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.

***

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

Spring literary events start to flow in Texas

Yes, it’s still winter, but sap is rising in the trees, the days are getting longer, and so is the list of spring literary events across Texas! I’ll run a later post on contests, but here’s a sample of festivals and conferences to get your writing juices flowing.

Now – January 31: OK, I said no contests, but the Writers’ League of Texas Manuscript Contest is a biggie, with multiple categories, and first prize in each being FREE admission to the League’s 2019 Agents & Editors Conference, June 27-30, in Austin. Also, chances to meet one on one with a top literary agent in your genre and public recognition at the conference for winners and finalists. All participants also can opt to receive specific written feedback on their work. Fees are $55 for WLT members, $65 for nonmembers, or if you wish to opt out of feedback, $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers. See the site for details.

January 27-May 13: The Dallas Museum of Arts Arts & Letters Live programs run for their 28^th season, with dozens of acclaimed authors, performers and artists. See the site for events, locations and tickets.

February 6-11: Pitch Wars agent showcase isn’t in Texas, but aren’t you curious what the winners look like? Here’s a chance to pick your favs on Twitter from the comfort of your sofa! See the site for details.

February 15-17: Science fiction/fantasy convention ConDFW, Radisson Hotel Fort Worth Fossil Creek, 2540 Meacham Blvd., Fort Worth. ConDFW welcomes back guests of honor Charlaine Harris and Yoon Ha Lee. Harris’s bestselling novels have inspired the TV series True Blood and Midnight, Texas; as well as Hallmark movies. Lee’s books have garnered awards and recognition from Locus, Nebula, Hugo and Clarke awards. (By the way, he returns to North Texas for the North Texas Teen Book Festival later this spring.) Three-day registration is $40 for adults (plus online service charge) through January 31. Add $5 for at-door entry. Discounted registration is available for accompanied children, students, and military members. See the site for program details.

February 21: Couldn’t get enough Black Panther? Check out the Highland Park Literary Festival, whose keynote speaker Nnedi Okorafor wrote the book. Literally. An author of Africa-based science fiction and fantasy for children and adults, Okorafor wrote Black Panther: Long Live the King for Marvel comics, among other award-winning volumes. Hear her keynote address at 7 p.m., followed by a book signing at Highland Park High School, 4220 Emerson, Dallas. Free and open to the public. 

sap buckets: pixabay

March 18-April 24: Author DL Hammons’ WRiTE CLUB returns for its 8^th season. Yes, I’m sneaking in another contest, but partly because Hammons has already put out a request for judges (aka, slushpile readers) to winnow the expected 200-250 entries down to 30 for the readers’ favorite writing bouts. Please note that judges may not be WRiTE CLUB contestants. Interested? Check the site, and if you’re game, contact Hammons at writeclub2019@gmail.com. (And stay tuned for more on this fast and fun contest!)

March 22-23: North Texas Teen Book Festival, Irving Convention Center, 500 Las Colinas Blvd, Irving. Not just dozens but (and I love a chance to use this word) SCORES of middle grade and young adult authors make appearances. March 22 is Educator Day, March 23 is the free and free-for-all public festival day. Go, bring your kids (or your parents) and marvel at how enthusiastic young readers can be! Check the site for complete lists of authors (so far) and program details. 

March 23-24: WORDfest/WORDfield, Tarrant County College Northeast Campus, (Student Union Building), 838 Harwood Dr., Hurst. This year, WORDfest, that inspirational, informational gathering of writers from dozens of North Texas writing organizations will also include presenters from last October’s Writers in the Field event. Due to epic fall rains, many WITF presenters weren’t able to well, present. So they’ll return at the combined WORDfest/WORDfield event. It’s all free but register to reserve a place. And check out the site for extra for-fee goodies!

March 26: Authors LIVE! returns for its spring season with Gretchen Rubins’ Outer Order/Inner Calm, 7 p.m., in Wesley Hall of the Highland Park United Methodist Church, 3300 E. Mockingbird, Dallas. Free, or register for a meet-the-author preview (including signed book copy) for $30. See the site for details.

May 27-June 2: Writefest, the week-long festival presented by the Houston Writers’ Guild and Writespace, returns with workshops, panels, agents and editors, and more. Much is still in progress, including costs and sites of the May 27-30 workshops. Weekend festival and book fair will be at the Anderson-Clarke Center, Rice Glasscock School of Continuing Education, 6100 Main St., Houston. Check the site for upcoming information.

***

Something seems to be missing? Sad to report, the weekend-long, lollapalooza Dallas Book Festival is no more, due to lack of sponsorship. However, stay tuned for smaller events in conjunction with the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture and Friends of the Dallas Library.

Adam Johnson on the human face of North Korea

It was on a dark and stormy night that novelist Adam Johnson gave the keynote address of the 2018 Highland Park Literary Festival. The audience in Highland Park’s high school auditorium had gathered to hear Johnson, a Pulitzer Prize-winner for his novel, The Orphan Master’s Son, a peek inside a country as different as any could imagine from the toney Dallas suburb. But with media outlets awash in Winter Olympic news from the Korean peninsula and rare uncensored peeks at members of North Korea’s ruling dynasty, listeners were avid for any insights Johnson could provide.

Admittedly, The Orphan Master’s Son, the tale of North Korean everyman Pak Jun Do, is a work of fiction. By Johnson’s own admission, “all we know about North Korea comes from satellite phots and defectors.”

He had been allowed to make a brief, carefully “minded” visit to the country during the course of his research, and had read extensively from those memoirs and in some cases been able to interview defectors, although he cautioned his audience that those represent only a small percentage of the 24 million people estimated to inhabit North Korea.

They were, however, enough to enable him to put a human face on the country.

“I’ll tell you a couple of stories. That’s my favorite part.”

image: pixabay

Despite the heavy supervision of his visit  – “my minder had a degree in minding Americans,” he quipped --  because except for the “minders” assigned to visitors, “it’s illegal for a citizen of the DPKR (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to interact with foreigners,”) he managed to emerge with stories.

Like the one about the hotel he stayed in, where every servant was Chinese instead of Korean. And although the hotel had 49 floors, “since nobody wants to visit North Korea, they only had enough visitors to fill the 6^th and 33^rd floors.”

Or like the tale of the 105-floor building that boasted five revolving restaurants, only to be abandoned before completion.

And the Garden of Martyrs cemetery reserved for the bodies of people “who fought against the Japanese, or in the Korean war, or were just very close to the (ruling) Kim family. The ambition of all the elites is to get an ancestor into the cemetery.”

The problem, Johnson said, “there’s only 141 slots. To get your ancestor in there, you have to dig up somebody else’s.”

And demoting an ancestor from the Garden of Martyrs requires the construction of a new narrative, one which smears the reputation of that formerly revered ancestor – and by implication, all of his or her family.

But won’t people remember the former narrative, about how great the now excavated ancestor had been?

Not if they want to avoid associating themselves with the disgraced family. Koreans, Johnson said, “are some of the most resilient people in the world,” but after more than century of having their culture wiped out – from the Japanese colonization of the peninsula beginning in the 19^th century, through World War II and the Korean war – “no Korean has a relative who’s old enough to remember reading a novel. . . In North Korea there is one life event that no other people share – the realization that everything you know is a lie.”

“I personally think the North Koreans are the funniest people on earth (but) it’s hard-won humor, gallows humor. . . They’re people who just happen to have been born in the world’s largest psychology experiment – a giant Skinner box.”

The box has few escape hatches. One of course, is the route of defection. The other is that sought by the country’s elite families – the chance to travel outside the country, to send their children to foreign schools – “just like you do -- Switzerland is the dream” -- and to shop.

Despite Johnson’s background in journalist, he turned to fiction in The Orphan Master’s Son because he was unable to do the extensive fact-checking necessary for journalism. Many details of North Korean life, although reported in the memoirs of defectors, cannot be independently verified due to the country’s opacity.

“What I can’t make up is the truth of being raised in this environment,” Johnson said. “It’s only when North Koreans are free to write their own books that we’ll know the reality.”

***

Johnson’s keynote talk was actually only a small part of the Highland Park Literary Festival. A collaboration of parents and Highland Park High School’s English department, it also provided more than 60 workshops – in photography, journalism, poetry, playwriting, song writing, fiction, nonfiction and more – for students. 

Lest I sigh too much over the abundance showered on HPHS kids, I remembered that the resurgent Dallas Book Festival April 7 in conjunction with the Dallas Festival of Ideas will offer a multitude of resources, including a promise of writing workshops. The Book Festival is still in “save the date” mode, but I’ll update as soon as information is available.

When the weather’s frightful, make tracks for lit events

Readings, conferences, contests – let the new year of Texas literary events begin! I’m listing a sample, in order of urgency. Don’t let frightful weather keep you from venturing out.

Now – March 18: Dallas Mavs winter reading challenge for kids 0-18. Family members can help kids too young to read by reading to them. Register here or at any Dallas library branch for fun and prizes.

January 18: Authors LIVE! continues with its first author appearance of 2018. Melanie Benjamin will discuss and sign The Girls in the Picture at 7 p.m. at Highland Park United Methodist Church, 3300 Mockingbird Lane, Dallas. Free, or choose a reservation-only reception at 6 p.m. for $30, which includes a copy of the book. Contact 214-523-2240 for reservations/more information, or visit the site for additional Authors LIVE! programs.

image: pixabay

January 18: Love PBS’s drama series, “Victoria”? The Dallas Museum of Art presents “Victoria” producer Daisy Goodwin at 7:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church of Dallas, 1928 Ross Ave., as part of its Arts & Letters Live series. This one will set you back $40. Discounts available for museum members, KERA members, students and educators. See the DMA’s site for tickets and more Arts & Letters Live appearances.

January 23: Interabang Books, 10720 Preston Road, Suite 1009B (in the shopping center at the corner of Preston and Royal), Dallas, hosts a panel of local authors from 7 – 9 p.m. on “Building Your Writing Community: How to Find Writing Groups & Support Other Writers.” Free, courtesy of the Texas Writers’ League. See the League’s site for a complete list of programs.

January 27-28: Need more bookishness? The Dallas Central Library, 1515 Young St., hosts its gargantuan semi-annual book sale. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. January 27, 1-4 p.m. January 28. Or join the Friends of the Dallas Public Library for a January 26 first dibs preview.

January 31: This is the deadline for the Texas Writers’ League’s 2018 Manuscript Contest. Show them the (approximately) first 10 pages of your unpublished manuscript, get written critiques and a chance to win both free admission to the League’s 2018 Agents and Editors Conference this summer and a session with a literary agent in your genre. See the League’s site for details and contest fees.

February 8-10: Lone Star Ink  hosts its premiere literary conference at the Dallas Central Library,1515 Young St., Dallas. Cost is $125 for two full days of workshops plus Friday keynote address. And remember – if you’ve already signed up for Lone Star’s first pages contest, entries are due January 20! See the site for details and a list of instructors and editors.

February 16-18: North Texas science fiction/fantasy conference ConDFW welcomes author guest of honor Charlaine Harris (Southern Vampire series), at Radisson Fossil Creek hotel, 2540 Meacham Blvd., Fort Worth. Three-day tickets for adults $35, kids (ages 6-12) $15, with discounts for educators and military members. See the site for details.

February 22:  The Highland Park Literary Festival hosts Pulitzer Prize-winning author Adam Johnson (The Orphan Master’s Son) at Highland Park High School, 4220 Emerson, Dallas. Johnson gives the festival’s keynote address at 7 p.m., with book signing to follow from 8-8:45 p.m. Free and open to the public.

February 28: Deadline for the new book award contest of the Writers’ League of Texas, for books published in 2017. See the site  for details and contest fees.

March 12: DL Hammons announces the return of WRiTE Club, the readers’-favorite, knock-‘em-dead contest writing contest. He’d also appreciate a little help from his friends – judges to sort through the slushpile of 500-word contest entries. See the WRiTE Club site for details.

Whew – that’s all for now, folks! Stay warm, and I'll see you later at this site for spring events.

Wordcraft – Winter is the new spring for literature

So many literary events coming up, especially in North Texas, I can’t wait for the new year to start announcing them. Here’s a list of upcoming contests, conferences, and readings, in order of urgency. I’ll post more later in the year, once spring really arrives. . .

image:wikimedia commons

December 16-18, 2016: Here’s one for us bloggers! From DL Hammons, the guy who brought you the WRiTE CLUB writing challenge, it’s Déjà vu Blogfest. Sign up at his site. Then during the weekend of December 16-18, re-post your favorite blog offering from earlier in the year, or one that you believe failed to receive the exposure it deserved. No fee, no writing required!

December 31, 2016: The final “Dear Lucky Agent” contests of 2016 from Writer’s Digest blogger Chuck Sambuchino focus on memoirs and historical fiction. All they cost are two mentions in any form of social media. See the sites for rules and sample wording for your social media mentions, using this TinyURL for historical fiction and this for memoirs.

January 1-June 1, 2017: Moonlight Mesa Associates’ Cowboy Up contest is back, with this year’s entries including both fiction and nonfiction. Fee: $25. Cash prizes. See site for details.

January 10, 2017: Authors LIVE! Presents a conversation with four great Texas writers, H.W. Brands, Stephen Harrington, S.C. Gwynne, and Lawrence Wright, at 7 p.m. in Wesley Hall of Highland ParkUnited Methodist Church, 3300 Mockingbird Lane, in Dallas. Free. No registration required. Some books will be available for sale and signing afterward. Sponsored by Friends of the Highland Park Library, Friends of the SMU Library, and Highland Park United Methodist Church.

January 12, 2017: The Writer’s League of Texas opens its 2017 season of Texas Writes – programs for rural libraries, in Edna, Texas. I’ll mention some later in my home region of East Texas, but see the site for complete schedule and details.

artist: van Gogh

January 14, 2017: Dallas Museum of Art opens its 26^th season of Arts & Letters Live with the appearance of Zadie Smith, discussing her new novel, Swing Time. In the DMA’s Horchow Auditorium, 7:30 p.m. $40 for the public, $37 for DMA members, students and educators. All tickets include a hardback copy of the book.

January 15, 2017: Closing date for the Writer’s League of Texas manuscript contest. Submit your first 10 pages plus synopsis for chances to have your work professionally critiqued and meet with a literary agent of your genre. Cost: $55 for WLT members, $65 for nonmembers. See the site  for details.

February 4, 2017: Writers’ League of Texas presents “Texas Writes” program at Mt. Enterprise Library, 201 NW 2^nd St., Mt. Enterprise, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Pre-register at 903-822-3532.

February 10-12, 2017: ConDFW, a literary science fiction and fantasy convention, at Radisson Fossil Creek hotel, 2540 Meacham Blvd., Fort Worth. Adult 3-day memberships $40 through January 31. Single day and children’s memberships also available. This year’s author guest of honor: Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires).

February 16, 2017: Writers’ League of Texas presents “Texas Writes” program at Lillie Russell Memorial Library, 200 E. Hubbard St., Lindale, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Pre-register at 903-822-1900.

February 23, 2017: Highland Park Literary Festival, with guest author Jamie Ford (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet). Book signing 5-6:15 p.m., Highland Park High School, 4220 Emerson; keynote address by Ford at 7 p.m. in the HPHS Palmer Auditorium. Free and open to the public.

February 28, 2017: Deadline for Writers’ League of Texas Book Awards Contest for books published in 2016. Fee: $40 per title for WLT members, $60 for nonmembers. See the site for details.

Wordcraft – Bridges open to a new year of literary events

Maybe it’s the mild El Niño weather that’s getting spring literary events in Texas get off to such an early start. Here’s a preview of events across the state with emphasis on the North Texas area. As this post shows, the action for 2016 starts next week, so gear up, writers and readers!

January 11 – “Being a Good Literary Citizen” panel discussion sponsored by the Writers League of Texas, 7 p.m. at Half Price Books, 5803 E. Northwest Highway, Dallas. Free.

January 11 – Dallas Museum of Art’s Arts and Letters Live season opens with memoiristas Mary Karr and Mary-Louse Parker, 7:30 p.m., Horchow Auditorium, DMA, 1717 North Harwood. $35.

January 15 – Deadline for the Writers League of Texas new novel contest. No finished manuscript required. Submit first ten pages plus synopsis for chances to have your work professionally critiqued and meet with a literary agent in your genre. Cost $55 for WLT members, $65 for nonmembers. See the site for details.

January 19 – Literature +Medicine conference, with guest speaker Dr. Abraham Verghese (Cutting for Stone, and more). At Fogelson Forum Auditorium on the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas campus, 8200 Walnut Hill Lane, 5:30 – 8 p.m. Cost is $25, which includes a reception with appetizers and beverages.

February 4 – Authors LIVE opens its 2016 season with Stephen Harrigan’s A Friend of Mr. Lincoln, Wesley Hall, Highland Park United Methodist Church, 3300 Mockingbird Lane, Dallas. The 7 p.m. presentation is free. Cost of a 6 p.m. reception with the author and a signed copy of the book is $30.

February 12-14 – ConDFW, a literary science fiction and fantasy convention, Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre, 5410 LBJ Freeway, Dallas. Convention membership is $40, special author guests John Scalzi and Seanan McGuire.

February 25 – Highland Park Literary Festival  features guest speaker Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and more) at 7 p.m. in the Highland Park High School, 4220 Emerson Avenue, Dallas. Free.

March – SMU Lit Fest, date TBD.

April 1-30 – Dallas Big Reads. TBD.

April 8-9 – North Texas Book Festival, Patterson-Appleton Center for Visual Arts, 400 East Hickory St, Denton. Dozens of Texas authors eager to connect with readers. Free.

April 23 – North Texas Teen Book Festival, Irving Convention Center, 500 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Irving. Free.

April 23 – North Texas Book Reviewers Preview, Dallas Library Central Branch, 1515 Young St., Dallas. Meet more than 30 local book reviewers at this free event, starting at 1 p.m.

April 23-24 – DFW Writers Conference, Fort Worth Convention Center, 1201 Houston St., Fort Worth. Slightly early bird registration $350 through February 1.

April 29-May 1 – Houston Writers Guild Annual Conference, Marriott Houston Westchase, 2900 Briarpark Dr., Houston. Early bird registration $170 until April 1.

Wordcraft -- Author, author! 2015’s literary fests

What do I love most about the new year’s round of literary festivals in Texas? A chance to see favorite authors? Hear them read their own works? Write like them? Or find your own voice? It’s all possible at this winter through spring schedule of 2015’s literary best bets.

January 28 - June 15: Dallas Museum of Arts Arts & Letters Live This week: cartoonist Roz Chast discusses her National Book Award-finalist memoir, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? And then there’s foodie god and goddess Marcus Samelsson and Ina Garten, Dennis Lehane, Billy Collins, Gail Sheehy, and more. Ticket prices from free to $35. At the DMA, 1717 N. Harwood, Dallas, unless otherwise indicated. See www.dallasmuseumofart.org/.

February 10 - June 3: Authors LIVE! Continues with Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Richard Rhodes, James McPherson and (lest this seem too heavy) humorist Dave Barry (and more). At Highland Park United Methodist Church, 3300 Mockingbird Lane, Dallas. Author readings are free, or for $30, meet the authors at pre-event receptions and score a book to boot. Additional books are available for purchase and signing. For complete schedule and/or reception reservations, search “Authors LIVE!” at www.hpumc.org/events/.

February 13-15: ConDFW XIV, a science fiction and fantasy convention with programming about writing/publishing, science programming and, of course, more, including a sc-fi spelling bee. At Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre, 5410 LBJ Freeway (southeast corner of 635 and the Dallas Tollway). Hang out with dozens of Texas writers. Pre-event ticket prices (through January 31) $40 for all three days for adults, $20 for children (ages 6-12); $45 at the door for adults, $20 for children. One-day passes for both adults and children also available. See www.condfw.org for tickets and additional information.

February 26: Highland Park Literary Festival hosts Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle, 7 p.m. at Highland Park High School, 4220 Emerson, Dallas. Walls’ talk is free, books for sale starting at 6:30 p.m. and after her address. See www.hplitfest.com/.

March 21: Writers Workshop sponsored by The Writers’ Guild of Texas, at the Richardson Civic Center, 411 W. Arapaho, Richardson. Author Brian W. Smith shares his insights on writing, publishing, and selling novels. $25 for WGT members, $35 for nonmembers. See http://writersguildoftexas.org/.

April 1-30: Dallas Reads One Book, and this year it’s Charles Portis’ True Grit. For There’s a full month of activities centering around this Western classic. See http://bigdreads.org for a complete schedule (and some great recipes for grits).

April 11: North Texas Book Festival, 9 a.m. -4 p.m., Patterson-Appleton Center for the Visual Arts, 400 E. Hickory St., Denton. Dozens of Texas authors eager to connect with readers. Free (except for all the books you’ll want to buy and get signed). See www.ntbf.org/.

June 26 - 28: Writers League of Texas agents and editors conference, Hyatt Regency
Austin, 208 Barton Springs Road, Austin. Panels and discussions on writing craft and publishing, agent consultations, and access to top industry professionals. Registration is $349 for members/$389 for nonmembers through April 5. See
www.writersleague.org/ for additional ticket information and list of agents.

(Is something missing? Did I leave out the DFW Writers Conference? No, it’s moved to a new time and place, coming to Dallas in July. I’ll have more information later about summer-fall literary events. In the meantime, see http://dfwcon.org/.)

Wordcraft -- Feast of book fests

While writing round-up posts last year about writing conferences, I also found many conferences geared to readers and fans. And since writers are also readers, I’m dedicating this first Wordcraft post of 2013 to events for readers. Most are in North Texas, but some are further afield within the state. Since this is only a sampling, feel free to add your own favorites.

January 17 - June 4 -- Arts and Letters Live at the Dallas Museum of Art. Presentations by authors, actors, illustrators, musicians and more. Speakers include former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout (Olive Ketteridge), Booker Prize winner Margaret Atwood, and scientist Temple Grandin. Locations vary. See http://dallasmuseumofart.org/.

February 15-17 -- ConDFW XII, literary science fiction and fantasy event, Crowne Plaza Dallas, 14315 Midway Road, in Dallas suburb of Addison. Panels, readings and author signings. Also includes short story contest, with entries due January 27. For details, see www.condfw.org/.

February 21 -- Highland Park Literary Festival. At its heart are the workshops for Highland Park High School students, but keynote address by author Markus Zusak (The Book Thief) is free and open to the public. Highland Park High School, 4220 Emerson, University Park. See www.hplitfest.org/.

March 20-23 -- SMU LitFest -- Southern Methodist University’s revived literary festival, on the Dallas campus. A schedule of individual events will be posted later in January at http://smulitfest.wordpress.com.

April -- The Big Read Dallas -- series of events based on the late Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, although the April 19 reading at the Dallas Museum of Art is sold out. For updates on events, see http://bigreaddallas.org/.

August 29-September 2 -- World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon). It’s in Texas this year, at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center in San Antonio, 200 East Market St. It’s been in Melbourne, Yokahama, and Glasgow. This year, it’s in our state! Worldcon is where reader-favorite Hugo Awards for best science fiction and fantasy are presented each year. Hugo nominations are open through March 10. See
www.lonestarcon3.org/.

September -- Richardson Reads One Book, Richardson High School, 1250 West Beltline Road, Richardson. Speaker and date TBA. For updates, check www.cor.net/ .

October 4-6 -- FenCon X, a conference for fans of science fiction/fantasy/horror, Crowne Plaza Dallas, 14315 Midway Road (Dallas suburb of Addison). I’ll discuss the writing workshop and short story contest in more detail in next Monday’s roundup of writing conferences. Also see the link on its site for related conferences, including comics, www.fencon.org/.

October 24-26 -- National Black Book Festival, Fallbrook Church, 12512 Walters Rd., Houston. Hundreds of authors, free to the public. See www.nationalblackbookfestival.com/.

October 26-27 -- Texas Book Festival -- the big one! Free to the public, at the Texas state capitol, 1200 Congress, Austin. More than 200 Texas and nationally-known authors, with readings, discussions, book signings, and music. See
www.texasbookfestival.org/.

November 8-10 -- Readers & ‘ritas conference for romance authors and readers. Site TBA. See http://2013readers.eventbrite.com/.