On August 28, the Texas Book Festival (TBF) announced a 2019 lineup filled with nationally renowned authors, including Sarah M. Broom, Aarón Sánchez, Ibram X. Kendi, Jami Attenberg, Tim O’Brien, Samantha Power, Chris Ware, Chris Shepherd, Laurie Halse Anderson, Jaquira Díaz, and more. The 2019 TBF weekend takes place on October 26 and 27 and is spread throughout the grounds of the Texas State Capitol and along Austin’s iconic Congress Avenue.

Among the acclaimed authors scheduled to appear at TBF this October is award-winning author of The Things They Carried, former reporter for the Washington Post, and adopted Texan Tim O’Brien, who will present his most recent work, Dad’s Maybe Book, in which he shares wisdom from a life of letters, lessons learned in wartime, and the challenges, humor, and rewards of raising two sons. O’Brien was awarded the 1979 National Book Award for his bestseller Going After Cacciato and won the Pritzker Literature Award for lifetime achievement in military writing.

James Beard Award-winning chef of Houston’s Underbelly Hospitality and cookbook author Chris Shepherd will present Cook Like a Local: Flavors That Can Change How You Cook and See the World, where he shares the names of the cooks who have inspired him and teaches readers how to respectively and creatively work with flavors and cultures of Vietnamese, Korean, Indian, and others.

New Orleans native Sarah M. Broom will present her critically acclaimed debut memoir, The Yellow House. Raised in New Orleans East, Broom takes us through the history of New Orleans as seen through her family’s past and her iconic childhood home.

TV personality, James Beard Award-winning chef, and cookbook author Aarón Sánchez will present his memoir, Where I Come From: Life Lessons From a Latino Chef, which offers an intimate look into the chaotic and unorthodox life of a professional chef and television personality.

New York Times bestselling author, historian, and leading antiracist voice Ibram X. Kendi, whose nonfiction book Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, will present his most recent work, How to Be an Antiracist. Kendi leads readers through a widening circle of ideas, weaving a combination of ethics, history, law, and science with his own personal story, asking readers to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it.

Jami Attenberg will present her new novel, All This Could Be Yours, a timely, piercing exploration of family secrets and the web of a toxic patriarch. Attenberg is the author of seven books of fiction, including The Middlesteins, which appeared on the New York Times bestseller list and was published in ten countries.

Former US Ambassador to the United Nations and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Samantha Power will present her most recent work, The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir, which traces Power's distinct American journey from her childhood in Dublin to the streets of war-torn Bosnia to the White House Situation Room. Powers is a leading global voice on human rights and international affairs, as she served four years as President Barack Obama’s human rights advisor and eventually served in his Cabinet.

Chris Ware, award-winning cartoonist, novelist, and contributor to The New Yorker, will present Rusty Brown, his newest a graphic novel that features a young Nebraska boy and his obsession with superheroes. The novel depicts the melancholic, yearning thoughts of Midwestern characters moving through realities shared and cloistered. Ware also created Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth and Building Stories, which won the Guardian First Book Award and was listed as one of the 100 Best Books of the Decade by the Times (London) in 2009.

National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson will present Shout, a searing and soul-searching poetic memoir inspired by her groundbreaking novel Speak that advocated for survivors of sexual assault. Shout shares Anderson’s personal reflections and calls to action denouncing our society’s failures, and it is also a love letter to all the people with the courage to say #metoo and #timesup.

Hailed by Publisher’s Weekly as “one of the most anticipated books of fall 2019,” Jaquira Díaz will present her debut, Ordinary Girls: A Memoir, which will be published this October. Ordinary Girls recounts Díaz’s childhood in Puerto Rico and Miami, along with her bumpy transition from girlhood to womanhood. Diaz is the recipient of two Pushcart Prizes and two MacDowell Colony Fellowships, among other honors.

“The excitement around this year’s list is palpable,” says executive director Lois Kim. “We are thrilled to be hosting so many talented authors across so many genres. We hope this high-octane list will energize book lovers across Texas to come join us for an unforgettable weekend of connection and community."

The 2019 TBF lineup will feature more than three hundred celebrated and emerging writers, including journalists, artists, scientists, and more. Go here for the entire author lineup: https://www.texasbookfestival.org/2019-festival-author-lineup/.