Texas Book Festival Organizers Add Latin Flavor To Mix

AUSTIN, TX — For the fifth year running, the 2019 Texas Book Festival will have a decidedly Latin flavor this fall. Organizers on Tuesday said more than 75 Latinx authors and moderators will participate in the two-day event in conversations and panels about Latinx literature, life and culture.

All events are free and open to the public. The returning Latinx Lit Tent will feature events with writers for young readers and adults, including Zulema Arroyo Farley, Rodrigo Márquez Tizano, Yuyi Morales, Jennine Capó Crucet, J.J. Mulligan Sepúlveda, and ire’ne lara silva. New this year at the Festival is the Libros en Español Tent, a book sales tent dedicated to Spanish-language books for adults and children.

Now in its fifth year, the Texas Book Festival’s Latinx Lit Tent will offer sessions about writing and publishing in Spanish, inventive new fiction, bilingual storytimes, a celebration of the winners of the Tomás Rivera Mexican-American Book Award, and more. Sessions in the Latinx Lit Tent are dedicated to bilingual programming about Latinx life and culture, and feature new and established Latinx authors who write books for a variety of ages and genres.

Previous coverage:

• Texas Book Festival Bringing Noted Author To Austin
• Malcolm Gladwell Joins Texas Book Festival Lineup
  
• Texas Book Festival Reveals Slate Of Authors
  
• Author John Grisham To Appear At Texas Book Festival

The Latinx Lit Tent will feature the following panel highlights:

• Not Your Traditional Latinx Narrative: In boundary-pushing, inventive new works of fiction, Fernando A. Flores (Tears of the Trufflepig) and Rodrigo Márquez Tizano (Jakarta) use surreal, absurdist techniques to craft stories in modern settings outside of the realm of traditional narratives. Join these two breakout writers as they discuss their irreverent and energetic approaches to the page.

• In a Modern World: Latinas on Writing and Publishing Today: In new collections of short fiction and essays, Jennine Capó Crucet (My Time Among the Whites), Kali Fajardo-Anstine (Sabrina & Corina), and Ivelisse Rodriguez (Love War Stories) write about fitting in, family, and the intersection of love and community. Sharp, searing, funny, and unforgettable, their work is at the forefront of today’s most indelible writing. Join them as they discuss their work.

• What Can We Do? Actions to Help the Crisis at the Border: Children in detention centers and ICE raids in cities across the country; what can we do in the face of these enormous issues? Immigration lawyer J. J. Mulligan Sepúlveda (No Human Is Illegal) and professor William Lopez (Separated) share specific actions we can all take to help those under attack.

And for the first time this year, the festival will feature the Libros en Español Tent, a book sales tent next to the Latinx Lit Tent dedicated to Spanish-language books for adults and children, curated by BookPeople and Vintage Español. In addition to Spanish-language books by Festival authors, the tent will offer a general selection of Spanish-language titles by other authors. Festival-goers will also be able to browse Spanish-language children’s books made available by Cuentology, an Austin-based children’s bookseller specializing in Spanish-language children’s books.

Latinx authors headlining the Festival this year include Chef Aarón Sánchez and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The Festival’s Latinx Programming and Selection Committee steered Festival invitations to Latinx authors and created the programming in the Latinx Lit Tent. Earlier this year, the Festival also launched a Spanish-language Facebook group, Nuestros Libros, Nuestra Voz, for bilingual and Spanish-speaking readers.

The 2019 Texas Book Festival is co-presented by HEB and AT&T. Other major sponsors include Brigid Cockrum and Family, Kirkus Reviews, Central Market, Texas Monthly, Tocker Foundation, Buena Vista Foundation, C-SPAN 2/Book TV, St. David’s HealthCare, Austin American-Statesman, and Pentagram. Univision is a new sponsor at the Festival this year and will be featured in the Latinx Lit area.

The full schedule, including sessions at the Latinx Lit Tent, will be announced the week of October 1. For more information on the Texas Book Festival, please visit www.texasbookfestival.org and follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @texasbookfest.

ABOUT TEXAS BOOK FESTIVAL

With a vision to inspire all Texans to love reading, the Texas Book Festival connects authors and readers through experiences that celebrate the culture of literacy, ideas, and imagination. Founded in 1995 by former First Lady Laura Bush, Mary Margaret Farabee, and a group of volunteers, the nonprofit Texas Book Festival promotes the joys of reading and writing through its annual Festival Weekend, the Texas Teen Book Festival, the Reading Rock Stars Title I elementary school program, the Real Reads Title I middle and high school program, grants to Texas libraries, and year-round literary programming.

The festival is held on the grounds of the Texas Capitol each fall and features more than 275 renowned authors, panels, book signings, cooking demonstrations, and children’s activities. The 2019 Texas Book Festival Weekend will take place October 26 - 27. Thanks to generous donors, sponsors, and 1,000 volunteers, the festival remains free and open to the public. Visit www.texasbookfestival.org for more information, and join the conversation using the hashtag #txbookfest on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @texasbookfest.

The returning Latinx Lit Tent will feature events with writers for young readers and adults, including Zulema Arroyo Farley, Rodrigo Márquez Tizano, Yuyi Morales, Jennine Capó Crucet, J.J. Mulligan Sepúlveda, and ire’ne lara silva.