Harry Katz talked about his book Mark Twain's America: A Celebration in Words and Images, a collection of photographs, illustrations, and newspaper clippings that depicts the world that inspired Mark Twain's writing. He spoke the day after the book was co-published by the Library of Congress in the Mumford Room of the James Madison Memorial Building of the library. This Books and Beyond event was co-sponsored by the library's Center for the Book and the Publishing Office.

Maureen Corrigan, author of So We Read On: How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures, and Andrew Levy, author of Huck Finn's America: Mark Twain and the Era That Shaped His Masterpiece, talked about the creation of two classic American Novels. "How Two Great American Novels Were Created" took place at the third annual San Antonio Book Festival, held on April 11, 2015, and was filmed in the auditorium of the San Antonio Central Library.

University of Virginia Professor Stephen Cushman described how the Civil War affected the life of Mark Twain. He analyzed some of Twain's writings to look at how the author interpreted the differences between imagining and experiencing the war. This talk was part of a day-long conference hosted by the University of Virginia's Center for Civil War History.

Elmira College held a conference looking at Mark Twain's writings and his cultural and literary legacies. The speakers covered such topics as "Mark Twain and the information age" and "the effects of Huckleberry Finn on American writing." After their prepared remarks, Mr. Layne portrayed Mark Twain giving a speech.

Author Alan Pell Crawford talked about American literary icon Mark Twain and his ties to the state of Virginia. Crawford also discussed Twain's finances as they are the subject of his latest book, How Not to Get Rich: The Financial Misadventures of Mark Twain.

Stephen Kinzer talked about his book The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire, in which he recounts the public debate over American foreign policy at the turn of the 20th century. In his book, the author reports that President Theodore Roosevelt along with his supporters, such as William Randolph Hearst and Henry Cabot Lodge, proposed imperial expansion, with their sights set on the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. Roosevelt's opposition, composed of public intellectuals and business leaders, such as Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie, and Booker T. Washington, argued for restraint.

Author Robert Graysmith talks about his book, Black Fire: The True Story of the Original Tom Sawyer and of the Mysterious Fires That Baptized Gold Rush-era San Francisco, in which he recalls author Mark Twain's friendship with Thomas Sawyer, a customs inspector and volunteer fireman in San Francisco, whose name Twain would immortalize in his novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Mr. Graysmith reported that in 1863, a twenty-eight year old Mark Twain, a reporter for San Francisco's Daily Morning Call, befriended Mr. Sawyer over cards and drinks. It was during these casual meetings that Sawyer relayed to Twain stories of his youth and his involvement in stopping a serial arsonist that had set San Francisco afire six times in eighteen months. Robert Graysmith spoke at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco.