The Texas Book Festival returns to downtown Austin this weekend! Free and open to the public for its 28th year, the Texas Book Festival is a celebration of all things bookish that draws authors and readers from all over the world (270 of them this year!) to our little pocket in and around the Capitol building. Here’s what’s on deck for book lovers of all ages to enjoy this weekend.
Read Me A Story
The Read Me A Story tent will feature children’s authors from Austin’s own back yard to the mountains of Peru. Each 30-minute storytime session is immediately followed by an author signing in the children’s signing tent.
Saturday
- The Helping Sweater by Rachel Más Davidson
- Construction Site: Garbage Crew to the Rescue! by AG Ford
- The Dream Catcher by Marcelo Verdad
- A Maleta Full of Treasures by Natalia Sylvester
- Mamá’s Magnificent Dancing Plantitas by Jesús Trejo and Eliza Kinkz
- The Shadow & the Ghost by Cat Min
- ¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat by Raúl the Third
- Miguel Must Fight! by Jamie Ofelia
- The Squish by Breanna Carzoo
- Itty Bitty Betty Blob by Micah Player
- The Yellow Bus by Loren Long
- Everyone Starts Small by Liz Garton Scanlon
- The Boldest White: A Story of Hijab and Community by Ibtihaj Muhammad
Sunday
- Desert Song by Laekan Zea Kemp
- Grandma’s Hair Is Ankle Length by Adriana Camacho-Church
- Remembering by Xelena González
- The Littlest Grito by Nicholas Solis
- They Built Me for Freedom: The Story of Juneteenth and Houston’s Emancipation Park by Tonya Duncan Ellis
- Butt or Face? Volume 2: Revenge of the Butts (a favorite in our house!) by Kari Lavelle
- I’ll See You in Ijebu by Bunmi Emenanjo
- The Day Madear Voted by Wade Hudson
- Patrick and the Not So Perfect Party by Anne Wynter
- Free to Learn: How Alfredo Lopez Fought for the Right to Go to School by Cynthia Levinson
- Scorch, Hedgehog of Doom by Cate Berry
The Next Chapter
The Next Chapter tent will host panel discussions from children’s authors about emerging trends in children’s literature, as well as the announcement of this year’s coveted Bluebonnet award, one of the highest honors a kid’s book can receive. Panel discussions are 45 minutes long and are immediately followed by author signings in the children’s signing tent. Here are some of the panels happening at The Next Chapter this year.
Saturday
- The Social Conundrum of Middle School, Graphic Novel Edition
- Plucky Protagonists and Their Adventures with the (Un)Dead
- Asian American History and Legacy: Looking Back, Looking Forward
- Lost Socks, an Artistic Turtle, and Two Middle Grade Mysteries
- Standing Your Ground: Girls Speaking Up and Taking Action
- Will This Paperclip Destroy the World?!?
Sunday
- How Will It End? Dive into the Final Installment of the Amulet Series
- Body Parts and A Lot of Heart: Tracking Down Ghosts, Spirits, and Definitely Undead Dudes
- Summoning All Magic Fans: Two Spellbinding Fantasy Stories
- Rooting for Nature: Speaking Up for the Bats and the Trees
- Warriors Graphic Novel: Our Favorite Forest Cats From a Colorful New Angle
- (Literally) Drawing Connections: Delightful (and Only Sometimes Disgusting) Stories in STEM
Children’s Activities
The Children’s Activity tent is the place to be for crafting cut-paper collages, portraits and dream catchers with children’s book illustrators, making recommendation cards with BookPeople, and enjoying an interactive singalong. Witness a storytelling workshop, a Sharpie showdown between illustrators competing in a draw-off, or create your own paper kite with Girlstart!
Camp TTBF
The Camp TTBF tent hosts workshops for young adult bookworms, including journaling, graphic novel writing, magazine design, sculpture, poetry, and collage art. Get crafty with tote bag decorating (gotta start that collection early!), vintage postcard art, literary origami, book page embroidery, create your own Warrior cat, and weave friendship bracelets. Slay with a sword fighting skills class a la Camp Half-Blood, or eat at Banned Book Trivia. Main character energy abounds here.
YA HQ
The young adult headquarters tent features author readings and panel discussions from some of today’s most popular YA writers.
Saturday
- Los Angeles, 1992: A City on Fire and The Stories of That Pivotal Time
- From Heartache to Harmony: Love, Loss, and the Music That Binds Us
- DC Reimagined: Comics and Modern-Day Heroes
- Finding the Words: Teen Poet Protagonists & Their Journeys Through Hope and Love
- Romantasy Stories to Die For
- Fresh Ink: Young Writers Take the Stage
Sunday
- It’s Complicated: Navigating Relationships and Healing After Hardship
- YA Debuts: Local Monsters, Murder Mysteries, And at Least One Friendly Ghost
- Grappling With the Voices Inside: Stories of Struggle and Triumph
- Small-Town Streets and a Road Between Realms: Raising the Stakes in YA Horror
- Literary Remix: Fresh Interpretations of Familiar Tales
- Love Through the Ages: Historical Romance
For the Moms!
Need I mention there is loads of programming for adults, too?! Whether you’re into high fantasy, romance (I have so many questions for Katherine Center), horror (my literary man-crush Paul Tremblay will be there), memoir, or cookbooks, Congress Ave has it all, including Matthew McConaughey – hope you already snagged a free ticket for that one, though; he and Malcolm Gladwell are sold out.
My favorite part of the Texas Book Festival is the lit crawl on Saturday night; it’s where I find my kindred spirits and my 80-proof spirits. I also enjoy strolling through the exhibitor tents (there are just shy of 100 of them this year) and saying hello to all my favorite booksellers in one place. I mean, I don’t need another t-shirt with an obscure literary reference on it, but I sure as hell want twelve of them.
And this might be the one time I go against my advice and tell you not to bring a book, because you’re going to end up bringing a bunch home, and you can only carry so much! Happy book festing!
