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 09.22.2019
SPECIAL EVENTS:
Big Texas Comicon, San Antonio, September 20-22
FenCon XVI: Gateway to the Future, Irving, September 20-22
Banned Books Week 2019, nationwide, September 22-28
Texas Tribune Festival, Austin, September 26-28
American Christian Fiction Writers Annual Conference, San Antonio, September 26-29
Pachanga de Palabras, San Antonio, September 28
4th Annual Pflugerville Lib Con, September 28
Monster-Con, San Antonio, September 28-29
EXHIBITS:
A Time and Place for Everything: Peter Brown, Abilene, June 6-November 1
Young at Art: A Selection of Caldecott Book Illustrations, Midland, July 5-October 5
The Essential J. Frank Dobie, San Marcos, through December 1
Modernist Networks: The Annette Campbell-White Collection, Austin, August 24-January 5
Humanities Texas exhibit: Shakespeare, Austin, September 1-October 1
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22:
Austin
BookPeople, John Vercher reading and signing Three-Fifths, and Jamie Mason reading and signing The Hidden Things, 2PM
Malvern Books, Texas State University faculty reading with Steve Wilson, Kathleen Peirce, Roger Jones, John Blair, and Cecily Parks, 4PM
Dallas
B&N - Preston/Royal, Frank Gertcher signing books from his murder mystery series, 11AM
Half Price Books Mother Ship, Dallas-native poet David Gibbons signing Frayed, and Dallas-native author Allison Catalani signing her new healthy cookbook, Sweeten Your Day The Healthy Way, 1PM
Interabang Books, Rosemary Wells reading and signing Max and Ruby and Twin Trouble, 1PM [kids event]
Fort Worth
Central Library, Banned Books Film Series: The Lord of the Rings, 2PM
Leaves, An Afternoon with Authors featuring Misty Hayes, D.H. Jonathan, Deanna King, and Lori Ann Stephens, 2PM
Houston
B&N - Town & Country, Healthy as F*ck: The Habits You Need to Get Lean, Stay Healthy, and Kick Ass at Life book signing with Oonagh Duncan, 1:30PM
Writespace, Workshop: "Finding The Right Voice in your Writing" with Joy Preble, 3PM
Richardson
Drawing Board, Writing Workshops Dallas seminar: "Author Platform 101: Building Your Brand without Selling Your Soul" with JR Forasteros, 3PM
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23:
Austin
BookPeople, Amy Chaplin discussing and signing Whole Food Cooking Every Day, 7PM
BookWoman, Dr. Faith Harper discussing and signing Unfuck Your Brain: Using Science to Get Over Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Freak-Outs, and Triggers, 7PM
The LINE Hotel, American Short Fiction presents Lit City with Jamel Brinkley and Rachel Heng, 7PM
Dallas
SMU, Arts & Letters Live: Margaret Atwood discussing The Testaments with Krys Boyd of KERA, 7:30PM [ticketed event - VIP sold out]
Fort Worth
Northwest Library, Banned Books Film Series: The Color Purple, 5PM
Frisco
B&N - Stonebriar, The Beast book signing with Ally Condie, 6PM
Houston
Alley Theatre, Banned Books Week: Banned Together: scenes from shows that have been censored or challenged on America’s stages, 7:30PM
The Ballroom at Bayou Place, World Affairs Council of Greater Houston presents Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis discussing Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead, 7PM [ticketed event - sold out]
Blue Willow Bookshop, author Bob Shea and illustrator Zachariah OHora reading and signing their picture book, Who Wet My Pants?, 5PM [kids event]
Christ Church Cathedral, Brazos Bookstore presents Marie Forleo discussing Everything Is Figureoutable, 7PM [sold out]
San Antonio
Trinity University, "Mothers, Daughters And Butterflies": a reading with Reyna Grande, followed by a book signing, 6PM
Twig Book Shop, Oonagh Duncan discussing and signing Healthy as F*ck: The Habits You Need to Get Lean, Stay Healthy, and Kick Ass at Life, 5PM
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24:
Austin
Central Presbyterian Church, Book People presents Marie Forleo discussing Everything Is Figureoutable (in conversation with Rachel Hollis), 7PM [sold out]
Native Hostel, Austin Poetry Slam hosted by Christopher Michael, 7:15PM
Ransom Center, Oscar Cásares reading Where We Come From, followed by a book signing and reception, 4PM
UT, the Michener Center for Writers presents a reading with Joanna Klink, 6PM
Beaumont
Lamar University, “From Thursday Night Lights to Black Man in the Huddle” with author Robert D. Jacobus, 5:30PM
Dallas
Interabang Books, Heather Harper Ellett reading and signing Ain't Nobody Nobody, 6PM
The Wild Detectives, The Writer's Garret presents a Stone Soup poetry workshop, 7PM
El Paso
B&N - Fountains at Farah, Louis Bodnar signing El Paso Sunrise, 10AM
The Station, Barbed Wire Series Open Mic Night, 8PM
Fort Worth
The Dock Bookshop, Poetry Open Mic, 8PM
East Berry Library, Banned Books Film Series: The Color Purple, 5:15PM
Houston
The Black Labrador, Houston Writers House meeting with guest speaker, 6:30PM
Blue Willow Bookshop, Trenton Lee Stewart reading and signing The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages, 5PM [kids event]
Brazos Bookstore, Leigh Richards reading and signing Messages from Mooseville, 6:30PM
Murder By the Book, Joelle Charbonneau reading and signing Verify, 6:30PM
San Antonio
The Mix, PuroSlam featuring DJ Donnie Dee, 9:30PM
Trinity University, Willson Lectureship Series: "Racism as Sin: Confessions of a Southern Church Leader" with professor and author William H. Willimon, 7PM
Westfall Library, "Being the Backbone: The Military Spouse Today & Yesterday" with Marian McCarthy, author of Beneath the Wild Blue, 2PM
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25:
Austin
Spiderhouse Ballroom, the Library Foundation presents Banned Books Bash, a variety show celebrating the right to read, 7PM [ticketed event]
Terrazas Branch Library, Aural Literature Reading with Chicon Street Poets, 7:30PM
Dallas
B&N - Preston/Royal, Kevin P. Gilheany signing Minding the Helm: An Unlikely Career in the U.S. Coast Guard, 5PM
The Dallas Institute, "The Border: Epicenter of Our Homelands" with journalist and author Alfredo Corchado in conversation with Tom Huang of the Dallas Morning News, 6PM
Half Price Books Mother Ship, New York Times bestselling author Craig Johnson discussing and signing Land of Wolves, the latest book in his Longmire mystery series, 7PM
Hotel Crescent Court, World Affairs Council DFW presents the 2019 Mel Kusin National Security Lecture: Michael O’Hanlon discussing and signing The Senkaku Paradox: War Over Small Stakes, 6PM [ticketed event]
Interabang Books, Rashad Jennings reading and signing Arcade and the Golden Travel Guide, 6PM [kids event]
Fort Worth
Texas Christian University, Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies book reception and mini-talks for current publications of faculty, 5PM
Houston
Avant Garden, Write About Now Poetry Open Mic featuring April Neal, 7:30PM
Blue Willow Bookshop, Meg Cabot reading and signing No Judgments, 7PM
San Antonio
Johnston Library, "Being the Backbone: The Military Spouse Today & Yesterday" with Marian McCarthy, author of Beneath the Wild Blue, 6PM
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26:
Austin
Austin Book Arts Center, Tunnel Book workshop, 6PM
BookPeople, Cory Allen discussing and signing Now Is the Way, 7PM
Castroville
Castroville Public Library, Banned Books Week movie: To Kill a Mockingbird, 7PM
Dallas
Deep Vellum Books, Franzobel reading and signing The Raft of the Medusa, 7PM
Interabang Books, Marion Winik discussing and signing The Big Book of the Dead, 6PM
The Wild Detectives, Carlos Velázquez, el “enfant terrible” de las letras mexicanas, en la presentación de su libro de relatos, Despachador de Pollo Frito, 7:30PM [ Spanish event]
El Paso
B-17 Bombers Oyster Pub, Last Thursdays El Paso presents the Barbed Wire Open Mic Series, 8PM
Houston
Brazos Bookstore, Despina Stratogakos discussing and signing Where Are the Women Architects, 6:30PM
Poison Girl, Poison Pen Reading Series featuring Erin Belieu, Madeleine Maillet, and Anthony Sutton, 8:30PM
Rice University, Gray/Wawro Lecture in Gender, Health, and Well-being by author Deirdre Cooper Owens, 6:30PM [reception and book sales 5:30PM]
Huntsville
Sam Houston State, the MFA Program in Creative Writing, Editing, and Publishing hosts a reading with Elizabeth Cohen, 5PM
Katy
Morton Ranch High School PAC, Blue Willow Bookshop presents Rick Riordan reading and discussing The Tyrant's Tomb, 6PM [kids event - sold out]
San Antonio
Collins Garden Library, "Being the Backbone: The Military Spouse Today & Yesterday" with Marian McCarthy, author of Beneath the Wild Blue, 6:30PM
The Twig Book Shop, Texas Poetry Calendar reading, 7PM
Sulphur Springs
The Bookworm Box, Tijan Live Author Takeover, 7PM
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27:
Austin
BookPeople, Kristin Hannah reading and signing The Great Alone (in conversation with Sarah Bird), 7PM
Malvern Books, I Scream Social Reading and Open Mic featuring Heather Lefebvre and Amanda Scott, 7PM
Dallas
Bishop Arts Theatre Center, Banned Books Week: Banned Together: scenes from shows that have been censored or challenged on America’s stages, 8PM
Edinburg
UTRGV, Celebrando Latinx Heritage Month with Amalia Ortiz, music, and poetry, 5PM
El Paso
Fahrenheit 180, Barbed Wire Series Open Mic, 8PM
Houston
Brazos Bookstore, Marion Winik discussing and signing The Big Book of the Dead, 6:30PM
San Antonio
Confluence Park, Gemini Ink presents the Parabola Community Reading Series featuring Ivelisse Rodriguez and Cyra Dumitru, 7PM
Encino Library, "Being the Backbone: The Military Spouse Today & Yesterday" with Marian McCarthy, author of Beneath the Wild Blue, 1PM
The Twig Book Shop, Jim Lavilla-Havelin and friends present a poetry reading: Enchantment of the Ordinary, 5PM
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28:
Arlington
Urban Alchemy Coffee & Wine Bar, "Read Between the Wines" wine tasting and book signing with Kimberley Packard, C.A. Szarek, Mia London, Vanessa Foster, Susan Sheehey, and Amy Schultz, 3PM
Austin
BookPeople, Sandy Carson discussing and signing I've Always Been a Cowboy in My Heart, 5PM
BookWoman, Jann Aldredge-Clanton and Kendra Weddle discussing and signing Building Bridges, 5:30PM
Half Price Books - Southpark Meadows, Keith Rees signing One Night in Bangkok, 2PM
Malvern Books, an evening with poets John Poch and Jacob Shores-Argüello, 7PM
Modern Rocks Gallery, Kevin Cummins signing But I Remember When We Were Young, 3PM
St. Edward's U, Writers' League of Texas workshop: "Ten Steps to a Leaner, Cleaner, Meaner Manuscript" with Tex Thompson, 9AM
St. Edward's U, Writers' League of Texas workshop: "Sparkling Sentences and Glitzy Grammar" with Tex Thompson, 1PM
Twin Oaks Branch, Celebración de la Herencia Hispana with children's author Emma Virján, 11AM
Beaumont
Dallas
B&N - Lincoln Park, Ruth Chou Simons signing Beholding and Becoming, 2PM
B&N - Preston/Royal, Stacy Newton signing Creatures of the Night, 2PM
Deep Vellum Books, Banned Books Week readings and film screening with Deep Vellum Publishing, 4PM
Half Price Books Mother Ship, Kyle Mills discussing and signing Lethal Agent, the latest book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Mitch Rapp series, 2PM
Half Price Books Mother Ship, 20th Anniversary Celebration with refreshments, live music, and CEO Sharon Anderson Wright, 6PM
Interabang Books, Sunny Bonnell and Ashleigh Hansberger discussing and signing Rare Breed: A Guide to Success for the Defiant, Dangerous, and Different, 1PM
El Paso
B&N - Sunland Park, Watching Wilder book signing with Sherry Lowell-Lewis, 12PM
B&N - Sunland Park, The Fire Keeper (A Storm Runner Novel, Book 2) book signing with J.C. Cervantes, 2PM
El Paso Public Library, Tumblewords Project workshop: "100,000 Poets for Change - Our Desert Door: Poems and Spells to Ward off Fascism" with Rachel Achete, 12:45PM
Sergio Troncoso Branch Library, Book group discussion of Sergio Troncoco's From This Wicked Patch of Dust, 2:15PM
Fort Worth
UNT Health Science Center, North Texas SCBWI Tarrant County Area Meet-up featuring an author panel Q&A with Christine Kohler, Jessica S Olson, Janee Trasler, Beth Mills, Kathryn Lay, and Diane Roberts, 1PM
Houston
B&N - River Oaks, Ramon Sosa signing I Walked on My Own Grave, 1PM
Brasil Houston, Houston VIP workshop and slam featuring Chibbi, 7PM
Brazos Bookstore, Rashad Jennings reading and signing Arcade and the Golden Travel Guide, 3PM [kids event]
Brazos Bookstore, (Home)land poetry with Monica Sok and Angela So, 6:30PM
Half Price Books - Clear Lake, Local Author Saturdays: Meet local indie authors and pick up their latest release, while supplies last
Inprint House, Escritores en la casa: Rose Mary Salum, 7PM
Murder By the Book, Jackie Anders reading and signing Arion Rising, 4:30PM
Writespace, Workshop: "Getting Published with Flash Fiction" with Patricia Flaherty Pagan, 1PM
Lakehills
Lakehills Area Library, Writers' League of Texas presents "Texas Writes" with Donna M. Johnson and Naomi Shihab Nye, 10AM
New Braunfels
The Book Haus, House of Aces, in collaboration with local singer-songwriter Hannah Swann, present a night of New Braunfels music, poetry, and art, 7PM
Paris
The Blind Pig, Open Mic Night, 7PM
Pflugerville
4th Annual Pflugerville Lib Con, 10AM
San Antonio
Gemini Ink, "The Creativity of a Narrative Arc": a master class with Ivelisse Rodriguez, 10AM
The Twig Book Shop, Christina Gallegos signing The Goat Climbs High, 11AM
Sugar Land
First Colony Branch Library, Houston Writers Guild Class: How to Research Your Novel with Mack Little, 1:30PM
Tyler
B&N, Allison Jeffereys signing A Woman's Guide to Surviving Divorce, 2PM
Webster
B&N, Freddy Cruz signing When America Fell Silent, 1PM
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29:
Austin
BookPeople, Paul Tough discussing and signing The Years That Matter Most, 5PM
BookWoman, Marion Winik reading and signing The Big Book of the Dead, 2:30PM
Malvern Books, Amber Elby reading and signing Trouble Fires Burn, with special guest author Carol Beth Anderson, 1PM
Dallas
B&N - Preston/Royal, Meet the authors of Brain Damaged: Two-Minute Warning for Parents, 1PM
Half Price Books Mother Ship, Dallas-native poet Sara Bawany signing (W)holehearted, and Dallas-native poet Linda Ann Suddarth signing The Hidden Wilderness, 1PM
The Wild Detectives, Backyard Storytelling Night, 7:30PM [submit your story here]
El Paso
Literarity Book Shop, Sergio Troncoso reading and signing A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant's Son, 4PM
Fort Worth
Central Library, Banned Books Film Series: To Kill a Mockingbird, 2PM
Houston
B&N - Vanderbilt Square, Freddy Cruz signing When America Fell Silent, 2PM
Brazos Bookstore, Attica Locke reading and signing Heaven, My Home, 5PM [happy hour 4PM]
Meyerland Performing and Visual Arts Middle School, Inprint Cool Brains! Series presents Meg Medina and Merci Suárez Changes Gears (with the bilingual Inprint Poetry Buskers and Jasminne Mendez of Tintero Projects), 3PM
Murder By the Book, Kyle Mills reading and signing Lethal Agent, 2PM
Mansfield
Half Price Books, children's and suspense author Deanna King signing her children’s book, Gracie's Stories, as well as her suspense novel, Twist of Fate, 1PM
Richardson
Drawing Board, Writing Workshops Dallas seminar: "How to Write Flash Fiction" with Eden Elieff, 3PM
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.