Featured Keynote With Sarah Jessica Parker

The Books That Built Our Souls

Introduced by Alice Hoffman

Friday, April 4, 2025, 11:00 a.m.

Adelphi University welcomes Barbara Forste and her daughter Sarah Jessica Parker, lifelong advocates for reading and libraries, to its second annual Writers & Readers Festival. They will be joined in conversation by Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author and host of the popular podcast You Are What You Read.

About Barbara Forste

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a graduate of Ohio University, Barbara Forste is a lifelong supporter of the arts, literacy and education. In addition to diverse volunteer involvement, she has worked in market research for Procter & Gamble, as a second grade teacher in a small coal mining town, and a “child wrangler” for the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera and the American Ballet Theater. She is a co-founder and director of The Children’s Circle, a National Association for the Education of Young Children school in Bergenfield, New Jersey.

Barbara is the mother of eight now-adult children (and grandmother of 13) who are committed readers involved in the arts and various creative pursuits. Her very busy daughter Sarah Jessica Parker is well-known as an actress, producer and publisher.

Photo credit: Jen Mitchell

About Sarah Jessica Parker

Sarah Jessica Parker is Barbara Forste’s daughter and an award-winning actor and producer who has worked in the theater and in film since 1976. Her many credits include the title role in Annie, and L.A. Story, Failure to Launch, The Family Stone, State and Main, Ed Wood, The First Wives Club, Honeymoon in Vegas, and Footloose; the HBO series Sex and the City (1998–2004), and its sequel, And Just Like That; as well as the films based on her iconic portrayal of Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City and Sex and the City 2. Parker was most recently seen onstage opposite her husband, Matthew Broderick, in the revival of Neil Simon‘s comedy play Plaza Suite. A lifelong dedicated advocate for reading, writing, the arts and libraries, Parker runs SJP Lit, her own imprint, in partnership with independent publisher Zando, where she publishes thought-provoking, big-hearted stories inclusive of international and underrepresented voices. She has recently executive produced the documentary The Librarians, which highlights librarians across the country who have been fighting against book bans and standing up to the ideology that prevents children from having access to certain books and have put their lives and their families’ lives at risk as a result.

Photo credit: @TimStephenson

About Adriana Trigiani

Adriana Trigiani loves Barbara Forste and her family. Adriana is the New York Times bestselling author of 21 books of fiction and nonfiction, and an award-winning playwright, television writer/producer, and filmmaker. She is host of the hit podcast You Are What You Read, where she interviews the great luminaries of our times. Adriana was named Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia by President Sergio Mattarella of Italy. She grew up in the mountains of southwest Virginia, where she co-founded The Origin Project, a year-round, in-school writing program serving students K-12 across the state. Trigiani is honored to serve on the New York State Council on the Arts. She lives in Greenwich Village in New York City with her family.