photo by: Courtesy of Paper Plains Literary Festival

The Paper Plains Literary Festival on Thursday announced its headliners — Colson Whitehead, Angeline Boulley and Sarah Smarsh — for the 2022 event, scheduled for April in Lawrence.

All keynote events will take place at Liberty Hall. A news release from Paper Plains indicates that the event “will feature in-person keynote author events that will be streamed to Crowdcast thanks to the Hall Center for the Humanities.”

Whitehead, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, will speak at 7 p.m. April 9. He is the critically acclaimed author of “The Underground Railroad,” which also won the National Book Award, and “The Nickel Boys.” His most recent novel, “The Harlem Shuffle,” was a New York Times Notable Book.

Also on April 9, Smarsh will speak at 4 p.m. A native Kansan, Smarsh is the author of “Heartland,” a National Book Award finalist, and “She Come By It Natural,” a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist.

Boulley, slated to speak at 6 p.m. April 8, is the author of “Firekeeper’s Daughter,” a New York Times bestselling novel that has won the Printz Medal, the Morris Award, and is an American Indian Youth Literature Award YA honor book.

All events are free to attend. Each will be held simultaneously live at Liberty Hall and livestreamed on Crowdcast. Additional details are available at www.paperplains.org.