Festival on Halloween, and we're excited to welcome readers from across the state and beyond to Baton Rouge for this fascinating discussion."

State Librarian Meg Placke says that, 50 years ago, Rice "transformed the vampire genre into serious literary fiction." 

"We are proud to honor one of Louisiana's most widely read authors through the One Book, One Festival program this fall," Placke said.

Learn more about the festival here.