10th annual Texas Teen Book Festival author lineup announced

Thirty-six YA authors will be featured at the tenth annual Texas Teen Book Festival (TTBF) on the campus of St. Edward’s University in Austin on Saturday, October 6, 2018. The lineup includes Ebony Adams, PhD (History vs Women: The Defiant Lives That They Don’t Want You to Know), Adib Khorram (Darius the Great Is Not Okay), David Levithan (Someday), Samantha Mabry (All the Wind in the World), and Lilliam Rivera (The Education of Margot Sánchez).

The keynote speakers this year are Nic Stone and Neal and Jarrod Shusterman.

Nic Stone is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel Dear Martin, a William C. Morris Award Finalist. At TTBF, Stone will present her second novel, Odd One Out, which explores “the complicated, sometimes confusing dynamics of friendship, love, and identity.”

Neal Shusterman is the National Book Award–winning and New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty books, including Challenger Deep, which won the National Book Award, and Scythe, a Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book. Neal’s son Jarrod will join him at TTBF to present their co-authored book, which is set in a dystopian future in which the California drought has spread throughout the country.

In addition, special guest Mary E. Pearson, the New York Times bestselling author of The Remnant Chronicles, Jenna Fox Chronicles, and many award-winning books for teens, will present her new novel, Dance of Thieves, with a new cast of characters. Pearson will also headline the first TTBF Trivia Contest.

More than 5,000 readers are expected to attend TTBF in its tenth anniversary year. As always, the festival is free and open to the public. For more information and a complete list of attending authors, please visit www.texasteenbookfestival.org.

(Information from TTBF website)

Inprint Houston announces 2018–19 authors for its Margarett Root Brown Reading Series


On Monday, July 23, Houston’s creative writing organization Inprint announced authors for its Margarett Root Brown Reading Series’ 2018–19 season during a special happy hour at Night Heron.

The new season kicks off September 24 with Esi Edugyan, author of Half-Blood Blues, which was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, and Meg Wolitzer, whose newest New York Times best-selling novel is The Female Persuasion.

Inprint will also present two events in its Cool Brains! Series for younger readers. Sylvia Acevedo, Girl Scouts of the USA CEO and a rocket scientist, will read from her memoir, Path to the Stars, on September 16 at the Meyerland Performing and Visual Arts Middle School. Newbery Honor winner Jason Reynolds will read from Lu, (Track Book 4) on November 4.

The complete schedule for the 2018–19 season is as follows:

  • September 24: Esi Edugyan and Meg Wolitzer at Cullen Performance Hall, University of Houston
  • October 22: Barbara Kingsolver at Cullen Performance Hall
  • November 12: Jonathan Lethem and Gary Shteyngart at Cullen Performance Hall
  • January 14: Claudia Rankine at Stude Concert Hall, Rice University
  • February 26: Valeria Luiselli and Tommy Orange at Stude Concert Hall
  • March 25: Carmen Giménez Smith and Fady Joudah at Stude Concert Hall
  • April 22: Tayari Jones and Richard Powers at Stude Concert Hall

Inprint season tickets go on sale August 1.

(Compiled from media reports)

TBF’s Literary Libations celebration begins August 12

The Texas Book Festival’s (TBF) Literary Libations celebration, an annual event benefiting Lit Crawl Austin, will be held August 12–15, 2018. TBF and its partners plan three art and culture events around Austin. This year’s partners are the Austin Film Society, American Short Fiction, and Chicon Street Poets.


Sunday, August 12

Location: Austin Film Society Cinema

Time: Party starts at 2 p.m.; film starts at 3 p.m.

Kick off Literary Libations with signature cocktails, a book swap and a special screening of The Cocoanuts. Bring a book to share.

Tuesday, August 14

Location: Prohibition Creamery

Time: Party starts at 5:30pm. Program runs from 6 to 7 p.m.

American Short Fiction, an Austin-based literary magazine, brings Austin writers Roger Reeves, Lara Prescott, Chaitali Sen, and Frances Schenkkan to Prohibition Creamery, a local bar and ice cream parlor.

Wednesday, August 15

Location: Stay Gold

Time: Party starts at 5:30pm. Program runs from 6 to 7 p.m.

Chicon Street Poets, Claudia Delfina Cardona, Jesus Valles, and Mónica Teresa Ortiz, will present a poetry showcase.

For more information and special discounts, visit www.texasbookfestival.org.


4th Annual Permian Basin Writers’ Workshop set for Oct. 13-14

Now in its fourth year, the Permian Basin Writers’ Workshop annual event will feature writing coaches, agents, and publishers from around the country, October 13-14, 2018.

The two-day workshop event will be held in Midland, at the Marie Hall Academic Building at Midland College.

The workshop will feature ten speakers, including Margie Lawson, Christie Craig, Manning Wolfe, David Farland, Reavis Z. Wortham, Kristen Marten, Stephen Graham Jones, Donna M. Johnson, B. Alan Bourgeois and Arlene Gale.

Twenty-one workshop topics will be covered, including deep editing techniques, character building, writing a thriller, how to launch your writing career quickly and marketing, renegade style.

The Permian Basin Writers’ Workshop is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is organized by the Permian Basin Bookies in collaboration Midland College.

For more information, visit www.permianbasinwritersworkshop.org

(Information from organization’s press release)

Texas Sports Hall of Fame to hold second annual Book Festival August 11

WACO — The Texas Sports Hall of Fame has announced its second annual book festival for August 11, 2018, starting at 10 a.m.

Presented by Waco City Cable Channel, the festival will feature authors and athletes from across the state.  A limited number of VIP tickets are available (email jay.black@tshof.org to reserve). VIP ticket holders are entitled to preferred seating and signed book drawings.


Featured authors include:

John A. Wood, Beyond the Ballpark: The Honorable, Immoral, and Eccentric Lives of Baseball Legends (Rowman & Littlefield)

Michael Hurd, Thursday Night Lights: The Story of Black High School Football in Texas (University of Texas Press)

T.G. Webb, Battle of the Brazos: A Texas Football Rivalry, A Riot and a Murder (Texas A&M University Press)

Chad Conine, Texas Sports: Unforgettable Stories for Every Day of the Year (University of Texas Press)

Jon Peters, When Life Grabs You by the Baseballs: Finding Happiness in Life’s Changeups (Author Academy Elite)

Dr. Jorge Iber, More Than Just Peloteros: Sport and U.S. Latino Communities (Texas Tech University Press)

“Part of the mission of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame is to promote literacy and scholarship through Texas sports history. We are excited to bring in top writers from around the state. Many of the books deal with important issues like race relations and how athletics have impacted integration,” said Jay Black, TSHOF vice president of operations.

The format of the festival will be broken down into one-hour slots, during which each of the authors will have the option to present their work and have time for a Q&A session. There will be tables set up in the Red McCombs Great Hall, where the authors will have book signings.

The festival will be hosted at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

For more information about the book festival or the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, visit tshof.org or call 254-756-1633.

About the Texas Sports Hall of Fame

The Texas Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, located in Waco, Texas, chronicles the heroes and legends of Lone Star State sports at all levels, including high school standouts, Olympians and professionals. Established in 1993, the organization’s mission is to preserve the legacies of all inductees and the history of sports in Texas to educate and inspire guess of all ages. Home to over 300 Texas Legends, the museum the Texas Tennis Museum and Hall of Fame and Texas High School Football Hall of Fame.

(Information from organization’s press release)

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