Texas Book Festival 2016
This weekend, Texas' premier literary event, the Texas Book Festival, returns to Austin, bringing a slew of world-renowned authors to our storied city limits. fields will be tabling with our friends at Deep Vellum, so make sure to come say hi when you're not attending the great panels that new Literary Director Julie Wernersbach has put together. Speaking of: here is a smattering of highlights that we recommend checking out.
Saturday
10:00-10:45: Meet the Kirkus Prize Finalists The Kirkus Prize is one of the world's richest literary awards, offering $150,000 between one fiction, one nonfiction, and one children's/young adult author. This year's finalists include Traci Chee, Susan Faludi, Joe McGinniss Jr., Meg Medina, and Michael Eric Dyson, and they will be in attendance at this event, held at the Central Presbyterian Church.
11:00-11:45: Signs & Wonders National Book Award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson and rising talent Kaitlyn Greenidge talk cultural unity and overcoming institutionalized racism in this panel at the Central Presbyterian Church, moderated by Mara Payne Smart.
11:45-12:45: O. Henry Prize Celebration! 2016 O. Henry Prize winners Ottessa Moshfegh, Peter Cameron, and Shruti Swamy will be at Capitol Extension Room E2.028 to discuss their acclaimed short fiction. We are particular fans of Mossfegh's work, which appears frequently in The Paris Review, among other places. Moderated by Laura Furman.
12:30-1:15: New Literature from Latin America Austin's own Antonio Ruiz-Camacho (who you may remember from our interview in Issue 5) joins Mauro Javier Cardenas, Andrés Neuman, and Eduardo Rabasa in this panel on some of the most exciting fiction coming out of Latin America. Located in the Ahora Si Tent and moderated by Liliana Valenzuela.
1:00-2:00: Great Expectations Belle Boggs, Sady Doyle, and Phoebe Robinson discuss the expectations that still hover over a woman's behavior, highlighted in this year's Presidential election but visible everywhere on a daily basis. At Capitol Extension Room E2.104 and moderated by Maya Perez.
1:15-2:00: Darkness on the Edge of Town Kelly Luce and Jung Yun talk writing darker fiction, as explored in their respective new novels Pull Me Under and Shelter. We've been fans of former Austinite Luce's work since her debut short story collection, Three Scenarios in Which Hana Sasaki Grows a Tail, took the local lit scene by storm three years ago, and we can't wait to get our hands on her new one. Make sure to give her a warm welcome back at Capitol Extension Room E.2026. Moderated by Stephanie Noll.
2:00-2:45: The Second Life of Eileen Myles Jenn Shapland talks to Eileen Myles. Need we say more? At the Central Presbyterian Church.
2:00-2:45: The Ultimate Unreliable Narrator Is... You We can't say enough good things about Amy Gentry, whose debut novel, Good as Gone, received raved reviews from The New York Times and many other outlets, and whose short story, "Or Worse," was featured in our latest issue. She and Lydia Millet discuss thrillers in this panel, moderated by Mollie Odnitz, at Capitol Extension Room E.2012.
3:00-3:45: Girls on Fire Emma Cline and Robin Wasserman also discuss thrillers and darkness in the context of their acclaimed (and violent) coming-of-age novels, The Girls and Girls on Fire, respectively. Moderated by A Strange Object co-director (and Lit Crawl organizer) Jill Meyers at the Central Presbyterian Church.
3:45-4:30: Ecologies/Economies: Four Poets of Borders In this curiously titled panel, poets Orlando Ricardo Menes, Safiya Sinclair, and Monica Youn discuss geography, identity, and culture as it relates to their lives and work. Moderated by Abe Louise Young at Capitol Extension Room E2.104.
Lit Crawl
There's a lot of excitement happening Saturday night during the famed Texas Book Festival Lit Crawl, which moves to E. Cesar Chavez St. this year. We suggest starting the night off at grayDUCK Gallery (2213 E. Cesar Chavez) at 7:30, where poets J. Scott Brownlee, Orlando Ricardo Menes, Eileen Myles, Safiya Sinclair and Carmen Tafolla will be responding to questions with sage advice from their work in the illuminating Oracular Spectacular. Then make your way down the street to Lewis Carnegie (1312 E. Cesar Chavez), where we'll be hosting Literary Match Game with the folks at Deep Vellum from 8:30-9:15. In this game, authors Peter Cameron, Sady Doyle, Chigozie Obioma and Claudia Salazar Jiménez will test your knowledge of literary classics and do their best to crack you up along the way. Then, stick around for Lit Crawl Against Humanity, hosted by our friends at Awst Press and Newfound. Authors John Jodzio, Jessica Luther, Virginia Reeves and Sarah Smarsh will be straddling the border between hilarious and outrageously inappropriate in this literary spin on the notorious classic.
Sunday
11:30-12:15: B&N Discover New Writers Barnes & Noble's Discover New Writers program has identified many burgeoning young writers with stellar debuts, such as Issue 2 featured author Malcolm Brooks (Painted Horses), and this year's group is no exception. Belle Boggs, Jade Chang, and Yaa Gyasi discuss their new books, which all contemplate issues of family, legacy, and inheritance. Moderated by Miwa Wesser at Capitol Extension Room E2.036.
12:15-1:00: Inheritance Taking issues of inheritance in a different direction, Kirkus Prize finalist and National Book Awards Longlist nominee Adam Haslett and Mitchell Jackson talk mental health, drug abuse, privilege and poverty in this discussion at Capitol Extension Room E2.014.
12:30-1:15: The Secret History of TwinPeaksTwin Peaks co-creator Mark Frost discusses his new novel, which expands on the story of the acclaimed television series. Moderated by Austin Film Festival's Barbara Morgan at the Omni Ballroom.
1:00-1:45: Raza Rising: Chicano Empowerment Through Education and the Vote Not fiction, but no less important: Raza Rising author Richard Gonzales talks with Gregg Barrios and Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez discuss education and voting issues facing Texas' Chicano community in this panel, located at the Ahora Si Tent.
3:30-4:15: Homecoming National Book Award finalist Angela Flournoy, Derek Palacio, and Chigozie Obioma talk about what home means to them in the context of their work, which focuses on families in flux. Moderated by Matt Bucher at Capitol Extension Room E2.030.
3:45-4:45: Making Art Out of Chaos We talked with author Karan Mahajan in our latest issue about terrorism and the clash of Hindu and Muslim cultures in modern-day India, as explored in his National Book Award Shortlist-nominated novel The Association of Small Bombs. In this panel, he, Claudia Salazar Jiménez, and Sunil Yapa talk with Natalia Sylvester about making fiction in times of (and about) political upheaval and societal strife. At Capitol Extension Room E.2036.