Literary Programs Year-Round / 2024 Festival November 16–17

Author: Becky Gomez

Lit Crawl 2023

By Becky Gomez on

Join the Texas Book Festival for it’s 13th year hosting unconventional literary programming and games in a crawl through your favorite Austin bars! Lit Crawl will take place Saturday, November 11 from 7-10 pm in four East Austin bars: Daydreamer, Ginbar, Saddle Up and Vintage Bookstore & Wine Bar.

Vintage Bookstore & Wine Bar

(1101 E 11th Street, Austin, TX)

5:30 p.m.  Lit Crawl Happy Hour. Start your Crawl right with a bookish happy hour to kick off festivities! Recharge from a day at the Fest while you catch up with friends and fellow readers.

7:00 p.m.  TORCH Showcase presented by TORCH Literary Arts. TORCH featured authors and friends will read new works across poetry and memoir. Hosted by TORCH founder Amanda Johnston, this session will feature celebrated authors Cynthia Manick, Airea D. Matthews, Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, Anastacia-Renee, and Safiya Sinclair. Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to supporting Black women writers across the diaspora.

8:00 p.m. Noir at the Bar. A round of hip, hard-boiled, nitty-gritty noir readings by crime fiction authors. Participants will include Chandler Baker, David McCloskey, Mike McCrary, Amanda Moore, James Wade, and Ashley Winstead.

 

Gin Bar

(1813 E 6th St Austin, TX)

7:00 p.m.  Literary Death Match. Four authors. Three judges. Two finalists. One champion. All kinds of hilarity in between. Hosted by Adrian Todd Zuniga, Literary Death Match participants will include Elise Hu, Ling Ling Huang, Kari Lavelle, Simon Sebag Montefiore, and Tori Pool.

8:30 p.m.  Story Studio Chicago Presents Battle of the Genres. Hosted by Rebecca Makkai and featuring Andrew Sean Greer, Angie Kim, Andrew Porter, Héctor Tobar, and Laura Villareal.

 

Daydreamer

(1708 East 6th Street, Austin, TX)

7:00 p.m. American Short Fiction Presents Dear Buffalo. Receive answers to your greatest questions about life and love, straight from the pages of bold and fresh literary works. In this program, authors will offer advice to questions from ASF editorial staff and the audience by selecting (at random) quotations from their new or forthcoming books. Participating authors include Oksana Lutsyshyna, Greg Marshall, Chaitali Sen, Tyriek White, and Ada Zhang.

8:00 p.m.  WLT Presents: Build a Story. For this one-of-a-kind event, join the Writers’ League of Texas and some of your favorite authors to build a story – sentence by sentence. Authors will respond to audience prompts (however serious, silly, or ridiculous) and craft a three act story in real time. What could go wrong? You won’t want to miss it! Hosted by Becka Oliver, special author guests include Jennifer duBois, Tonia Ransom, Dan Solomon, Stacey Swann, Jonny Garza Villa, and more!

 

Saddle Up

(1309 Rosewood Avenue, Austin, TX)

7:30 p.m.  Austin Bat Cave Presents: Story Department. At this event inspired by The Moth, talented storytellers riff on a theme. Join us to hear Texas Book Festival authors tell true stories (no more than 10 minutes long) on the theme “Freedom to Read.” Hosted by Richard Z. Santos, featured authors include KB Brookins, Nick Flynn, Roger Reeves, Rachel Louise Snyder, and Luis Alberto Urrea.

8:30 p.m.  Librotraficantes Presents: Banned Book Bash. Librotraficantes and allies flagrantly flout contraband prose from formerly banned books, currently banned books, or books so freakin’ good they are bound for banning in the future. This session will also feature words liberated from imaginations inspired by banned books. Hosted by Tony Diaz of El Librotraficante, participating Texas Book Festival authors include Jennifer de Leon, Alma García, Esmeralda Santiago, Diamond Braxton, Leticia Urieta and more!

As always, Lit Crawl Austin is free and open to the public! We keep on keepin’ on through the generosity of our community. Want to support the Texas Book Festival, Lit Crawl Austin, and our incredible authors?

Donate Today!

Other ways to help:

Buy Festival books through the official online TBF storefront at BookPeople! All titles featured at this year’s Texas Book Festival are available for sale on the TBF storefront. BookPeople donates a portion of all sales through this page and from our in-store display back to TBF. Hurray for independent bookstores!

Share the Festival with your community via social media and connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter!

Lit Crawl Austin is a project of the Texas Book Festival and the Litquake Foundation.

Q&A With Melania Luisa Marte

By Becky Gomez on

We asked 2023 Texas Book Festival Author Melania Luisa Marte a few questions about herself and her featured Festival title Plantains and Our Becoming.

TBF: Why did you write your featured book? (What was your inspiration? Where did the idea start?)

MM: “I wrote Plantains and Our Becoming because I wanted to explore my family’s history as well as the history of the Island most of my family calls home. Most of my elders on the island have spent their life doing some sort of manual trade as farmers, gardeners, cacao pickers, and cooks. When I spent time on the island of the Dominican Republic, I began exploring how the connection to the soil was an intrinsic part of my family’s everyday life in the countryside. I devoted time to farming vegetables and growing my own plantains and through this process fell in love with the magnificence of how this plant stays rooted through so much external chaos and change. I wanted to inspire other folks to return to the soil and find joy, rest, and some sort of enlightenment they can harness to heal.”

TBF: What is the last book you read, loved, and can’t stop recommending? What did you love about it?

MM: “Neruda On The Park by Cleyvis Natera is absolutely so inspiring and takes on some heavy topics with light and grace. What I love most about this novel is the richness of Natera’s storytelling. As someone who grew up in New York City and spent many years in the Dominican Republic, I always look for works that translate onto the page the feelings of both island life and city life. I think Natera nailed it so flawlessly and so carefully that when you read this novel, your senses are transported seamlessly into this world and you don’t want to leave.” 

TBF: What’s the first book you remember reading and who gave it to you? What inspired your love of reading / writing?

MM: “One of the first books I remember reading was by Barbara Parks from her Junie B. Jones series. My mother bought it for me at my school’s Scholastic book fair and I remember becoming obsessed with how funny and dramatic Junie’s character was. It inspired me to be an opinionated, daring, and creative little girl too!”

Melania Luisa Marte is a writer, poet, and musician from New York living between the Dominican Republic and Texas. Her viral poem “Afro-Latina” was featured by Instagram on their IG TV for National Poetry Month and has garnered over nine million views. Her work has also been featured by Ain’t I Latina, AfroPunk, The Root, Teen Vogue, Telemundo, Remezcla, PopSugar, and elsewhere. You can see Marte at the 2023 Texas Book Festival this November 11–12!

Accessibility

By Becky Gomez on

ASL interpretation is available at sessions indicated in the schedule. To find sessions with ASL interpreters, click on the magnifying glass in the top right corner of the 2023 Festival Schedule. In the search bar that pops up, enter the term American Sign Language Interpretation. Additional sessions may be requested at the Info Tent; we will do our best to accommodate your request based on interpreter availability.

Accessible parking is available at the Capitol Visitors Parking Garage at 1201 San Jacinto Blvd. and accessibility seating will be saved in venues up to 15 minutes prior to the session start. If you require special accommodations, please contact the Texas Book Festival prior to your visit at 512-477-4055 or bookfest@texasbookfestival.org.

Stay tuned for accessible way-finding videos soon!

 

Book Signing Schedules

By Becky Gomez on

Authors presenting at First United Methodist Church, Central Presbyterian Church, Stateside Theater, and First Baptist Church will do book signings on-site at their respective venues following their sessions.

Download the Signing Schedules for book signing tents Festival weekend:
Main Book Signing Tent | Children’s Book Signing Tent

Book Sales Tent Hours:

Saturday: 11 A.M. to 5 P.M. | Sunday: 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.

Main (Adult) Signing Tent Schedule 

Children’s Signing Tent Schedule

Venues, Tents, & Exhibitors

By Becky Gomez on

Venues 

View our 2023 Festival Map here!

Each year the Texas Book Festival hosts programming in the Capitol of Texas, as well as in tents set up along Congress and 11th streets. Below are all additional venues that programming will take place:

 

Program Tents, Food Trucks, and Exhibitor Tents

Stroll through our Exhibitor Tents set up along Congress and at the corner of 11th and Colorado, featuring dozens of vendors. Get your holiday shopping early while supporting small business owners, small presses, and nonprofit organizations. Check out our 2023 Exhibitor Map to see where your favorite vendors will be!

The Festival Food Court will be along Congress between 8th and 9th Street featuring 8 food trucks:

 

2023 Texas Book Festival Exhibitors

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Austin
Austin Community College Creative Writing Department
Author Solutions
AVA Fest / VSP Channel / Words Unite Bookstore
B.K. Greenwood
Black Rose Writing
Bookish Love Co.
Bookmarc Alliance
Books on Yoga and Meditatation
BookWoman
Cajun Kids Adventures
Carpe Librum
Cosworth Publishing
Deep Vellum
Catherine Chagra
Divine Canines
Douglas Bell
E.R. Bills
Eckankar
Host Publications
International Dyslexia Association – Austin Branch
Jack Ampon
Joan E. Murray
Krisha Life
Literal Publishing
Little Kitchen Academy
Logosophical Foundation
Lufi & Friends/Spark Collection Bilingual Books
Motina Books
Natalie Wright, Fantasy & Sci-Fi Author
PaperPie
Patricia Stahl, LCSW
Premium Book Prints
Raj Lowenstein
School of Information University of Texas at Austin
Shop Escritoras
Sisters in Crime: Heart of Texas Chapter
Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators – Austin
Southern USA Falun Dafa Association
Steamy Lit
Peace Corps
Street Books ATX
Sulit Press
Taiwan Academy of TECO in Houston
TCU Press
Tesoros Trading Company
Texas A&M University Press and the Texas Book Consortium
Texas Folklore Society
Texas Library Association
Texas Tech University Press
The Bible’s Hidden Treasure – James, the Precious Pearl
The Book Burrow
The Santa Book: A True Story
The UNIVERSITY of GENETIC TRASH PRESS TOM SEABOLT / JACK HARARY
Treaty Oak Publishers
Trinity University Press
Unity Cakes and Plates LLC
University of Texas Press
Vignette Books
W. Brand Publishing
Waterloo Press / Austin History Center Association
Women’s Storybook Project
Writers’ League of Texas

 

 

Special Event Notification

By Becky Gomez on

What: 2023 Texas Book Festival
When: Sat. Nov. 11, & Sun., Nov. 12, 2023
Event Time: Sat. 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. & Sun. 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The 2023 Texas Book Festival will take place November 11-12, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Congress Ave. and Eleventh St. near the State Capitol building. An estimated 20,000 visitors will attend the free Festival over the two days. The Festival will temporarily close city streets near your business, residence, religious center, or neighborhood.

Festival street closures begin at 9:00 a.m. on 11/9 for Congress Ave. between 9th & 11th streets. Numbered streets from 9th to 11th crossing Congress Ave. to remain open until 6:00 a.m. on 11/10. All streets reopen by 11:59 p.m. on 11/12. For more detailed info and timeline of closures visit the Public Notice page. Please plan alternate routes around road closures in your area prior to festival weekend.

If you have any comments, questions or concerns regarding road closures, alternate access
points or festival map, visit texasbookfestival.org, e-mail bookfest@texasbookfestival.org or call TBF (512) 477-4055. Contact City of Austin at www.austintexas.gov/citystage or call (512) 974-1000.

 

Q&A With Elise Hu

By Becky Gomez on

We asked 2023 Texas Book Festival Author Elise Hu a few questions about herself and her featured Festival title Flawless.

TBF: Why did you write your featured book? (What was your inspiration? Where did the idea start?)

EH: “I wrote Flawless because I really wanted to read something like it, and it didn’t exist yet. I remember feeling like my appearance wasn’t good enough, or could be better, in the comments I received when I lived in Seoul, and the barrage of images showing me the ideal Asian beauty all around me. While that nagged at me personally, it wasn’t until I spent more time in Korea as a journalist that I saw the ways beauty is inextricably linked with politics, the economy, society and issues of global justice. I craved work that tied together the rise of Korea’s visual and virtual tech, its pop culture exports around the globe, the growth of its cosmetics industry and what all those big, transnational forces mean for the way we are expected to show up in our physical bodies.”

TBF: What is the last book you read, loved, and can’t stop recommending? What did you love about it?

EH: “I like to tailor my book recommendations to my friends depending on their personalities and contexts. Highly specific book recommendations are a love language, imho. BUT the book I’m an evangelist for lately is Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. Ostensibly a book about time management, it’s actually a philosophical take that argues against productivity hacks and optimization. I think about it all the time.”

TBF: What’s the first book you remember reading and who gave it to you? What inspired your love of reading / writing?

EH: “I loved reading and writing before I have memories to recall what sparked it. I remember learning to read in preschool and marveling at how it opened up the whole world all of a sudden, because it meant I could understand the words on street signs and in store windows. I am, admittedly, one of those people Joan Didion mentioned in On Keeping a Notebook,  who started keeping a journal when she was five, a child afflicted with a “presentiment of loss.” Anyway, there isn’t a single “first book” I recall. I remember reading Charlotte’s Web and Wayside School is Falling Down in elementary school and loving them. Ditto Roald Dahl books, and The Babysitters Club.” 

Elise Hu is a correspondent and host at-large for NPR, the American news network; and since April 2020, the inaugural host of TED Talks Daily, the daily podcast from TED that’s downloaded a million times a day in all countries of the world. For nearly four years, she was the NPR bureau chief responsible for coverage of North Korea, South Korea, and Japan. Her work has earned the national DuPont Columbia, Edward R. Murrow and Gracie awards, along with a Gannett Foundation Award for Innovation in Watchdog Journalism. She lives in Los Angeles with her three daughters. You can see Hu at the 2023 Texas Book Festival this November 11–12!

Q&A With Pedro Martín

By Becky Gomez on

We asked 2023 Texas Book Festival Author Pedro Martín a few questions about himself and his featured Festival title Mexikid.

TBF: Why did you write your featured book? (What was your inspiration? Where did the idea start?)

PM: “My gigantic family tells and retells bits and pieces of this adventure every chance they get. They often turn to me to tell my version because I have the silliest take on some of the darkest parts of it. 

But for me, this story contains one of the most pivotal moments in my life. A moment when I first stepped out of my role in the family hierarchy and became a real person with a real sense of agency. It also marks the moment I first felt the spark of curiosity that led to my interest in my Mexican Heritage.”

TBF: What’s the first book you remember reading and who gave it to you? What inspired your love of reading/writing?

PM: “I remember my oldest sister Lila giving me a copy of The Sheep of Lal Bagh by David Mark, illustrated by Lionel Kalish. I kept checking it out of the library over and over again so she just bought a new copy of my own for my birthday one year.

We didn’t have a lot of books in the house (except for comic books and Mad magazines). And usually, anything that came into the house was to be shared. So this was a very special gift for me alone. Lila would always watch out for me and she tried her best to encourage my artistic side.

The book itself meant a lot to me too. I loved the story. It was funny and smart, but I was specifically taken by the beautiful artwork by Lionel Kalish. It felt really magical yet something thought I could totally do someday.”

Pedro Martín is a former Hallmark artist of 27 years and the creator of Asteroid Andy. He chronicles his life growing up Mexican American online in a series called Mexikid. You can see Martín at the 2023 Texas Book Festival this November 11–12!

Olamaie Brunch with Chef and Festival Author, Kenny Gilbert

By Becky Gomez on

We are delighted to present Festival author Chef Kenny Gilbert in collaboration with Olamaie Executive Chef Michael Fojtasek on November 12 at 11:00 a.m. for a special brunch at Olamaie. Tickets include three courses inspired by Gilbert’s cookbook, celebrating traditional Southern dishes. The event will start with passed appetizers and cocktails from Olamaie while Chef Gilbert mingles with guests. Each ticket is $140 plus service charge and includes a signed copy of Southern Cooking, Global Flavors.

Chef Gilbert brings more than 20 years of professional experience in the food and beverage industry, with his love for cooking beginning at the young age of seven when he developed a fascination for the grill watching his father barbecue.  Since then, Gilbert participated in the seventh season of Bravo’s celebrated series ‘Top Chef’, and served as Executive Chef in the Caribbean as well as the states. He has traveled the world, staging in some of the top restaurants in Japan, Spain, France, and the Caribbean. From banquets to pastries, club and restaurant design to bar and lounge concepts, Gilbert’s innovative and creative approach to the restaurant and hospitality industries is unmatched. His passion for herbs and spices and the fusion of Caribbean flavors make for an exciting, fresh perspective on traditional Southern cuisine.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Gilbert relocated to Florida after graduating from culinary school to pursue his career. Over the years he has participated in wine and food festivals around the country, cooked at the James Beard House and garnered numerous awards and accolades.

Please contact us at development@texasbookfestival.org if you wish to seat four or more guests together after you have purchased tickets.

Purchase tickets.

 

Q&A With Chandler Baker

By Becky Gomez on

We asked 2023 Texas Book Festival Author Chandler Baker a few questions about herself and her featured Festival title Cutting Teeth.

TBF: Why did you write your featured book? (What was your inspiration? Where did the idea start?)

CB: “I came up with the idea for Cutting Teeth at a time when I was feeling very drained by motherhood, nibbled away by the demands of raising two small children. My kids are four and a half years apart, so around that time I’d been starting to regain some independence as my daughter was approaching five, my son was born and I felt like I’d been pulled by the hair back into babyhood and subsequently toddlerdom. It felt like such a paradox. How could I be willing to do anything for these two children who I found so magnificent but who also drove me to exhaustion and madness? So I had the idea of little kids who crave their parents’ blood and, almost as if the writing manifested it, my son became the dreaded class biter. Truly, he was never mad or doing it out of anger, but he just developed a taste for human flesh one day and he was like a shark in the water. The book is dedicated to him and he was a huge source of inspiration as I worked on it.”

TBF: What is the last book you read, loved, and can’t stop recommending? What did you love about it?

CB: “Sign Here by Claudia Lux – I love authors who take big, creative swings, and who are willing to lean into a weird idea. In Sign Here, the character, Peyote Trip is literally narrating from the mundanely irritating bowels of hell. His voice is just pitch perfect. It is both very dark and very funny. My book club had a great time debating the ending, which is always a good sign.”

TBF: What’s the first book you remember reading and who gave it to you? What inspired your love of reading/writing?

CB: “The first book I remember reading was The Hobbit. I’d listened to the book on tape literally dozens of times before I first picked it up. My dad gave it to me. He’s a voracious reader and I took after him. I also had an elementary school librarian who made a point to always pull me aside and keep me in a steady supply of books she knew would pique my interest. I was an early and intense reader back then!”

Chandler Baker lives in Austin with her husband and toddler, where she also works as a corporate attorney. She is the author of several young adult novels and her adult debut, Whisper Network, was a New York Times bestseller and Reese’s Book Club pick. The Husbands was a USA Today bestseller and a Good Morning America Book Club pick. Cutting Teeth is her third novel for adults. You can see Baker at the 2023 Texas Book Festival this November 11–12!