The Texas Book Festival unveiled its full 2020 schedule Thursday, detailing author panels, cooking demonstrations, solo author sessions, kids’ activities, and more during the two-week virtual event.  

The festival begins on October 31 with young adult and Texas Teen Book Festival programming, followed by kids’ programming from November 2 to 6, and adult programming from November 6 to 15, including Lit Crawl Austin and the annual First Edition Literary Gala. 

“We’re excited to bring the Texas Book Festival into the homes of readers across Texas and beyond,” says Lois Kim, TBF Executive Director. “Because of our virtual format, it’s never been easier to attend. I encourage everyone  to visit our website and the Texas Book Festival Crowdcast page to register for sessions to make sure you don’t miss a single minute of this huge free event.” 

Schedule highlights include (all times CST): 

TEEN & YOUNG ADULT PROGRAMMING

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31 | Keynote: Elizabeth Acevedo in Conversation | 10 a.m. 

When a plane crashes with their father on board, two sisters who have never met discover all the secrets that connect their lives, their grief, and their future paths as they figure out where to go from here. Taking readers deep into a tangled knot of sorrow, jealousy, and love, National Book Award winner Elizabeth Acevedo’s newest novel in verse offers a moving testament to the power of sisterhood. 

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1 | Keynote: Nic Stone in Conversation | 1 p.m. 

With unflinching candor and heartbreaking vulnerability, sixteen-year-old Quan writes desperate missives to his friend Justyce about the abusive home life, stacked odds, and impossible choices that led him to be wrongfully imprisoned and charged with murder. In this highly anticipated sequel to her New York Times best-seller Dear Martin, Nic Stone highlights the intersecting forces that disproportionately land young Black men in jail and challenges the so-called justice system that puts them there.  

CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2

Raúl the Third: ¡Vamos! Let's Go Eat

Jon Scieszka and Steven Weinberg: AstroNuts Mission Two: The Water Planet 

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3

Christina Soontorvat: A Wish in the Dark

Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey: The Old Truck 

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4

Don Tate: Swish!: The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters 

David Bowles: Rise of the Halfling King (Tales of the Feathered Serpent #1) 

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5

Mikaila Ulmer: Bee Fearless: Dream Like a Kid

Isabel Quintero and Zeke Peña: My Papi Has a Motorcycle 

ADULT PROGRAMMING

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6

10 a.m.: "Let 'Er Rip": The Legacy of 2020 Texas Book Festival Poster Artist Bob "Daddy-O" Wade

Bob “Daddy-O” Wade (1943–2019)—the creator of Let 'Er Rip, this year's poster art—spent the last five decades making outsized, and often outlandish, art inspired by the grandiosity and unconventionality of his home state. Watch and listen as friends of Bob's and contributors to his featured book, Daddy-O's Book of Big-Ass Art, discuss Bob, his monumental contributions to art in Texas and beyond, and his legacy. 

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7

4 p.m.: Matthew McConaughey in Conversation with Ethan Hawke

Austin icon and Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey shares wisdom and inspiration in his new book Greenlights, based on thirty-five years’ worth of journal entries and observations. 

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8

1:30 p.m.: Chosen Ones: Veronica Roth in Conversation

In the first adult novel from the bestselling author of Divergent, Sloane Andrews and her friends—a.k.a. the Chosen Ones—are still recovering from defeating the evil Dark One nearly ten years before. When one of the Chosen Ones dies unexpectedly and the others get together for the funeral, they discover that dark forces are gathering again—and this time, the Chosen Ones may not have the power to stop them. 

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9

12 p.m.: V-E Day at 75: The Women of World War II

Historians Catherine Grace Katz (The Daughters of Yalta) and Katherine Sharp Landdeck (The Women with Silver Wings) spotlight a group of women who helped change the course of World War II—from the daughters of three famous politicians who held powerful secrets of their own to the brave individuals of the Women Airforce Service Pilots. 

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10

2:30 p.m.: Open Ears: A Conversation About Friendship and Listening with Sigrid Nunez and Kate Murphy

National Book Award winner Sigrid Nunez’s latest novel (What Are You Going Through) and reporter Kate Murphy’s nonfiction book (You’re Not Listening) have a similar question at their center: How can we be better friends and listeners? Nunez and Murphy discuss empathy, connection, and how we can strengthen our relationships with one another. 

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11

6 p.m.: The Book of Two Ways: Jodi Picoult in Conversation with Amanda Eyre Ward

In bestselling author Jodi Picoult’s latest book, character Dawn Edelstein just narrowly avoided dying in a plane crash, so she should feel nothing but relief. Instead, she’s confused. Her last thought before the plane went down wasn’t about her husband or daughter but instead Wyatt Armstrong, a former colleague working as an archaeologist in Egypt. So, when Dawn’s airline offers survivors a chance to travel wherever they want, Dawn faces a difficult choice. Will she return to her comfortable family life or head to the desert on a quest for answers? 

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12

12 p.m.: Transcendent Kingdom: Yaa Gyasi in Conversation

Homegoing author Yaa Gyasi discusses Transcendent Kingdom, her latest novel about family, addiction, and the search for answers—both scientific and spiritual. 

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13

4 p.m.: Elsewhere: Dean Koontz in Conversation with Jeffery Deaver

Dean Koontz, the author of many number-one New York Times best-sellers, presents his new novel, Elsewhere, a technothriller about a father and daughter who discover a strange and highly coveted device that could reunite them with dearly departed Mom. Fellow best-selling author Jeffery Deaver leads the discussion. 

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14

12 p.m.: Caste: Isabel Wilkerson in Conversation with Saeed Jones

In her new book, Pulitzer Prize winner and Texas Book Festival alum Isabel Wilkerson describes the United States’ own invisible caste system: A hierarchy informed by race, class, and gender that affects everything in which we participate, from baseball games to presidential elections. Caste is a portrait of American inequality that shows how privilege and power shape our lives every day. 

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15

10 a.m.: Writers’ League of Texas Presents: Texas Debut Novelists

Three talented Texas novelists (Richard Z. Santos, James Wade, and Bryan Washington) share stories set in Texas and the Southwest in their first novels. Featuring everything from a mysterious skeleton to an unexpected houseguest to a horse thief on the run, these new books make their marks on Texas literature. 

Visit https://www.texasbookfestival.org/2020-festival-schedule for the full schedule.