LOIS KIM: Just over twenty-three years. I moved to Austin in the very hot summer of 1993 to start graduate school in the English literature program at UT Austin and never left.

What surprised you about the state when you arrived here?

I had never been to Texas before I moved here. I was surprised by how addicting it was to say y’all and how natural it felt for a Korean-American northerner to just adopt it as my own, along with everything else Austinites take as a birthright: authenticity and good queso.

Was there a person or an event that inspired you to be a lifelong reader?

It was not one event, but many, which were visits to our local public library. My family immigrated to the States from Korea when I was very young. My parents were not very fluent in English, and they were not big readers themselves. But my mother would take us to the our local library branch on the outskirts of Buffalo, New York, and my sisters and I would spend hours there reading and came home every week with a big pile of books that we would turn in the next week for another pile of books. I passionately believe that books can change lives because that has been my own personal experience.

What were some of the books that you enjoyed while growing up or coming of age?

I loved all the classic series and obsessively would reread them because I loved them so much. Some favorites included all the Little House on the Prairie books (with accompanying butter churning and maple-syrup-candy experiments), the Four-Story Mistake series by Elizabeth Enright, The Chronicles of Narnia (the favorite of favorites), the hilarious Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books with all those cures for childhood bad behavior, the Great Brain series, the All-of-a-Kind Family series by Sydney Taylor, Frances Hodgson Burnett, everything Roald Dahl. I think the throughline for all the books I adored as a child were the ones that had beautiful illustrations sprinkled throughout the stories. I probably shouldn’t admit that my literary tastes went a little lowbrow in middle school when my friends and I all read the Flowers in the Attic books and other books of questionable literary merit. I’m glad to say that phase passed.

How long have you been with the Texas Book Festival?

I joined the festival in May of 2013, so that first festival was really crazy, and I’m still not sure how we survived that first year with only a few months to learn everything before putting on the festival. Three of our small staff of four were completely new, and we had no idea what we were doing. But we had terrific support from our board of directors, former TBF staff, and so many longtime volunteers who had been involved with the festival since the early years and who continue to be the heart and soul of the festival.

How has the event changed since you started?

The festival has gotten larger, certainly in the number of authors we host, which has grown about 25 percent in the past few years. Some people might think we host more nationally recognized authors, but really, that had happened by the second year of the festival in 1997 because it was such a success from the get-go. A fairly recent trend I’ve seen more of since I started here is more crossover in the arts, so we’re hosting more artists whose primary field might be film, music, comedy, or performance art but who are also writing books.

What can you tell our readers about the process of selecting authors, panels, and programming?

It’s a very in-depth process that really starts almost as soon as our fall festival wraps. Our submission process starts in January, and we will also start scouting books and authors we think attendees will enjoy. Julie Wernersbach, our talented literary director who is curating her first festival this year, and I visit publishing houses in the spring to talk about books coming out that year. Julie leads selection committees for adult, YA, and children’s books, that meet regularly to discuss and vet books. We try to get a final list of authors before the end of summer and the heavy programming, including panels and selecting moderators, happens in the early fall. Our goal is to provide diverse programming that truly offers something for everyone.

What do you feel is the contribution that the Texas Book Festival has made to the state’s culture?

Thanks to the vision of our founders, Laura Bush and Mary Margaret Farabee, promoting a culture of literacy for all Texans has been the core of our mission and purpose for more than twenty years. We’ve granted more than $2.8 million to public libraries throughout Texas and brought nationally recognized children’s authors and their books to tens of thousands of children in underserved schools across the state through our Reading Rock Stars program. I think we are making a valuable contribution to the state’s culture by providing a high-quality cultural event that is free for everyone to experience.

What percentage of authors in 2016 are Texas authors?

About 33 percent. Nearly 100 of our 290+ authors this year either live or have roots in Texas. We also rely on the deep well of talent in our own backyard — local authors and active members of Austin’s social and intellectual community — to moderate what is looking to be about 150 panels for this year’s festival.

What are some of your future goals for the Texas Book Festival?

Continuing to increase the diversity of our featured authors and attendees is an ongoing goal and top priority. Another goal is to expand our statewide programs and engagement. We would like to do more literary programming across the state and certainly to continue expanding the reach of our outreach programs.