Bookish Texas • Events Around the State
The most comprehensive listing of book and author events, festivals, readings, lectures, and signings in the Lone Star State
Don't see your book or literary event here? Email Events@lonestarliterary.com with your complete info two weeks in advance of the issue in which your event is scheduled, and we'll include it.
Bookish goings-on in Texas
compiled exclusively for Lone Star Literary Life
FOR THE WEEK OF 02.16.2020
SPECIAL EVENTS:
Sin Muros Latinx Theatre Festival, Houston, February 13-16
Highland Park Literary Festival, February 20
2020 Southern Plains Conference, Canyon, February 20-21
Complete Picture Book Intensive: A River of Words, Austin, February 20-23
Lone Star Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Alpine, February 21-22
VersoFrontera, La Feria, February 22
South Texas Literacy Symposium, Brownsville, February 22
Poetry Out Loud State Finals Competition, Austin, February 22
Border Regional Library Association Annual Awards Banquet, Sunland Park (NM), February 22
Festival of International Books and Arts (FESTIBA), Brownsville, February 22-29
EXHIBITS:
Yuyi Morales: Soñadora, Abilene, November 14-May 28
Cuban Comics in the Castro Era, Austin, December 6-March 1
Gabriel García Márquez: The Making of a Global Writer, Austin, February 1-July 19
Blue Star Contemporary's Exhibitions Highlight the Written Word, San Antonio, February 7-May 3
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16:
Austin
BookPeople, George Vance McGee discussing and signing The Nation We Live In, 5PM
BookWoman, Amanda Johnstone hosting the TORCH: Wildfire Reading Series: KB + Community Open Mic, 3PM
Dallas
Half Price Books Mother Ship, Fred Zuker signing Standing Tall & Looking Good: One Soldier’s Life & Lessons Learned from 1068-71, and Frank Myer signing Don’t Put The Cart Before The Unicorn: How To Survive and Thrive in The Online Dating World, 1PM
The Wild Detectives, Backyard Story Night – Dallas edition, 7PM
Fort Worth
Leaves Books & Tea, An Afternoon with Authors: Maz Maddox, Fabiana Martinez, Michele McCarthy, and C.A. Szarek discussing “Writing Because You Have To,” 2PM
Houston
Brazos Bookstore, Richard Bell discussing and signing Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home, 4:30PM
Murder By the Book, A panel of Houston Sisters in Crime published authors will share their secrets to success, 2PM
San Antonio
Trinity University, Role of Cultural Heritage Preservation in Gentrification: a panel including Austin author and photographer John Langmore, 4PM
The Twig Book Shop, Dr. Robb Kelly signing Daddy, Daddy Please Stop Drinking, 12PM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17:
Austin
BookPeople, Joseph Laycock discussing and signing Speak of the Devil, 7PM
Dallas
SMU, author Aaron David Miller presents “Gulliver’s Troubles: How America Can Cope in a Broken, Angry, Dysfunctional Middle East,” 12PM [free but reservations required]
Denton
UNT, an evening with Sarah Broom, UNT alumna and National Book Award-winning author of The Yellow House, 6PM
Fort Worth
Houston
Murder By the Book, Scott Carson (AKA Michael Koryta) discussing and signing The Chill, 6:30PM
Huntsville
Sam Houston State, Dr. Richard Bell discussing and signing Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home, 4PM
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18:
Austin
BookPeople, Tom Lutz discussing and signing Born Slippy, 7PM
BookWoman, Reading/Gathering/Discussion: “But What Can I Do?” with author Xan Joi, 7PM
Native Hostel, Austin Poetry Slam featuring Ageless Ambition, 7:15PM
Prohibition Creamery, Texas Book Festival’s Sweet Reads Book Swap, 5:30PM
Canyon
WTAMU, Distinguished Lecture Series: author Temple Grandin, 7PM
Dallas
Dallas Museum of Art, Arts & Letters Live presents Tembi Locke, author of From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home (in conversation with Krys Boyd), 7:30PM
SMU, “Global Transits: Media discourses on present-day migration” with Dr. Caroline Brettell and author Marta Vilar Rosales, 12PM [free but reservations required]
El Paso
The Black Orchid, Barbed Wire Open Mic Series, 8PM
Fort Worth
The Dock Bookshop, Black History Celebration Open Mic Poetry Night, 8PM
Houston
Brazos Bookstore, Pam Houston discussing and signing Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country, 6:30PM
Fix Coffeebar, Poetry FIX featuring Eric Blanchard and Dede Fox, 6:30PM
San Antonio
The Mix, PuroSlam, 9:30PM
Tobin Library at Oakwell Farms, Voices de la Luna poetry workshop and open mic featuring Charles Darnell, 6PM
Trinity U, Stieren Arts Enrichment Series: a reading with commentary by author Kiese Laymon, 8PM
The Twig Book Shop, Mary Earle discussing and signing Did You Sing Your Song?, 5PM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19:
Austin
Malvern Books, Austin Community College’s Creative Writing Department presents the winners of their 2018 Balcones Prizes, 7PM
Dallas
Half Price Books Mother Ship, Kathleen West discussing and signing Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes, 7PM
Interabang Books, Kate Winkler Dawson discussing and signing American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI, 6PM
El Paso
Pershing Inn, El Velvet Elvis Open Mic Night, 8PM
Fort Worth
Houston
Avant Garden, Write About Now Poetry Open Mic featuring UT Spitshine, 7:30PM
Murder By the Book, Erica Spindler discussing and signing The Look-Alike, 6:30PM
St. Luke's United Methodist Church, 2020 Nancy Stallworth Thompson Horticulture Lecture with Victoria Johnson, author American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic, 10AM
Huntsville
Sam Houston State, a reading by fiction writer and essayist Michael Martone, 5PM
Laredo
Golondrina Food Park, Laredo BorderSlam Winner Takes All Slam, 8PM
Plano
B&N – Legacy West, Open Mic Night, 7PM
San Antonio
Berry to Beans, Sun Poet’s Society open mic poetry readings, 7PM
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20:
Abilene
Abilene Public Library-South, Open Mic Night, 6PM
Austin
Austin Book Arts Center, Carbonera Book Publishing workshop, 7PM
BookPeople, Writers’ League of Texas presents “Building a Career as a Writer” with Gabino Iglesias, Cynthia Leitich Smith, and Don Tate, 7PM
BookPeople, Paul Yoon discussing and signing Run Me to Earth, 7PM
Dallas
Deep Vellum Books, REvolution Cafe & Bookstore presents a Queer AF Poetry Open Mic, 6PM
Half Price Books Mother Ship, Mark Greaney discussing and signing the next installment of his Gray Man series, One Minute Out, 7PM
Interabang Books, Cynthia Newberry Martin discussing and signing Tidal Flats, and Pam Houston discussing and signing Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country, 6PM
Dripping Springs
Pioneer Bank, reading of Through Layered Limestone at the Thirsty Thursdays poetry group, 7PM
Fort Worth
TCU, The Live Oak Reading Series featuring poet Tina Chang, 6:30PM
Houston
Blue Willow Bookshop, Kathleen West discussing and signing Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes, 7PM
Brazos Bookstore, Candace Taylor discussing and signing Overground Railroad, 6:30PM
Katy Budget Books, Luncheon with Erica Spindler, author of The Look-Alike, 12PM
Murder By the Book, Simone St. James discussing and signing The Sun Down Motel, 6:30PM
Museum of Fine Art, Meet the Books: “Modernist Myths: Aesthetics of Identity in Latin American Graphics,” 1PM
Rice University, The Latin American Writer-in-Residency Series’ Lecture: Diversidad lingüística y tradiciones poéticas with Yàsnaya Elena Aguilar Gil, Mexican writer & linguistic rights activist, 5PM
River Oaks Bookstore, Gary Scharrer discussing and signing Connecting Texas: True Tales of the People Who Built Our Highways and Bridges, 5PM
McAllen
McAllen Public Library, the Storybook Garden presents NYT best-selling author Gordon Korman, 7PM
San Angelo
Old Town Books, a Music in Literature presentation by Ellen Myer from the San Angelo Symphony, 10:30AM
San Antonio
The Twig Book Shop, Jack Clark Robinson discussing and signing Franciscan Friars Coast to Coast, 5PM
Victoria
UH, American Book Review Reading Series presents Sarah Etter, 11AM
Waco
Fabled Bookshop & Café, Susan Peters signing Unbound + a conversation about human trafficking with Detective Scaramucci of the McLennan County sheriff's office and Sergeant Lundquist of the Waco Police, 7PM
Mayborn Museum, Mike Cox discussing and signing Train Crash at Crush, Texas: America's Deadliest Publicity Stunt, 6PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21:
Austin
BookPeople, Daina Ramey Berry discussing and signing A Black Women's History of the United States, 7PM
BookWoman, Addie Tsai discussing and signing Dear Twin, and poet Leanna Petronella discussing and signing The Imaginary Age, 7PM
Paramount Theatre, an evening with Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Ronan Farrow, author of Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, 7PM
College Station
Bush Presidential Library and Museum, author and historian H. W. Brands discussing “From George Washington to Donald Trump: A Headlong History of the Presidency,” 6:30PM
Dallas
Heroes Lounge, Dallas Poetry Slam presents WOWPS’s Rep: C.R.U.S.H., 8PM
Rosewood Mansion, World Affairs Council-DFW presents “2020 IPS: Education and U.S. Foreign Policy: How Are They Related?” with author David P. Baker, 12PM
Deer Park
Deer Park Public Library, Lora-Marie Bernard discussing The Yellow Rose of Texas: The Song, the Legend and Emily D. West, 11AM
El Paso
Fahrenheit 180, Barbed Wire Series Open Mic Night, 8:30PM
Houston
Brazos Bookstore, Sarah Rose Etter discussing and signing The Book of X, 6:30PM
Conversations from a Page, Literary Salon with Simone St. James, author of The Sun Down Motel, and Kathleen West, author of Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes, 8:45AM [location is a personal home-see the website for further info]
Katy Budget Books, cocktail party with Roxanna Elden, author of Adequate Yearly Progress, 5:30PM
Lawndale Art Center, Gulf Coast Reading Series featuring Kazim Ali, Daniel Tompkins, Laura Biagi, and Chris Flakus, 7PM
Rice University, Camden Lecture by Geraldine Heng, author of The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages, 4PM
San Antonio
The Twig Book Shop, Dr. Dorian Williams, Sr. discussing and signing Strategic Planning for Black Folk, 5PM
Sugar Land
B&N, Dr. Sheila D. Williams signing My Mother's Keeper: A Memoir, 7PM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22:
Austin
Abiding Love Lutheran Church, A Day with Poet Naomi Shihab Nye, includes a three-hour workshop, lunch, and 90-minute conversation and Q&A, 10AM
ACC-Riverside, Diverse Literary Voices of Texas: Journalism, Love, Justice with Hopeton Hay, 12:30PM
Austin Book Arts Center, children’s board books workshop, 1PM
B&N – Arboretum, Marvin Allen signing The Conscious Road Home: A Revolutionary Approach to Healing Yourself and Your Love Relationship, 2PM
BookPeople, Bryce Gilmore and Veronica Meewes discussing and signing The Odd Duck Almanac, 2PM
BookPeople, Meg Gardiner discussing and signing The Dark Corners of the Night (in conversation with Amy Gentry), 5PM
Casa de Resistencia, Lenguas Locxs Writers Collective workshop, 12:30PM
Malvern Books, Kallisto Gaia Press presents The Ocotillo Review Volume 4.1, 7PM
St. Edwards U, Writers’ League of Texas workshop: "Finding the Shift: Crafting Your Story's Turning Point" with Sindya Bhanoo, 10AM
Twin Oaks Branch Library, local author Alex Kiester discussing her audiobook, In Her Skin, 1PM
Boerne
Patrick Heath Public Library, The Art of Writing workshop with D. Ellis Phelps, 1PM
Dallas
B&N – Preston/Royal, Deanna King signing Gracie's Stories and Twist of Fate, 12PM
Interabang Books, Tom and Lisa Perini discussing and signing their new cookbook, Perini Ranch Steakhouse, 6PM
Decatur
Decatur Public Library, Writers’ League of Texas workshop: “Texas Writes” with Tex Thompson and John Pipkin, 10AM
Denton
The Bearded Monk, American Literary Review Graduate Reading Series, 4PM
El Paso
B&N – Sunland Park, Robert Bettes reading and signing Dear Bubble Bath, Give Back My Dad!, 2PM
UTEP Centennial Museum, Tumblewords Project workshop: “Speaking In Tongues: The Poetry of Invented Languages” with David Romo, 1PM
Fort Worth
UNT Health Science Center, SCBWI-North Texas area meet-up, 1PM
Houston
Brazos Bookstore, John Allman discussing and signing A Is for Audra, 2PM
Half Price Books – Clear Lake, Local Author Saturdays: Meet local indie authors and pick up their latest release, while supplies last
Vox Culture, Vox Storytellers: “Voices on Immigration,” 3PM
Writespace, Emerging Writer Fellowship Reading & Reception, 7PM
Lubbock
B&N, Andrew Brandt signing In the Fog, 2PM
Garden Arts Center, Caprock Writers & Illustrators Alliance launch party featuring Jodi Thomas, 10AM
New Braunfels
The Book Haus, meet local author Dr. Deirdre Williams, 10AM
The Book Haus, local author Joanne R. Easley discussing and signing Sweet Jane, 2PM
Paris
The Blind Pig, Open Mic Night, 7PM
Pflugerville
West Pecan Coffee + Beer, Family Friendly Poetry Reading, 2:30PM
San Antonio
B&N – La Cantera, Ken D. Berry signing Lies My Doctor Told Me: Medical Myths That Can Harm Your Health, 3PM
Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, Dignidad Literaria: Latinx Authors & the Publishing Industry, 7PM
The Twig Book Shop, Sarah Keeling signing Psalm Prayers for Kids, 11AM
Tyler
Half Price Books, Lewis Ben Smith signing The Gnostic Library, 3PM
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23:
Austin
BookPeople, Debbie Trominski discussing and signing Rich Slow is My Homeboy, 5PM
Malvern Books, a public reading with the South Austin Writers Workshop, 1PM
Dallas
Half Price Books Mother Ship, Clay Wonnell signing his humorous golf book, Sandbaggery, 1PM
Interabang Books, John Allman discussing and signing A Is for Audra, 1PM
El Paso
Mona Bar of Modern Art, The Barbed Wire Open Mic Series, 8PM
Houston
Brazos Bookstore, César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández discussing and signing Migrating to Prison, 4:30PM
Meyerland Performing and Visual Arts Middle School, Cool Brains! Inprint Readings for Young People presents Alan Gratz discussing and signing Allies, 3PM
Visionary Heights, Poetry Around Houston workshop, 1PM
Richardson
The Drawing Board, Writing Workshops Dallas seminar: “How to Write Magical Realism” with Alex Temblador, 3PM
San Antonio
The Twig Book Shop, Andrés de la Casa Huertas and Javier García del Moral (founders of Dallas’s The Wild Detectives bookstore) signing Reading Quirks-Weird Things That Bookish Nerds Do!, 12PM
Sugar Land
B&N, Rachael Tamayo signing Break My Bones, 2PM
Don't see your book or literary event here? Email Events@lonestarliterary.com with your complete info two weeks in advance of the issue in which your event is scheduled, and we'll include it.
