New year, new literary events in Texas

 New year, new resolutions -- to get back to blogging! 2025 was a busy, wonderful, terrible, happy, sad year, and I'm ready for a recharge. January in Texas can't decide whether it's the tail end of winter or the first peek at spring. I'll go with some early spring events, especially in my North Central part of the state. With events for everyone from kids to teens to full-on adults, there's something for all.

January 31-June 30: The Dallas Museum of Art continues its Arts & Letters Live season of author appearances. Venues and ticket prices vary, so see the site for complete list and ticket purchases.

February 4: The Reading Time Out! Dallas Mavericks Reading Challenge has been rescheduled from January due to weather. At the Dallas West Branch Library, 2332 Singleton Blvd., Dallas, from 4-5 p.m. All ages invited, from toddlers to teens to families. Free, but sign up for the Mavs Reading Challenge at dallaslibrary.beanstack.org to earn prizes. See the library's general site for additional events city-wide.

February 19: The Highland Park Literary Festival features bestselling author/screenwriter Blake Crouch (Dark Matter, Recursion, Upgrade and more) at the Highland Park High School auditorium, 4220 Emerson Ave., Dallas. Free author discussion at 7 p.m. followed by book sale and signing. See the site for additional information.

Image by Pixabay

February 20-22: FenCon, the fan-operated science fiction and fantasy convention, has a new venue, the Crowne Plaza Dallas Market Center -- Love Field, 7050 N. Stemmons Freeway in Dallas. Although the con is still taking suggestions for programming, its list of guests of honor includes Kevin J. Anderson (Assemblers of Infinity and more), artist David Lee Anderson, and science guest of honor NASA project manager Andrew Presby. 

Also returning, the FenCon Writer's workshop, led by Monalisa Foster.

Cost: $60 for adult memberships (also required for the writers workshop), $30 for young adults, free for children up to age 10. See the site for additional information and writers workshop.

Hotel rooms are also still available at convention rates. See the site for additional information and reservations.

March 7: The North Texas Teen Book Festival at the Irving Convention Center, 500 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Irving, Texas, is a free book festival created to celebrate teen literature, including middle-grade and YA authors. 

(Teachers get their own peek a day earlier, March 6. Also free, but check the site for information.) 

More than 70 authors, dozens of small breakout events, and plenty of books to buy, read, and get signed.

OK, did I say free? Parking at the convention center is $15. But there's bus access and proximity to a DART station as well. See the site for details and a full list of authors!

March 12-14: Are you more of a spoken word person, reader? Well, this one's for you: the 41st annual Texas Storytelling Festival at the Denton Civic Center, 321 E. McKinney, Denton, Texas. General admission weekend pass: $100 ($135 after March 6) but see the site for special prices for Storytelling Association members, single event/workshop tickets, and more. Plus, there are free events!

See the site for full details, registration and ticket purchases.

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Whew! That's all for now, but stay tuned for writing contest and reviews of Texas writers, still to come!