Weather frightful? Texas literary events delightful!

 Yes, it's a snow day here in Texas which means -- it's nearly spring! With a new season of Texas-centric literary events to get us through the cold.

ASAP: The Writers Workshop of the sci-fi/fantasy/horror conference FenCon is back! It nearly escaped my notice, and the email I received said the entry deadline was January 7. But always hopeful, I sent a writing sample anyway and received the encouraging news that there are still slots to be filled. But hurry! Workshop attendance is limited to 20 writers, and workshop leader/author Kevin Ikenberry  needs time to read them before the workshop's opening February 13.

FenCon's official dates this year are February 14-15 but it opens early for writers. You'll need a FenCon membership ($55 and up) with writing workshop upgrade ($65) for the whole meal deal. See the site for full details.

January 11 - June 10: The Dallas Museum of Art's Arts & Letters program presents a series of notable authors, including Bill Gates (yes, that Bill Gates!), Percival Everett (James), David Sedaris and many, many more! See the site for the complete list of speakers, ticket prices and venues.

January 31: Deadline to register for the Writers League of Texas Agents Symposium, with online presentations by 10 agents February 22-November 22, 2025. The WLT alternates agents symposiums annually with its in-person conference, whose next date will be in 2026. Symposium registration is $449 for members, $509 for nonmembers. A $150 non-refundable deposit by January 31 will hold a spot for either members or nonmembers.

See the site for a listing of agents and topics. Information on additional WLT classes and programs (some free!) is available at the general site. I'll also post later about this year's WLT manuscript contest.

February 20: The HP LitFest hosts Mark Sullivan, New York Times best-selling author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky and more. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. at the Highland Park High School auditorium, 4220 Emerson Ave., Dallas, with presentation at 7 p.m. 

Before becoming a novelist, Sullivan was also an award-winning journalist. The event is free, but donations are welcome. See the site for details.

March 1: The North Texas Teen Books Festival hosts more than 70 authors of middle-grade and young adult fiction at the Irving Convention Center, 500 West Las Colinas Blvd., Irving, Texas.

image by Arbaz Khan for Pixabay

Middle-grade keynote speakers are Karina Yan Glaser, Alan Gratz and Ruta Sepetys at 9 a.m. Young adult keynote speakers are Gabi Burto, Stephanie Garber and Lauren Roberts at 2:30 p.m. As always, the festival is free. You don't even have to be a teen to attend, but there's also an educators day February 28. See the site for details, including complete list of attending authors.

Still to come: The Dallas Writer's Garret returns with its Dallas Is Lit! literary festival May 15-18, including a mix of authors, performers, and book lovers. Check the site for additional information.

***

Want more? Of course, you do! Check out Lone Star Literary Life for additional listings around the state. 

And yes, as dog is my witness, this site will post soon about writing contests!

Book review: when in Rome, kill as the Romans do

 I intended to share -- and will -- more writing tools gleaned from this summer's conferences. Then my newsfeed was overrun by ancient Romans. What started as a whimsical TikTok prank opened the aqueduct to demonstrate how often a lot of people -- and not only men -- had been thinking about ancient Rome. For a very long time.

Long enough for award-winning author Lindsey Davis to publish a pair of decades-long mystery series set in ancient Rome. Davis's books about private informer/imperial spy Marcus Didius Falco and more recently, his daughter, Flavia Alba, start where most stories about the ancients leave off: with the lives of ordinary first century CE Romans. And the dark and deadly crimes seething outside (and sometimes inside) the city's marble halls.

My long hot summer was put to use devouring a stack of Didius and Alba books. And while I'm on the waitlist for Davis's latest, Fatal Legacy, here's a taste of another recent volume.

During a long-ago assignment in Britannia, plebian Marcus Didius and his high society wife, senator's daughter Helena Justina, adopted orphan street kid Flavia Alba. Fast forward a decade or so, and Alba is now an informer on her own, bent on muscling in on her dad's line of work.

(I'm still puzzling over Roman naming rules, but Alba and Didius get testy if anyone other than close friends and family members refers to them by their first names.)

Informers, also known as delators, functioned as private investigators in Roman society, which had little of what we in the 21st century would recognize as police forces or public prosecutors.

Informing could be a lucrative profession, but not one in high esteem. Definitely not a respectable job for a woman. In fact, there pretty much were no respectable jobs for women in ancient Rome. Luckily, Alba has a thick skin and an intimate knowledge of the shadier streets of the city. If all else fails, she keeps a sharp dagger handy.

In A Comedy of Terrors, Alba is recently married and supposedly retired from informing. But the life of a respectable young Roman matron can be stultifying. Worse, she's stuck planning her new family's first Saturnalia holiday with her husband's two young wards in tow.

Saturnalia is the big, really big, winter Roman holiday, when religious obligations all too often devolve into drunken mayhem and debauchery.

Still, how much trouble can Alba get into by taking the youngsters to buy holiday toys?

The answer is, plenty. It's bad enough that she and the kids find their favorite toy seller in a pool of blood with a knife in his back. Then, an organized crime gang starts using the most unsavory of methods to eliminate its rivals for the seasonal market in holiday snacks. How unjolly! Worse, the gang resorts to poisoned treats, murder and arson, and still more, threatening Alba's family.

With her dad Marcus Didius riding out the holidays in his seaside villa, Alba -- with some help from her new husband -- has no choice but to hit the dirty back streets of Rome herself in an attempt to bring the bad guys to justice.  

***

As if the cases of Didius and Alba aren't enough to feed our thirst for all things ancient Roman, there's more! Readers in the North Texas area can hear classicist Mary Beard discuss her latest nonfiction book, Emperor of Rome, October 24 as part of the Dallas Museum of Art's Arts and Letters Live programming. Beard's book promises to include not only those who ruled the Roman Empire, but their "wives and lovers, rivals and slaves, court jesters and soldiers, and the ordinary people who pressed begging letters" into the hand of those rulers. See the Arts & Letters site for details, venue, and ticket purchases.

Dallas Literary Festival plus more on-line lit events

 Virtual formats are shaking up the literary conference word. Yes, they prevent face to face connections but they open events to wider audiences and allow organizers to bring in a wider range of authors and speakers. Here are some new highlights:

March 25-28: This week’s Dallas Literary Festival headlines a spring of literary events revamped by the COVID-19 pandemic. The online festival will include panel discussions, author readings and one-on-one conversations focusing on the theme of “turbulence.” The combination of a pandemic and systemic racism in America resulted in “a perfect storm,” says festival director, Dallas author Sanderia Faye Smith (The Mourner’s Bench), “Now we’re trying to figure out how we’re going to deal with them.”

Many of the Dallas festival’s authors have written about racism or incarceration, including headliner Alice Marie Johnson, an advocate for criminal justice reform whose memoir, After Life, deals with her own prison experience. She speaks starting at 6 p.m. CT this Friday (March 25) in conversation with Mitchell S. Jackson (Survival Math: Notes on an All-American Family).

Topics at the more than 30 additional festival presentations range from building a more inclusive literary canon to translating surrealist fiction and crafting mysteries. The more than a hundred speakers include U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo, New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow, and Pulitzer Prize recipients Tyehimba Jess and Benjamin Moser. Winners of a short fiction contest for high school students will also read their works.

Admission is free. See the site for complete schedules.

Image by ktphotography from Pixabay 

***

March 28: One of the Dallas Literary Festival’s free events is also part of the Dallas Museum of Art’s Arts and Letters Live. Novelists Hala Alyan (The Arsonists’ City) and Patricia Lockwood (No One Is Talking About This) speak at 2 p.m. CT in conversation with Mira Jacob. Arts and Letters Live continues through October 4. See the site for details and ticket information.

***

April 1: Also online and free – a free webinar/Q&A with writing lessons from author/agent Donald Maass, editor Lorin Oberweger, and more. Topics include emotional storytelling, outlining, scene structure, poetry techniques for prose, and more! April 1, from 6:15 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. CT. See the Free-Expressions Seminars and Literary Services site for registration and details. (Note: site lists the event using ET.)

***

June 11-13: The Houston Writers Guild’s “Ready, Set, Pitch!” conference goes online, with speakers June 11-13 (Friday-Sunday), an agents and editors panel Saturday, and workshop with Dallas’ own Arianne “Tex” Thompson Sunday. Agents and editors will be available for one-on-one 15-minute pitch sessions Saturday. They include J. Bruce Fuller, acquisitions editor for Texas Review Press, seeking literary fiction and poetry; Jacqui Lipton of Raven’s Quill Literary Agency, seeking middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction; Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency, seeking a wide range of mysteries including middle grade, romance, true crime, cookbooks, and picture books; and JoAnna Jordan, acquisitions editor for Inklings Publishing, seeking a wide range of fiction for adults, young adults and middle grade readers.

Early-bird pricing (through June 11) is $30 (plus $3.45 fee) for all events; $25 (plus $3.16 fee) for 7-day recorded access to sessions (note: some speakers may choose not to be recorded); and $45 (plus $4.37 fee) for lifetime access to sessions (again note: some speakers may choose not to be recorded). Agent/editor pitches are sold separately, $25 each. See the site for tickets and full list of events.

Literary light at the end of the pandemic tunnel

No sooner did I see notice that one of the summer’s literary delights in Dallas – the Festival of Books and Ideas – had been cancelled than it popped back up, this time in virtual form. The Dallas Virtual Book Festival excises the best part of the “books” portion of the festival – author readings.

Twenty-two North Texas writers read excerpts from their children’s, middle grade, young adult, and adult books. Readings by children’s and middle grade authors include Netflix sensation Julie Murphy (Dumplin’ and more), to picture book author Jennifer Drez (Goodnight Dallas), Jen Betton, Rosie J. Pova, Kena Sosa, J Tillman, Michael Merschel, Katie Proctor, Melanie Sumrow, and Rebecca Balcárcel.

YA writers include Draegon Grey, Lyn I. Kelly, C. Michael Morrison, and Alex Temblador. Adult books include works of fiction and nonfiction from Carole Fowkes, A’Mera Frieman, Brantley Hargrove, memoirist Sarah Hepola (Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget), and A. Lee Martinez (Constance Verity Saves the World). 

Best of all, there’s no having to mark our festival programs with a limited number of “must-hears” and rush from room to room to catch out favorites when we can listen to all at our convenience.

At this time, I haven’t seen information about how long the virtual book fest will remain online, but it seems safe to say, it will be available until the Dallas library branches are able to reopen safely.

***

image: Mi Minhaz from Pixabay

Although the Dallas Museum of Art is rescheduling the remainder of this season’s Arts & Letters Live programs, it’s also offering some virtual gems. Sorry to be behind on this, but as of today, May 11, tickets are still available for a virtual session with Sue Monk Kidd, discussing The Book of Longings. Tickets are $45 for the public, $42 for DMA members, educators and students. The cost includes the private viewing link, a signed bookplate, and a hardcover copy of the book. See the site for tickets and details.

DMA follows up May 20 with a virtual book club discussion of The Book of Longings, led by bestselling author Kathleen Kent. (Note, Ms. Kidd will not appear at this discussion.) Book club tickets are $10, available at the site.

***

Some Dallas bookstores are planning reopenings in accordance with latest state guidelines. Indie store Interabang Books, doubly hit by last fall’s tornado and the current pandemic, is now open at its new location, 5600 W. Lovers Lane, #142, in Dallas. Although the number of in-store customers is limited to not more than 10 at a time, curbside pickup is still available. See the site for hours and details.

Dallas-based chain HalfPrice Books has also reopened all its North Texas stores. Store capacity will be limited depending on the size of the store. Even in areas where local government orders do not mandate masks, customers are encouraged to do so. Reusable bags are not currently allowed, nor are stores allowed to buy merchandise from customers at this time. Check the site for details.

Used bookstore Lucky Dog Books is experimenting with abbreviated hours for in-store browsing, and still offers home delivery, curbside pickup and books by mail. At this point, it also accepts merchandise from customers through through curbside and home delivery. Check the site for details.

Independent Dallas bookstores Deep Vellum and The Wild Detectives are not currently open, but check their sites for additional information.

Stay safe, everyone, and keep reading!

Literary love starts early at these spring events in Texas

Whether we’re readers or writers (or both!), there’s plenty of story telling going on in 2020’s first roundup of Texas literary events. Here’s a sample – mostly in North Texas, but sometimes straying further afield.

Now - May 11: Dallas Jewish Bookfest, already in progress. Authors and books to provide a window to the Jewish experience. Next up: Jillian Cantor with In Another Time, January 29, 7-9 p.m., Aaron Family Jewish Community Center, 7900 Northaven Road, Dallas. See the site for ticket prices and other event venues.

Now – May 11: The 29^th season of Arts & Letters Live is already in progress. Coming to you from the Dallas Museum of Art, it features literary and performing arts. Humorist Mo Rocca’s January 22 reading is already sold out but check the site for more programs to come. Most tickets $40 for public, $30 for DMA members, $20 for students. Most venues at the DMA, 1717 N. Harwood, Dallas.

January 24: Not a conference, but add #RevPit from Revise & Resub to your contest lineup for a chance to polish those queries and early manuscript pages! Authors have a chance to win feedback and full manuscript edits to get queries ready for submission to agents.

image: Pixabay

February 15-16: North Texas Comic Book Festival features a line-up of legendary comic book artists at the Irving Convention Center, 500 West Las Colinas, in Irving, Texas. Tickets: $25 plus for Saturday (Feb. 15); $20 for Sunday (Feb. 16), kids 12 and under get in free! 

February 20: Highland Park Literary Festival features keynote speaker Hampton Sides at 7 p.m. in Highland Park High School’s Palmer Auditorium. Sides is best known for deeply researched adventure stories set in war or on epic explorations, most recently, On Desperate Ground: The Epic Story of the Chosin Reservoir, the Korean War’s Greatest Battle (named a Best Book of the Year by the Washington Post). Following his address, he will sign books from 8 – 8:45 p.m. Free and open to the public.

March 6-7: North Texas Teen Book Festival returns to the Irving Convention Center, 500 West Las Colinas, in Irving, Texas. March 6 is educator day, March 7 is open to everyone festival day, featuring scores (literally) of middle grade and young adult authors. Free. See the site for complete list of participating authors.

March 21: WORDfest 4.0, that “all-you-can-meet” literary festival of connections returns to Tarrant County College’s Northeast Campus, 828 Harwood Road, Hurst. Last year 20 North Texas writing groups and more than 300 writers attended, providing information about fiction, nonfiction, screenwriting, poetry and indie publishing. Lunch and snacks available for purchase at the college’s student union cafeteria, but otherwise everything is free. Stay tuned to the site for scheduling details. 

May 4-10: This year’s Writefest, the week-long literary festival at numerous venues in Houston, features poet Jericho Brown as keynote speaker. Events include writing workshops, conference, book fair and social events (readings, open-mics and a literary breakfast). Book fair and socials are free and open to the public. Early bird registration for four-day workshops and weekend festival is $350 (plus service charge) through April 1. Check site for specifics and locations.

***

What’s missing? North Texas science-fiction/fantasy convention ConDFW ended its 19-year run in (perhaps appropriately) 2019. Also, in 2019, SMU’s Writer’s Path program bit the dust. But the Path’s long-time honcho, author Suzanne Frank, has announced a wake of sorts for the beloved writing program, January 21, 7 p.m.-ish, at Chocolate Secrets, 3926 Oak Lawn Avenue, Dallas. Come, connect, grieve and (she promises) bring anything you have to promote. 

Alert readers of this blog may also have noticed a gap in last week’s post about contests – WRiTE CLUB. The originator of the readers’ choice contest, D.L. Hammons, just landed an agent for his MG book and is busy preparing a sequel! Will he be too busy to host WRiTE CLUB again? Stay tuned!

***

(Updated to include Dallas Jewish Bookfest)

Beyond the dog days – fall lit events coming to North Texas!

Is it too early to talk about autumn? With temperatures here in Dallas still flirting with the 100-degree mark, the realization that fall’s abundance of literary events is around the corner, gives me an incentive to crawl out of my air-conditioned hibernation, beginning this weekend with:

August 24: The African American Museum at Fair Park, Dallas, hosts the Tulisoma Book Fair,10 a.m. – 4 p.m. – but stay for a Hip Hop Gospel Extravaganza on the museum lawn from 4-6 p.m.! The literary festival includes panels, author talks, book signings and more. This year’s guest authors include Caldecott Honor-winning Carole Boston Weatherford and author/journalist ReShonda Tate Billingsley. Free. See the site for details. 

September 5: Dallas Museum of Art taps author Salman Rushdie to open its Arts & Letters Live 2019-2020 season. Booker Prize-winner Rushdie’s most recent book is Quichotte, a Don Quixote for the modern age. Tickets (including book copy) start at $60 for the public, $50 for students. This opener will be held in the Moody Performance Hall, 2520 Flora Street, Dallas. 

Wondering how the rest of the Arts & Letters season can compete with Rushdie’s opening? How about appearances by Tracy Chevalier, former U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Margaret Atwood, Ann Patchett, John Grisham, Tim O’Brien, and more!

image: Pixabay

Unless otherwise indicated, events will be in Horchow Hall of the DMA, 1717 N. Harwood, Dallas. Ticket prices vary for events. See the site for complete schedule.

September 20-22: FenCon, the science fiction/fantasy convention showcases a plethora of area and regional authors, at the Sheraton DFW Airport, 44440 W. John Carpenter Freeway, Irving. Programming includes gaming, panels, author talks and signings, costumery, and more. Weekend tickets online and by mail: $45 by September 1, $50 at the door. Discounted tickets available for children (ages 6-12) and young adults (ages 13-21). See the site for details.

September 24: Richardson Reads One Book features Texas author Attica Locke’s Edgar-winning mystery novel Bluebird, Bluebird, 7:30 p.m., in the auditorium of Richardson High School, 1250 West Beltline Road, in Richardson, Texas. Free tickets available at the Richardson Library, 900 Civic Center Drive, in Richardson, starting at 9 a.m. September 3. See the site for details.

October 4-5: Roanoke Writers’ Conference, Roanoke Public Library, 308 South Walnut Street, Roanoke, Texas. Keynote speaker is award-winning author Sanderia Faye. Keep your eye on the site for details and registration opening September 2.

October 8-November 7: Authors LIVE! opens its fall season at 7 p.m. with Stephen Harrigan’s presentation of his latest book, Big Wonderful Thing: A History of Texas, in Wesley Hall of Highland Park United Methodist Church, 3300 East Mockingbird Lane, Dallas. See the site for calendar and details. All programs are free or make reservations for an author’s reception at 6 p.m. for $30 (includes meal and signed copy of book). Register for the reception at stanfordr@hpumc.org.  

October 12-13: If you’re a writer (or wonder what they do when not pecking on a keyboard), hie thee to Writers in the Field for expert advice, demonstrations and activities in weapons, period clothing, military life, medicine, horse handling, crime scene investigation and more. Weekend passes $65, primitive campground available on site for $25 (payable at registration), or check into local hostelries for 21^st century comfort! See the site for details and tickets. 

October 26-27: The statewide bookapalooza, Texas Book Festival, features hundreds of nationally and critically recognized authors for adults and children, exhibitors, food trucks, family activities, and more. Most events are on the grounds of the State Capitol Building in Austin. The south entrance facing 11^th Street is the busiest, so consider trying the north, east or west entrances if lines on 11^th Street get lengthy -- they probably will!

Entrance to the capitol grounds is free, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. October 26; 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. October 27. Additional festival venues include The Contemporary Austin, 700 Congress Avenue, and First United Methodist Church Sanctuary at 1201 Lavaca Street. A Saturday evening Lit Crawl takes place in venues in and around East Cesar Chavez. See the site for details.

October 31-November 3: Bouchercon 2019 welcomes local and international authors of mystery, thriller, and crime writing to Dallas for its “Denim, Diamonds, and Death” presentation. At the Hyatt Regency in downtown Dallas. Registration is $175, with special hotel room rates available to attendees. Guest authors include James Patterson, North Texas writer Deborah Crombie, Sandra Brown, Charlaine Harris, and more! Check out the site for registration and details.

November 1-30: NaNoWriMo all month long! Write from your home or with friends. See the site for details in your area. 

November 11-12: It’s not often that a theological conference makes my list of literary events, but the annual convocation of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University is known to add literary figures to its list of keynote speakers. This year’s speakers include best-selling travel author Rick Steves, November 11, 7:30 - 9 p.m. in McFarlin Auditorium on the SMU campus, 6405 Boaz Lane, followed by a book signing. Tickets for Steves’ lecture only are $15. A printed receipt is required for entry, and no payments can be accepted at the door. 

See the site for details, including other keynote speakers and complete schedule. 

***

But, you ask, where are the writing contests? I’ll give them a post of their own – as well as tidbits from the recent ArmadilloCon and online Mystery and Thriller Summit.

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.

Autumn in the air? Preview these fall literary events

Wow – temperatures in North Texas dropped in the wake of a weekend of drought-breaking rain. And although we haven’t seen the end of the heat, there’s a smell of fall in the air. So after dishing out bowls of hearty soup for lunch, my thoughts turned to autumn literary events. 

Starting with –

August 24-25: Tulisoma South Dallas Book Fair at the African-American Museum, 3536 Grand Avenue, in Dallas Fair Park. August 24 ticketed event is 7 – 9 p.m., family-friendly happenings August 25 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. are free, including writing and art workshops, book signings, open-mic poetry, children’s activities and more. The event concludes August 25 with a hip-hop gospel extravaganza 6 – 9 p.m.  

September 5 – March 21, 2019: Clements Center Evening Lecture Series 2018-2019 program opens with a presentation of Lawrence Wright’s God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State. Topics address Texas, the United States Southwest and the Texas-Mexico borderlands. Ticketed, but generally free, with the exception of author receptions. Venues on the campus of SMU, but times and sites vary. See the site for details and reservations. 

image: pixabay

September 9 – November 29: Arts & Letters Live at the Dallas Museum of Art features award-winning authors and performers. This year’s standouts include Doris Kearns Goodwin (Team of Rivals, the basis for award-winning film Lincoln, among other books); Andre Dubus III (The Garden of Last Days, and other books); Jesmyn Ward (Sing, Unburied, Sing); Caroline Fraser (biographer of recently-controversial children’s author Laura Ingalls Wilder); and many more. 

Unless otherwise noted, programs take place in Horchow Auditorium in the museum, 1717 Harwood, Dallas. Ticket prices vary, so see the site (link) for specifics.

September 19: This year’s selection for Richardson Reads One Book is The Circle, by Dave Eggers, who will speak at 7:30 p.m. in the Richardson High School auditorium, 1250 W. Beltline Rd., Richardson, Texas. Free tickets available starting at 10 a.m. September 4 at the Richardson Public Library, 900 Civic Center Dr., Richardson, Texas.

September 21-23: Happy birthday, Frankenstein! Help Fencon, the Dallas-area fan-operated science fiction and fantasy literary and filk convention celebrate the 200^th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s classic monster mash! Author panels, artists, concerts, hands-on workshops and costumes. At the Westin DFW Airport, 4545 John Carpenter West Freeway, Irving, Texas. Adult memberships $45 till September 1 ($50 at the door), young adult memberships (ages 13-21) $25 through August 31 ($30 at the door), discounts for younger kids and military members. See the site for details. 

September 22: Writers Guild of Texas fall writing workshop with author Sarah Bale on “Self-Publishing: 10 Steps to Success,” 9 a.m. – noon at the Richardson Civic Center, 411 Civic Center Dr., Richardson, Texas. Online cost $25 for WGT members, $35 for nonmembers, $35 for members at the door, $40 for nonmembers, but seating is limited.

October 6: Texas Teen Book Festival on the campus of St. Edward’s University, 3001 S. Congress Ave., Austin. More than 30 YA authors plus the EPIC READS costume contest. Free. 

October 13-14: Writers in the Field, a hands-on research experience for writers of all ages. At Amber Academy of the Arts, 492 Cordes Dr., Mansfield, Texas. Tickets $65. See the site for details and ticket purchases.

October 27-28: Texas Book Festival. The big one, with lots of events in and around the Texas State Capitol, downtown Austin.

November 1-30: NaNoWriMo all month long! More to come on this annual event.

November 9-11: Readers & ‘ritas weekend getaway with romance authors, including guests of honors Christine Feehan, C.L. Wilson and Lori Foster. Author parties, book signings and author panels, at Hilton Garden Inn in Dallas/Allen, 705 Central Expressway South, Allen, Texas. Cost: $99 - $225. Come for a day or the whole weekend, which includes a writing workshop November 10, with classes led by Candace Havens and Deborah LeBlanc.  

***

Wondering why Dallas author Ben Fountain (Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk) isn’t included here, even though he has a new book out? Catch him September 8 at the Texas Monthly Edge of Texas event; October 1 at Interabang Books, 10720 Preston Road, Dallas; and December 6 at the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, 2719 Routh Street, Dallas. And stay tuned for the unveiling of the Authors LIVE! series, Dallas Heritage Village’s Farina Lecture, and the Roanoke, Texas, writing conference. 

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.

Fall forecast: A whopper of a storm of literary events

The fall hurricane season has barely begun, but a storm of autumn literary events is scheduled to hit North Texas – right now! There’s so much going on, I’ll only track events through September in this post, with more to come later.

August 12: (Yes, that’s tomorrow!) Dallas’ newest indie bookstore, Interabang, hasn’t even had its grand opening, and it’s already launched a line of name brand authors, including today’s appearance by Will Clarke at 7 p.m. Clarke will read from his new novel, The Neon Palm of Madame Melancon. The store’s located at 10720 Preston Road in Dallas, in the shopping center at the northeast corner of Preston and Royal. Free, but with books available for purchase and signing.

image: Wikimedia commons

August 13: This is the 45^th anniversary year of Dallas-based Half Price Books, and the flagship store at 5803 E. Northwest Highway in Dallas, has been rolling out author signings  galore to celebrate. August 13, local authors Farahana Kassam and Wayne Peterson sell and sign their books from 1-3 p.m. at the flagship store. See the site and below for more Half Price events.

August 15: The Interabang action keeps rolling Tuesday, August 15, with an appearance by Joe Tone, author of Bones: Brothers, Horses, Cartels, and the Borderland Dream. 7 p.m., 10720 Preston Road.

August 15: Authors LIVE! presents Howard Merkel, author of The Kelloggs: The Battling Brother of Battle Creek, at 7 p.m. in Wesley Hall of Highland Park United Methodist Church, 3300 Mockingbird Lane, Dallas. Free, but books available for purchase and signing. Or RSVP at (?) for a 6 p.m. author’s reception for $30, which includes a signed copy of the book. See the site for upcoming authors – and more about that below.

August 17: Missed Will Clarke at Interabang (or just can’t get enough)? Catch him at the Wild Detectives bookstore, 314 W. Eighth Street, Dallas. See the site for more bookish events, including authors tours and book club discussions.

August 24: The Dallas Morning News partners with SMU Reads for  Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond. Join the online discussion August 21-25 at dallasnews.com/opinion and hear Desmond in person, 6 p.m. August 24 at SMU’s McFarlin Auditorium. The program is free, but signed books will be available for sale. RSVP at smu.edu/smureads.

August 24: New York Times bestselling author Andrew Gross visits Half Price Books, 5803 E. Northwest Highway, Dallas, at 7 p.m. to discuss and sign copies of his historical thriller, The Saboteur. Books available for purchase through the store while supplies last.

August 26: Celebrate African-American culture at the Tulisoma Book Fair, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. with poetry, theater, book signings and more. At the African American Museum of Dallas, 3536 Grand Avenue, Dallas (inside Fair Park). Free admission and parking.

September 9-11: At last, the grand opening of Interabang bookstore climaxes with an appearance September 11 by guest of honor Ann Patchett. The author most recently of Commonwealth, Patchett is also co-owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville, and an advocate for independent bookstores. Although information is not yet on the Interabang site, manager Jeremy Ellis tells me by email that Patchett will attend the grand opening party September 11 from 6-9 p.m. and speak briefly at about 7 p.m. Signed books will be available at the store.

September 24: The Dallas Museum of Arts opens its new Arts & Letters Live season as international bestselling author Ken Follett arrives to discuss the latest in his historical saga, A Column of Fire, 7:30 p.m. in First United Methodist Church of Dallas, 1928 Ross Avenue (across from the museum). Tickets start at $60 for the public (includes one copy of the book).  See the site for details and other ticket options. Other blockbuster authors on the lineup include Michael Chabon, photographer Annie Leibovitz, Dan Rather, Dan Brown, and more! See the site for specifics.

September 26: Richardson Reads One Book each year, and 2017’s is Sing for Your Life, by Daniel Bergner. Lecture and book signing at 7:30 p.m. at Richardson High School, 1250 W. Beltline Road, in Richardson. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Free tickets available at the Richardson Public Library, 900 Civic Dr., Richardson, Texas, beginning at 10 a.m., September 5.

Did I say only events through September? Here’s one more I can’t resist mentioning:

October 4: Art Garfunkel appears at Authors LIVE! in partnership with Friends of SMU Libraries and Friends of the Highland Park Library, to discuss and sign What is All But Luminous. At Wesley Hall of Highland Park UMC, this one is requires a $28 ticket, which includes a copy of the book. A portion of the proceeds benefit the libraries.