Lone Star Literary's Tour of Texas, Fall 2016
What more ideal place could there be to sign our Paragraph Ranch novels — and copies of Literary Texas — than the amazing Paragraphs on Padre Island bookstore at the beach? Below, Lone Star Lit's Kay Ellington (left) and Barbara Brannon were greeted by a full house of bookfans — and the two bookstore canines as a welcoming committee.
Stop in and say hi to owner Griff Magnan (left) next time you're on vacation at SPI. Griff and Joni will hook you up with beach reads, Texas fiction and nonfiction, children's books, games, and a delicious cup of coffee.
Next week: university presses, small-town bookstores, and more!
Texas Center for the Book Letters About Literature Contest entries due Dec. 2 for grades 9–12
The Texas Center for the Book has announced the 2016 Letters About Literature Contest for students in grades 4 through 12. Prizes include a trip to the 2107 Texas Library Association Annual Conference in San Antonio and a trip to the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.
Here are some simple guidelines.
READ: Select a fiction or nonfiction book, a poem or play you have read and about which you have strong feelings. (Sorry, no song lyrics!) It might be a book that helped you through a difficult time or it might be a book that simply touched your heart or inspired you.
REFLECT: Think before you write. How did this author’s work change you or your view of the world? How do you know it did? How and why are you different now than you were before you read this work?
PERSUADE: Write a personal letter to the author, stating how reading his or her work changed you. Be personal but also persuasive! Support your ideas with specific details, including details from the work itself. This is not a fan letter but rather a reflection on how an author influenced you.
WRITE: Type your entry in letter format – do not send handwritten letters. Your name and complete return address (either school or home) must appear in the upper right corner of the first page of the letter.
SEND: Mail your letter with the required entry coupon by the deadline date. For grades 9–12, the due date is Dec. 2, 2016; for grades 4–6and grades 7–8, Jan. 9, 2017.
The center has teamed up with Texas author Nikki Loftin to spread the word via a short video. Teahers, librarians, and parents can help spread the good news to followers via social media:
https://twitter.com/TSLAC/status/768813882269798400
www.facebook.com/txcenterforthebook/videos/1096300733774119/
www.tsl.texas.gov/lettersaboutliterature
(Information from organization’s press release and website)
Sixth annual Dobie Dichos set for Nov. 4 in Oakville
On Friday evening, Nov. 4, the smell of simmering chili and freshly baked pan de campo will once again fill the air as visitors converge on historic Oakville for the 6th annual Dobie Dichos: Campfires, Chili con Carne, and the Words of J. Frank Dobie event.
A group of renowned journalists, authors, and storytellers have delved into the works of Texas author J. Frank Dobie and selected stories and other Dobie writings to share beside the campfire at this unique event that takes place on the grounds of the Historic Oakville Jail, under the old hanging tree.
This year’s participants include Cecilia Balli, Scott Bumgardner, Don Caden, Steven L. Davis, Kim Lehman, Kip Stratton, and Lonn Taylor. Musical entertainment during the meal and at intermission will be provided by former Nashville songwriter Luke Reed and a special surprise guest. Author, playwright, and journalist William Jack “Bill” Sibley will be the program host for the evening.
Folklorist, editor, and writer Fran Vick knew Dobie through membership in the Texas Folklore Society. In 2014, she read at the event and said afterward, “Dobie Dichos is just the sort of gathering that J. Frank Dobie loved — especially with his Texas Folklore Society friends. With the campfire, the stories told around the fire, and a good bowl of chili, Dobie’s spirit is all around the Dobie Dichos gathering.”
After reading at the event in 2013, author and poet Nan Cuba noted, “If Dobie had left instructions in his will, the Dobie Dichos readings would be exactly as they are now. Stories told around a countryside campfire, friends eating [chili] and feeling blessed by the stars. Listen, our literary father’s clapping.”
At the Dobie Dichos event, a typical chuck wagon meal of chili, pan de campo, and dessert begins at 6 p.m., with the program from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Participants should bring lawn chairs. Local food trailer vendor Like It or Lump It will provide desserts, along with Cody Campbell’s famous Dobie Dichos chili and Rodney Nance’s delicious pan de campo.
Proceeds will benefit the Dobie/West Performing Arts Theatre in George West. Tickets for the meal and program are pre-sale only ($15 adults; $7 under 12) and can be purchased at the George West Chamber of Commerce, at the Storyfest office at 600 Houston St., from Storyfest executive director Mary Margaret Campbell, or online via the Storyfest website (no service charge for online purchases). Tickets for the program only are $10 for adults and $5 for children under 12. For more information, visit the Storyfest website at www.georgeweststoryfest.com or call (361) 449-2481 or (888) 600-3121.
(From organization's press release)
Art on the Boulevard set for Oct. 1 in Fort Worth
The Art & Words Show will feature twelve writers and twelve visual artists responding to one another’s work. Each writer and each artist originally submitted one of their works in March of 2016. Each writer then chose a piece of visual art from those submitted to use as inspiration for a second story or poem, and vice versa with each visual artist choosing a poem or short story to use as inspiration for a second visual work. The resulting show consists of all 24 pairings of art and words for a total of 48 works displayed.
The Art & Words Show is the brainchild of local DFW writer Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam. This year she enlisted help in selecting the works for the show from poet and editor Jennifer Aglio.
The participants in this year’s show include local writers Matthew Pitt, Courtney Marie, Leah Tieger, Joe Milazzo, Shawna Borman. Others not local to the area are Karen Bovenmyer, Laura Madeline Wiseman, Katharyn Howd Machan, Shane Halbach, Lisa Shininger, Layla Al-Bedawi, and Carrie Cuinn. Artists include Stacy Tompkins, James Rosin, Todd Ford, Jackson Zorn, Suedabeh Ewing, Sherry Abbasi, Kamilah Campbell, Jennifer Stufflebeam, Faisal Warsani, Elise Techentine, Bang Dang, and Nickolai Lanier.
Art on the Boulevard is a cooperative art gallery located at 4919 Camp Bowie Blvd, run by Jennifer Stufflebeam.
(From organization’s press release)
Texas Institute of Letters taps Mora for Lifetime Achievement Award
Author Pat Mora has been named the winner of the Texas Institute of Letters’ prestigious Lon Tinkle Award for Lifetime Achievement. This is the highest honor given by the TIL, which was established in 1936 to recognize distinctive literary achievement. The award will be presented to Mora at the TIL’s annual banquet, set for April 8, 2017, in El Paso.
“Pat Mora is one of the most beloved and acclaimed writers from Texas,” TIL President Steve Davis said. “It was a joyful occasion when the TIL council voted unanimously to honor Pat with this award.”
Mora was born in El Paso and grew up in a bilingual home where books were cherished. She is now the author of nearly fifty books, including thirty-six for children. Her books of poetry and nonfiction for adults include Agua Santa/Holy Water, Aunt Carmen’s Book of Practical Saints, Borders, Chants, House of Houses, and Neplanta: Essays from the Land in the Middle.
Her writing is often shaped by her life growing up on the U.S.-Mexico border. “Family, Mexican American culture, and the desert are all important themes,” she said. “The desert, mi madre, is my stern teacher…the Southwestern landscape has been my point of reference.”
“I take pride in being a Latina writer,” Mora said. “I continue to write and work to deepen and be more inventive. I write, in part, because Latina perspectives need to be part of our literary heritage including literature for children and young adults. From large and small publishing houses, all of our diverse children, need good, well-illustrated books that reflect their lives. Our young need and deserve to feel pride in home languages and cultures.”
In 1996, Mora founded the community-based, family literacy initiative, El día de los niños, El día de los libros/ Children’s Day, Book Day, now commonly known as Día. In the years since, Día has grown in the United States to include all children, languages and cultures.
Mora has won over a dozen national literary awards during her career and received the “Texas Writer” Award from the Texas Book Festival in 2015. The American Library Association has named her an honorary member. Both North Carolina State University and SUNY-Buffalo have awarded her honorary doctorates and her alma mater, the University of Texas at El Paso, has named her a distinguished alumna.
Mora, the mother of three children, and proud grandmother of an Austin granddaughter, is married to Vern Scarborough. She has been a teacher, university administrator and consultant. She is the recipient of a National Endowment of the Arts Poetry Fellowship, a Kellogg National Leadership Fellowship, and three Southwest Book Awards.
“Pat Mora represents the highest principles of writing, both in her work and in her life,” said Davis. “She was a groundbreaking literary voice early in her career as a poet and essayist, and her subsequent efforts to spread joy through books and reading has benefited so many children and families around the country. She is an inspiration to so many of us.”
Davis notes that it’s especially appropriate that the TIL will be recognizing Mora when the Institute gathers for its annual meeting in her hometown. “El Paso has arguably the richest literary heritage of any city in Texas, and Pat Mora is one of the great writers from El Paso. Honoring her at our banquet in El Paso will put a big exclamation point on the meeting.”
The Texas Institute of Letters is a non-profit established in 1936 to promote interest in Texas literature and to recognize literary achievement. The TIL’s elected membership consists of the state’s most recognized and serious writers of fiction, poetry, journalism, and scholarship. The membership includes winners of the Pulitzer Prizes in drama, fiction, and nonfiction, as well as prizes awarded by PEN and dozens of other regional and national award and grant-giving institutions.
(From organization's press release)
Texas Book Festival lists full 2016 lineup
AUSTIN — The Texas Book Festival is excited to host a lineup filled with nationally renowned presenters, including Don DeLillo, Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Diana Kennedy, Thomas Dolby, Emma Cline, Padma Lakshmi, Amor Towles, Francine Prose, Lawrence Wright, Phoebe Robinson, Jane Alexander, Robert Olen Butler, Jon Klassen, R.L. Stine, and more. The 2016 TBF weekend takes place on November 5 and 6, spread throughout the grounds of the Texas State Capitol and along Austin’s iconic Congress Avenue.
Award-winning authors are found throughout the TBF lineup, including literary legend Don DeLillo, an American novelist, playwright, and essayist well known for such acclaimed works as White Noise and Underworld, whose subjects range from television and sports to nuclear war and performance art. Co-presented by the TBF and the Harry Ransom Center, DeLillo will appear in conversation with author and screenwriter Noah Hawley about DeLillo’s latest novel, Zero K, at the Festival.
“We are hosting some big marquee names this year, and it’s exciting to see the trend of prominent artists—actors, comedians, performance artists—writing books,” says Lois Kim, the Festival’s executive director. “But one of the best things about our deep and diverse lineup is the opportunity for discovery. There is so much talent in this list, and we can’t wait for people to dive in and find their next favorite author at the Festival, which is free to attend, thanks to the Festival’s generous supporters and dedicated volunteer army.”
A total of more than 280 writers, including chefs, actors, YouTube-stars, and more, are part of the 2016 Texas Book Festival lineup. One of the nation’s premier literary events and longest-running book festivals in the country, the Festival continues to be free and open to the public thanks to sponsors and volunteers. Additionally, the Festival brings more than 40,000 attendees, live music, kids’ activities, food trucks, book signings and sales, and 100 exhibitors all in and around the State Capitol over two full days.
The weekend also kicks off with the First Edition Literary Gala, featuring actor-authors Ethan Hawke and Diane Guerrero; acclaimed journalist and novelist Carl Hiaasen; and chef and restaurateur Marcus Samuelsson as presenters. Children’s book writer Jon Scieszka will emcee this year’s gala, to be held on Friday, November 4 at the Four Seasons Hotel Austin.
Read the full details and author bios at www.texasbookfestival.org/authors/
(Information from organization's press release)
