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Texas poets featured in sessions Saturday, Sunday afternoons sponsored by Texas Institute of Letters

Poetry readings by the poets laureate and award-winning poets of Texas will be held in Austin Friday, Oct. 17, and Sat., Oct. 18 from 1 to 3 p.m., Capitol Ext. Room E1.016, as part of the Texas Book Festival. These readings are open to the public and are sponsored by The Texas Institute of Letters.

Hosted by Kurt Heinzelman of the University of Texas at Austin, the sessions will take place Sat., Oct. 17, and Sun., Oct. 18 from, 1 to 3 pm each day in Capitol Ext. Rm. E1.016 and are open to the public. The lineup of readers is as follows:

Saturday

Kathleen Winter is the author of Nostalgia for the Criminal Past (Elixir Press), which won the Antivenom Prize and the TIL 2013 Bob Bush Memorial Award for a first book of poetry. She is the Fall 2015 Fellow at Dobie Paisano Ranch, selected by the UT-Austin Graduate School in conjunction with the Texas Institute of Letters. Raised in Texas, she lives in Sonoma, CA.

Sam Sax is a 2015 NEA Creative Writing Fellow and Poetry Fellow at the Michener Center for Writers, where he serves as the editor-in-chief of Bat City Review. He is also a two-time Bay Area Grand Slam Champion. His book sad boy / detective has just been published by Black Lawrence Press.

A native of Louisiana, Ken Fontenot has lived in Austin, most recently, for the past twenty years. He holds an M.A. in German Language and Literature from UT (1986).  His book In a Kingdom of Birds won the 2013 Prize for Best Poetry of the Year from TIL. His most recent book of poems is Just a Trace of Moon (2015).

Patrick Ryan Frank is the author, most recently, of The Opposite of People (Four Way Books, 2015). A former Fulbright fellow to Iceland and a graduate of the writing programs at Northwestern University, Boston University, and the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, he currently teaches at Austin Community College.

William Virgil Davis’s most recent book of poetry is Dismantlements of Silence: Poems Selected and New (2015). He has published five other books of poetry, including Landscape and Journey, which won the New Criterion Poetry Prize and the Helen C. Smith Memorial Award for Poetry; The Dark Hours, which won the Calliope Press Chapbook Prize; and One Way to Reconstruct the Scene, which won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Prize. He is past president of the Texas Institute of Letters and professor emeritus of English and writer-in-residence at Baylor University.

Sunday

W. K. (Kip) Stratton is the author of six books and the co-editor of a seventh. His most recent book of poetry, Ranchero Ford/Dying in Red Dirt Country, was published in July. His book Floyd Patterson was shortlisted for the P.E.N./E.S.P.N. Award for Literary Nonfiction. He is also an experienced magazine writer, mostly recently appearing in Texas Monthly. He is a past president of the Texas Institute of Letters.

Dr. Carmen Tafolla is the poet laureate of the State of Texas 2015. Author of more than twenty books, Tafolla was called by Rigoberto Gonzales “the Zora Neale Hurston of the Chicano Community” and by Alex Haley “a world-class writer.” Tafolla has been published in English, Spanish, German, French, and Bengali.  Her latest book of poetry is This River Here: Poems of San Antonio (Wings, 2014.)

Alan Birkelbach, a native Texan, was the 2005 poet laureate of Texas. He is the winner of the 2015 Spur Award for Best Western Poem from the Western Writers of America. He is currently serving as the editor for the Texas Poet Laureate Series published by TCU Press. He has ten collections of poetry. His latest book, Meridienne Verte, is available from Purple Flag Press.

Karla K. Morton, the 2010 Texas poet laureate, is a councilor of the Texas Institute of Letters and graduate of Texas A&M University. Described as “one of the most adventurous voices in American poetry,” she is a Betsy Colquitt Award Winner, twice an Indie National Book Award Winner, and a North Texas Book Award Festival Winner. Morton has ten collections of poetry; the tenth, Constant State of Leaping from Texas Review Press, won the 2015 Eric Hoffer Book Award and was a finalist for the Montaigne Medal.

Dave Parsons, 2011 Texas poet laureate, is recipient of an N.E.H. Dante Fellowship to SUNY, the French/American Legation Poetry Prize, Texas Review Poetry Prize, and the Baskerville Publisher’s Prize; he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters in 2009. He has published six collections and teaches at Lone Star College-Montgomery. His latest book is Reaching For Longer Water. An anthology, Far Out: Poems from the Sixties, co-edited with Wendy Barker, is forthcoming April 2016.

(Information from organization's press release)

Lit Crawl at the Texas Book Festival, Oct. 17

Bat Scavenger Hunt, Nerd Jeopardy, Literary Death Match, Lit Crawl Against Humanity, LGBT storytelling, and more

AUSTIN— Lit Crawl Austin returns to the Texas Book Festival on Saturday night, October 17, 2015. The annual literary pub crawl, a co-production of the Texas Book Festival and Litquake Foundation, features some of America’s most groundbreaking writers onstage at various East Austin venues in a series of offbeat readings, literary games, and performances.

Inspired by San Francisco's long-running Lit Crawl and produced with their participation, the 2015 Lit Crawl Austin will include Balderdash; the always-popular YA ghost stories in the Texas State Cemetery; tales about personal fiascos; Nerd Jeopardy; a LGBT storytelling showcase, Literary Death Match; Whose Line Is It Anyway; Lit Crawl Against Humanity (a literary version of the popular game Cards Against Humanity); a coloring contest (with cocktails) for adults; and more.

This year's Lit Crawl program will be designed by Festival author Zachary Thomas Dodson (Bats of the Republic) and will include a Bat Scavenger Hunt as a part of the design. The Bat Scavenger Hunt will be ongoing throughout the evening, and literary director Steph Opitz says the intricately designed program will be a collector’s item.

Co-organizers Jill Meyers and Steph Opitz weigh in. Meyers says, “Lit Crawl this year is going to be insane (in a good way), in celebration of our fifth year in Austin. From spooky ghost stories for all ages in the Texas State Cemetery to R-rated Lit Crawl Against Humanity games—and everything in between—we’ve got it.” Opitz adds, “By day Texas Book Fest authors will talk thoughtfully about their latest books, by night they'll hit up the east side for literary-ish shenanigans.”

Lit Crawl Austin 2015 schedule

Various Venues

• **Ongoing  Bat Scavenger Hunt and Lit Crawl map designed this year by Zachary Thomas Dodson (Bats of the Republic).

The North Door, 502 Brushy St.

• 7:00-8:00   Literary Death Match
  Four authors. Three judges. Two finalists. One really epic finale. Judges: Chuck Palahniuk (intangibles), Linda Gray (performance), and Attica Locke (literary merit). Contestants: David Crabb, Helen Philipps, Gwendolyn Zepeda, and Kirk Lynn.
• 8:30-9:30   Nerd Jeopardy: Booze and Book-Related Trivia
  Taking a cue from a certain game show, this event will pit your favorite writers against one another in a test of literary knowledge and general chutzpah. Hosted by Ryan Chapman, author of Conversation Sparks: Trivia Worth Talking About. With authors Sloane Crosley, Austin Grossman, and Viet Thanh Nguyen.
• 10:30pm    AFTER-PARTY, free and open to the public

Gelateria Gemelli, 1009 E 6th St.

• **Ongoing  Lit Crawl Special: Gelato and Amaro for $10
• 7:30-8:15   Balderdash by fields + Deep Vellum
• Join authors Antonio Ruiz-Camacho, Andrew Ervin, Mary Helen Specht, Téa Obreht, Mia Alvar, and Dan Sheehan for a rousing game of Balderdash, where they'll attempt to trick you into thinking they know what they're talking about when it comes to this whole words thing.

Practice Yoga, 1103 E 6th St.

• 7:30-8:15  ABC/Story Department—Fiasco!
  Authors Brin-Jonathan Butler, Heidi Julavits, Rebecca Makkai, and Manuel Martinez bare all with true-to-life tales about a personal fiasco. Want to hear your favorite writer in his most fumbling moment, in the midst of some accidental shenanigans? Now's your chance.
• 8:30-9:15   You Should Know These Poets
  You’ve been missing something in your life. You tried to fill the hole with a truck, a sweetheart, a breakfast taco. You know all the bands and all the clubs. Why aren’t you whole yet? Because you’ve never heard these poets. Come fix that. Sponsored by Sasha West and Sorin Oak Review. With authors Ariana Brown, Tomás Morín, Paul Otremba, and more.

• 7:30-8:15  Five Things: The Wild, Wild West!
  This Austin-based reading series features five writers reading on a theme for five minutes apiece. For Lit Crawl, we look westward—to desert and myth, West Texas and Las Vegas, lawlessness, city slickers, hipsters who surf, Will Smith at his ’90s steampunk prime. With authors Carmiel Banasky, Matt Diffee, Amelia Gray, and Kristin Valdez Quade.
• 8:30-9:15  American Short Fiction presents Whose Line Is It, Anyway?
  Award-winning literary magazine American Short Fiction hosts this game in which writers try to ID hilarious, lovely, shocking, or moving lines from each other's recent books, and totally fail to recognize their own words. Winner receives a Texas-themed prize. With authors Lauren Groff, Skip Horack, Alexandra Kleeman, Benjamin Markovits, and Elizabeth McCracken.
• 9:30-10:15 Slice Literary’s Exquisite Corpse
  Slice Literary presents a short story stitched together by writers Marisa Marchetto, Sarah McCoy, Keija Parssinen, Neal Pollack, and Sung J. Woo. How the exquisite corpse game works: One person writes the first few paragraphs. We send the final line of those paragraphs to the next writer, who continues the story. Then the writers come together to read their collective tale, without knowing where it began or where it will end.

Clayworks Studio/Gallery, 1209 E 6th St.

• **Ongoing  Cocktails and Coloring
  Featuring Latin Twist’s own Vianney Rodriguez mixing Tequila 512 drinks and Little, Brown Coloring Books coloring contest.
• 7:30-8:15   Bat City’s Round-Robin
  Three authors tap in and out of one another’s readings. Enjoy the juxtaposition and collaboration of this literary mash-up presented by Bat City Review. With authors Jynne Dilling Martin, Benjamin Percy, and M.O. Walsh.
• 8:30-9:15   Gulf Coast—Back to the Futurismo
  The future is a raw, beautiful machine, brought to you fast and fabulous by authors Matt Bell, Kelly Link, Lincoln Michel, and Laura van den Berg, and Gulf Coast. Expect words to dazzle and games to delight.
• 9:30-10:15 NANO SEHR Flash: Fiction Becomes Music
  Flash fiction comes to life in this special collaboration between NANO Fiction writers Kelly Luce, Jessica Richardson, Matthew Salesses, and Vincent Scarpa and classical music composers Russell Podgorsek and Hermes Camacho. Includes very short fiction performed alongside the Cordova Quartet.

The Texas State Cemetery, 909 Navasota St.

• 7:30- 8:15   Are You Afraid of the Dark? ALL AGES EVENT
  Gripping, eerie, and spooky tales from a raft of YA stars. This event is for all ages. The cemetery can be dark—bring a flashlight! With authors Jake Halpern, Stephen Graham Jones, Peter Kujawinski, Nova Ren Suma, and April Genevieve Tucholke.

The Volstead, 1500 E 6th St.

• 7:30-8:15    Catapult—Writers Catapulting Writers
  Every emerging writer needs a strong catapult. Three established authors share short odes to the mentors who propelled their careers forward and then introduce a favorite future lit star. A night of signal-boosting, tequila, and bookish camaraderie. With authors Geoff Dyer, Sarah Hepola, and Jonathan Lethem.
• 8:30-9:15    Lit Crawl Against Humanity
  This party game for horrible people goes literary. Prepare to be shocked, disgusted, amused, and titillated? Maybe? Presented by Awst Press and Newfound. With authors Kendra Fortmeyer, Jessica Hopper, Chip Kidd, Matt Summell, and Caroline Zancan.
• 9:30-10:15  Super Fun Party
  Fun Party is an Austin-based reading series where art, literature, and film connect. With authors Thea Brown, Nick Flynn, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, and Robin Beth Schaer.

The Liberty, 1618 1/2 E 6th St.

• 7:30-8:15   Greetings from Queer Mountain
  Austin’s own LQBT storytelling showcase hosted by Micheal Foulk and Ralphie Hardesty. With authors Jamie Brickhouse, Saeed Jones, and Maggie Thrash.
• 8:30-9:15   The Austin Review Presents: You Talkin' to Me?
  Come join us for a night of dialogue as authors read from works that best highlight their gift of the gab. "It's your move. . . . You talkin' to me?" With authors Elisa Albert, Jennine Capó Crucet, Catherine Lacey, and Thomas H. McNeely.
• 9:30-10:15 Kickstarter Presents: Who Said It?
  In this quick-fire trivia match, authors must suss out who said these alternatively deep, cryptic, and absurdly hilarious quotes—Elena Ferrante, Karl Ove Knausgaard, or Taylor Swift? With authors Jami Attenberg, Amy FitzHenry, Daniel José Older, and Karolina Waclawiak.

Lit Crawl Austin is a project of the Texas Book Festival and the Litquake Foundation. San Francisco’s Litquake literary festival runs October 9-17, 2015, with affiliated Lit Crawls in San Francisco, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Miami, Austin, Los Angeles, Iowa City, Seattle, London, and Helsinki.

(From Texas Book Festival press release; photos of LitCrawl 2014 provided)

About the Texas Book Festival

The Texas Book Festival celebrates authors and their contributions to the culture of literacy, ideas, and imagination. Founded in 1995 by 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 one-day Texas Teen Book Festival happening September 26, the Reading Rock Stars program, grants to Texas libraries, a youth fiction writing contest, and year-round literary programming. The Festival is held on the grounds of the Texas Capitol each fall and features more than 250-plus renowned authors, panels, book signings, live music, cooking demonstrations, and children’s activities. 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; and @txbookfest on Twitter and Instagram.

(From Texas Book Festival press releases)

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