She was ‘furious’ when Utah banned her novel from public schools. Now, she’s headlining the first-ever Salt Lake Book Festival.

“I like going places where my books are challenged, because I think that very often, the audiences there are hungry to hear a point of view like mine,” Picoult told The Salt Lake Tribune. Picoult’s arrival comes after the state in January banned her 2007 New York Times bestseller about a school shooting in the fictional town of Sterling, New Hampshire.