Author Sandra Cisneros wins Lifetime Achievement Award from Texas Institute of Letters
“Sandra Cisneros has been a guiding force in American literature for over thirty years,” said TIL president Steve Davis. “We are overjoyed at this opportunity to recognize her in Texas, where Sandra has made so many historic and enduring contributions.”
Cisneros is a poet, short story writer, novelist, and essayist whose work explores the lives of the working class. Born and raised in Chicago, she moved to San Antonio in the 1980s and made her home in the city for decades. Her first book, The House on Mango Street, has sold over six million copies, has been translated into over twenty languages, and is required reading in elementary schools, high schools, and universities across the nation. The book continues to inspire generations of readers.
Cisneros’s other acclaimed works include Woman Hollering Creek: Stories; the novel Caramelo; two full-length poetry books, My Wicked, Wicked Ways and Loose Woman; a memoir, A House of My Own: Stories from My Life; and two illustrated books: Hairs = Pelitos and Have You Seen Marie?
Since moving from San Antonio in 2012, Cisneros has become a dual citizen of the United States and Mexico.
“I travel back and forth to Texas now more than I do to any other region in the country,” Cisneros said. “I may no longer make my home in Texas, but Texas stories still make their home in me. Thank you, TIL, for this great recognition for my labor.”
Her numerous awards include NEA fellowships in both poetry and fiction, the Texas Medal of the Arts, a MacArthur Fellowship, a Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellowship, several honorary doctorates and book awards nationally and internationally, including Chicago’s Fifth Star Award, the PEN Center USA Literary Award, and the National Medal of the Arts, awarded to her by President Obama in 2016.
In addition to her writing, Cisneros has fostered the careers of many aspiring and emerging writers through the two non-profit organizations she founded: the Macondo Foundation and the Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation. She is also the organizer of Los MacArturos, Latino MacArthur fellows who are community activists. Her literary papers are preserved in Texas at the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University.
For more information on Sandra Cisneros, visit her website at www.sandracisneros.com.
The Texas Institute of Letters is a non-profit honor society founded in 1936 to to celebrate Texas literature and recognize distinctive literary achievement. The TIL’s elected membership consists of the state’s most respected writers, who have earned the acclamation of their peers.
Photograph © Keith Dannemiller
(Information and photograph from organization’s press release)
Eleventh annual Tom Lea Month invites fans of late author/artist to experience the Tom Lea Trail, exhibitions, events
Since the first Tom Lea Month in July 2007, to mark what would have been the artist’s 100th birthday, the celebration has grown and expanded nationally with past events from Juárez to Washington, D.C. Previous Tom Lea Month events and exhibits have drawn crowds in Austin, Dallas, Fredericksburg, Galveston, Marathon, Odessa, Waco and other sites around Texas.
Many only know Lea for his New Deal–era murals, but he also wrote best-selling novels that were made into major Hollywood movies, and he served as a World War II correspondent for magazine depicting the fighting with reporting and paintings.
To learn more about this year’s Tom Lea Month events, visit the Institute’s website at www.tomlea.com.
(Information and photo from organization’s website)
Schedule posted for Lubbock Book Festival, Oct. 28
S. C. Gwynne to headline with The Perfect Pass; Hank the Cowdog author John R. Erickson keynoter for children
Lubbock enters the book festival arena this fall with the all-day Lubbock Book Festival on Saturday, Oct. 28. More than three dozen best-selling authors and regional favorites have been confirmed to read, sign books, and greet fans at the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts, a cornerstone of the Lubbock Cultural District.
Keynoters include S. C. Gwynne, author of the nonfiction bestsellers Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches (2010) and Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson (2015). Most recently, Gwynne explores how throwing passes revolutionized Texas’ most popular sport in The Perfect Pass: American Genius and the Reinvention of Football (2016), including a nod to the innovations of Mike Leach, former Texas Tech University head coach.
More than 20 regional and national bestselling authors are scheduled to attend the Lubbock Book Festival, including Jodi Thomas, a member of the National Romance Writers Hall of Fame, and John R. Erickson, creator of the beloved Hank the Cowdog series for young readers.
Fans can also look forward to appearances by writers Terry Jennings, author of the heartfelt memoir/biography Waylon: Tales of My Outlaw Dad (2016); Adán Medrano, cookbook author of Truly Texas Mexican: A Native Culinary Heritage in Recipes (2014) and Angelina LaRue, author of The Whole Enchilada (2015), with a luncheon cooking demonstration; and Patrick Dearen, Western Writers of America Spur Award winner for The Big Drift (2014), as well as newcomer to the book scene Karin McCay, news co-anchor of Lubbock’s KCBD-TV, with her Magic Mommy series of titles for children.
The Lubbock Book Festival will play a key role in the 20th anniversary of the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts, known locally as LHUCA (pronounced Luka). The center’s studios, galleries, and performance spaces host a busy schedule of film screenings, exhibitions, concerts, and dance performances. With the new book fest, the center will strengthen its connection to the literary arts, Executive Director Jean Caslin said.
Moreover, the new festival is in keeping with a quote from George Washington, appropriately lettered above the door of LHUCA’s Firehouse Theatre: “To encourage literature and art is the duty that every good citizen owes to his country.”
Festival admission is free and open to the public; tickets will be required for some free events as well as Saturday's cookbook luncheon. A full schedule and lineup is in progress at www.LubbockBookFestival.org, with further events to be announced as festival time approaches.
(Information from organization's press release)
Author Charlaine Harris to headline Granbury Paranormal Expo, Sept. 30–Oct. 1
GRANBURY — The Sixth Annual Granbury Paranormal Expo will kick off the Halloween season on Sept. 30, 2017, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Oct. 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a street festival in the middle of Granbury’s historic downtown square. This festival is free to the public and will feature ghost hunters, psychics, horror, sci-fi, cosplay, fantasy, and much more.
This year’s celebrity guest will be Charlaine Harris (left), author of the novels that inspired HBO’s True Blood and the new hit NBC series, Midnight, Texas. Joining Harris as guest speakers will be renowned cryptozoologist Ken Gerhard, Research and Investigation of the Paranormal founder Greg Stephens, and Boni Furusho, a mentor to those who have experienced paranormal phenomena. Hallie of Hallie’s Heroes will also be a special guest, swabbing visitors and adding them to the National Bone Marrow Registry to help save the lives of those who need bone marrow transplants.
Cosplay, or dressing in costumes, will also be a much bigger feature this year. Visitors will meet many costumed characters and even take pictures with several movie replica vehicles. A children’s cosplay contest for ages infant to 12 will take place on Oct. 1, sponsored by Heroic Inner Kids and hosted by Unwrap the Magic Parties and Events.
For more information, visit www.GranburyParanormalExpo.com Expo organizer Brandy Herr can be reached at GranburyGhosts@gmail.com or (817) 559-0849.
(Information from organization’s press release)
Texas Lihip opportunities, ongoing education, and
Writers’ League of Texas’s “Texas Writes” events set for September
Texas Writes is a statewide program of the Writers’ League of Texas that brings accomplished authors to rural libraries for a half day of presentations and panel discussions. Each event is free and open to the public.
WLT has two Texas Writes events slated for September 2017, in locations as geographically diverse as Clifton (near Waco) and Shallowater (near Lubbock).
The first is in Clifton Saturday, Sept. 23 at the Bosque Arts Center. This event will feature TWO presentations — one at 10 a.m., with Greg Garrett and Jennifer duBois, and one at 1 p.m., featuring Meg Gardiner and Jeremy Kraatz.
Garrett will be leading a session on how to write yourself into the story, and DuBois will do a workshop on how to move beyond your own personal narrative. In the afternoon, Gardiner will talk about how to ramp up the suspense in your stories, and Kraatz will discuss how to make dialogue work for you.
To pre-register for this event, contact the Nellie Pederson Library at (254) 675-6495.
The second September event is Texas Writes at the Shallowater School County Library Sat., Sept. 30, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. This event will feature presentations from authors Charlotte Gullick and Donna Johnson. Gullick will be conducting a workshop on incorporating the seasons into setting and character, and Johnson will be heading up a presentation on the role of imagination on memoir
To pre-register for this event, contact the library at (806) 832-4951.
Information from organization's website
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Nancy A. Nasher to Receive May Dickson Exall Award from Library Group
Author Jonathan Eig to speak at Friends of the Dallas Public Library Gala
DALLAS — Nancy A. Nasher, owner of NorthPark Center, will be honored with the May Dickson Exall Award at the Friends of the Dallas Public Library (FDPL) annual gala on Thursday, October 12.
The award, for outstanding contributions to libraries and literacy in Dallas, is named for the longtime civic leader who led the campaign to open Dallas’s first public library in 1899.
Among her achievements, Nasher spearheaded the opening of Bookmarks, the first public library branch for children in a commercial retail establishment in the United States, at NorthPark in 2008. Since then more than one million visitors have had the opportunity to enjoy the library and its wide variety of programs focused on promoting early literacy.
“The amazing success of Bookmarks is just one chapter in Nancy Nasher’s long career of championing literacy in our city,” said Kate Park, FODPL executive director. “She has set an example of civic and business leadership for the whole country, and it is so fitting she should be honored as this year’s Exall winner.”
The annual banquet benefits Friends of the Dallas Public Library, the nonprofit organization that provides financial support and advocates for the city’s twenty-nine libraries and their educational programs. Tickets are $175, and sponsorships are still available.
The gala’s featured speaker will be Jonathan Eig, author of acclaimed biographies of Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson and Al Capone, as well as The Birth of the Pill, a fascinating saga of science, social attitudes and birth control. Ken Burns calls him “a master storyteller.” Eig’s new book, Ali: A Life, will be published October 3, and is already earning rave reviews.
May Dickson Exall, a native Texan who died in 1986, was the Dallas Public Library’s first president. She hosted art exhibitions in the library, which led to the establishment of the Dallas Museum of Art.
Nasher, a graduate of the Hockaday School, Princeton University, and Duke University School of Law, has long supported arts, education, health, and many other philanthropic causes in Dallas and around the country. For more than forty years Nancy and her husband, David J. Haemisegger, have dedicated their professional careers to making NorthPark one of the most successful and admired shopping centers in the United States.
Nasher said she was excited to create “a dynamic educational space” at NorthPark. “From its inception, Bookmarks has been a vibrant and energetic learning destination dedicated to fostering a love of reading at an early age,” she said. “We are so proud it serves over 150,000 children each year.”
The banquet will be held at O’Hara Hall on the seventh floor of the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library in downtown Dallas. For more information or to purchase tickets, log on to www.fodpl.org.
(Information from organization’s press release)
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Austin Book Arts Center announces Second Annual Birthday Bash
AUSTIN — On Mon., Oct. 2, 2017, from 6:30 to 9:30 pm, the Austin Book Arts Center will celebrate its first two years of successfully engaging people in creative, interpretive, and educational experiences related to the arts of the book. The event will take place at the White Horse Saloon, 500 Comal Street, Austin, TX, 78702.
Activities include a silent auction, printing a bookmark, binding a keepsake, and of course, birthday cake. There will be a cash bar. Greg Ciotti will be master of ceremonies. Music will be provided by Carson McHone. To support Texas neighbors affected by Hurricane Harvey, ABAC will collect donations of new or gently used children’s books.
Tickets are $20 in advance; $25 at the door. For more information and to buy tickets, visit http://atxbookarts.org/secondbirthdayparty. All proceeds will go directly towards ABAC’s educational programming and outreach to children in Central Texas.
ABAC’s studios include a fully-equipped letterpress print shop, with three Vandercook proof presses and an 8x12 Chandler & Price platen jobber. Last year, ABAC’s expansion significantly increased its capacity to offer workshops and to fulfill its mission.
The organization has scheduled 35 classes and workshops offered at ABAC this fall, including concentrations in bookbinding, letterpress, papermaking, to name a few. Open Studio times are scheduled, enabling students and artists from central Texas to create books and prints the old- fashioned way.
Austin Book Arts Center, located at 2832 E Martin Luther King Jr Blvd #114, Austin, Texas, 78702, is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. ABAC opened its doors to all book lovers in Austin and central Texas in September of 2015. Since its inception, ABAC has offered over 150 workshops and participated in numerous outreach events throughout the region, spreading the good news of the book arts to thousands. The mission of Austin Book Arts Center is to engage people of all ages in creative, interpretive, and educational experiences related to the arts of the book. ABAC regularly offers workshops in letterpress printing, bookbinding, papermaking, typography, book history, and design, and various arts of the book. In addition, ABAC is pleased to provide access to the traditional tools and equipment used in book production through its Open Studio program. www.atxbookarts.org
(Information and art from organization’s press release)
Texas Teen Book Festival announces 2017 schedule
Young Adult Book Festival to feature all-star author sessions, panels, workshops, book signings, interactive space, costume contest, and more
AUSTIN — The Texas Teen Book Festival has announced the full schedule for the 2017 edition, which will take place Sat., Oct. 7 from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at St. Edward’s University. This year’s Festival features an exciting program with opening keynote speaker Marie Lu and closing keynote speaker Jason Reynolds; panels and sessions by award-winning authors, including Lizzie Velásquez, Tillie Walden, Jennifer Mathieu, I. W. Gregorio, Mackenzi Lee, and Julie Murphy; plus book signings, educational workshops, a costume contest sponsored by Epic Reads, and the first-ever iTent.
“It is finally time to announce the 2017 Texas Teen Book Festival schedule and we can stop struggling to keep secrets!” says TTBF festival director Shawn Mauser. “We are so excited to announce this program that has been in the works since January. We hope to see everyone out for a celebration of reading, authors, and the teens who love them!”
The jam-packed festival day will begin at 8 a.m. and features panels, keynotes, and events, including:
• 8 a.m. – TTBF Bookstore Opens, Alumni Gym
• 8:30 a.m. – Early Bird Signings
o Featuring: Marie Lu, Jason Reynolds, E. Lockhart, and Stephanie Perkins
• 10 a.m. – Official Welcome and Opening Keynote at RCC Gym
o Featuring: Marie Lu
• 11:15 a.m. – Panel: To Thine Own Self Be True, at RCC Gym
o Featuring Jason Reynolds, Zac Brewer, Tillie Walden, Renée Watson, and Corrie Wang
• 11:15 a.m. – Panel: Me + You = Fate at Mabee Ballroom
o Featuring Kathryn Ormsbee, Mackenzi Lee, Julie Murphy, Adam Silvera, and Jenna Evans Welch
• 11:15 a.m. – Panel: The Ties That Blind at Jones Auditorium
o Featuring Sandhya Menon, Amy Tintera, Jessica Taylor, Peter Bognanni, and Andrew Shvarts
• 11:15 a.m. – Badgerdog Poetry Workshop 1 at Fleck Hall, Room 314
• 11:15 a.m. – Barrio Writers Workshop at the Library, Room 141
• 11:15 a. m. – Book Signings
• 12:30 p.m. – Panel: Where I Belong: Stories of Immigration, Resilience, and Hope at RCC Gym
o Featuring Mitali Perkins, Adi Alsaid, Francisco X. Stork, and Diana J. Noble
• 1:30 p.m. – Special Speaker at RCC Gym
o Featuring Lizzie Velásquez
• 2:30 p.m. – Panel: Smart is the New Black at Mabee
o Featuring Marie Lu, Ashley Poston, Kerri Maniscalco, and Ryan Graudin
• 2:30 p.m. – Panel: Fierce Reads at Jones Auditorium
o Featuring Mitali Perkins, Caleb Roehrig, Anna-Marie McLemore, and Jennifer Mathieu
• 2:30 p.m. – WNDB Educator Workshop at Library, Room 142
• 2:30 p.m. – Book Signings
• 3:15 p.m. – Epic Reads Costume Contest Judging at RCC Gym
• 3:30 p.m. – Panel: Of Myth & Mystery at Mabee Ballroom
o Featuring E. Lockhart, Stephanie Perkins, Julie Buxbaum, David Bowles, and Cory Putman Oakes
• 3:30 p.m. – Panel: It’s Time to Save the World… Again at Jones Auditorium
o Featuring Cindy Pon, Aditi Khorana, Erin Bowman, Lisa Maxwell, and S.J. Kincaid
• 3:30 p.m. – Badgerdog Workshop 2 at Fleck Hall, Room 314
• 3:30 p.m. – Educator Workshop 2: AISD Educator Book Club with Adi Alsaid at the Library, Room 142
• 3:30 p.m. – Book Signings
• 4:15 p.m. – Opening to Closing Note: Essay Presentation at RCC Gym
• 4:30 p.m. – Closing Note Speaker Jason Reynolds at RCC Gym
• 5:30 p. m. – Final Group Signing
In addition to panels and workshops throughout the day, the Festival will feature:
• Writing workshops hosted by Badgerdog and Barrio Writers at 11:15 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Badgerdog is a writing program of the Austin Public Library Foundation for writers of all ages and skill levels, and Barrio Writers is a creative writing program that provides free college level writing workshops to teenagers in underserved communities.
• A We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) workshop led by Dhonielle Clayton, COO of WNDB, to discuss using diverse books in the classroom at 2:30pm. This workshop is specifically programmed for educators, who will also hear about WNDB's new app, "Our Story," a useful book-finding tool for teachers, librarians, and students. “Our Story” offers cool content from authors as well as WNDB-themed curriculum and material perks. This event is for pre-registered attendees only, and reservations are available via the Texas Teen Book Festival website.
• An Austin ISD Adult Book Club and an Educator Book Club Discussion with Adi Alsaid at 3:30pm. This kick-off meeting will give adult readers the opportunity to meet Alsaid and discuss his latest novel, North of Happy.
• Additionally, this will be the first year for the iTent. This interactive space is designed to bring YA fans closer to their favorite authors and will offer opportunities to learn, create, and share. Book Talks, Zine Making, and Ask Me Anything sessions will all take place in the iTent. Full iTent schedule to be announced closer to the Festival.
TTBF is presented in collaboration with the Texas Book Festival, BookPeople, a dedicated team of librarians, and venue sponsor St. Edward’s University. The program is made possible in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
TTBF remains free and open to the public thanks to generous donors, sponsors, and dozens of committed volunteers. For more information, visit www.texasteenbookfestival.org and keep up with announcements at Facebook.com/TexasTeenBookFestival, and on Twitter and Instagram @TXTeenBookFest.
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