Wordcraft – Fall into autumn with Texas literary events

This week’s cooler temperatures make it easier to remember that fall is coming, and with it a new season of literary events, most but not all in North Texas. I’m posting about these a little earlier than usual, to give myself a head start on autumn’s plenty.

August 20: Grand re-opening of the Dallas Library’s 7^th floor History and Archives Division, 10:30 a.m. If you’ve never (or not recently) visited this collection, prepare to be amazed. Besides a Shakespeare first folio and a first printing of the Declaration of Independence, the revamped 7th floor houses over 1,800 historic images by pioneering black Dallas photographer Marion Butts, coverage of President Kennedy’s assassination (and related items, including Lee Harvey Oswald’s library card, documenting his overdue books) and more. These unique and fragile items do not circulate outside the library – see them on the 7^th floor only.

August 22-26: For this 10^th anniversary of its Points Summer Book Club, the Dallas Morning News selection is 2016 Pulitzer finalist If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran, by Carla Power. The online discussion runs next Monday through Friday. RSVP  now for for a free forum and book signing with the author August 24, 7-9 p.m., at the University of Texas at Dallas. And see the September 14 World Affairs Council’s event (below) to continue the conversation.

September 6: Tickets will be available at the Richardson, Texas, public library, 900 Civic Center Drive, for the Richardson Reads One Book forum with Joshua Davis, author of Spare Parts, the story of four undocumented kids, one ugly robot and a dream come true. Books are available at Half Price Books Richardson. The author discussion and book signing is September 20 at the auditorium of Richardson High School, 1250 West Beltline Road. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Free, but tickets required due to limited space.

September 11 – November 17: Dallas Museum of Art’s Arts & Letters Live opens its fall season with author Robert Hoge, author of the memoir Ugly. See the site for a complete list of events and ticket prices. Most authors will appear at the DMA, 1717 North Harwood, Dallas.

September 14: World Affairs Council features Joby Warrick, author of Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS. $40. See the site for details.

September 19 – October 23: The Authors LIVE! series opens with a wow – an appearance by Colson Whitehead, author of The Underground Railroad, “the most anticipated literary novel of the year” and, no surprise, a pick of Oprah Winfrey’s book club. The series is held at 7 p.m. in Wesley Hall of Highland Park United Methodist Church, 3300 Mockingbird Lane. Free, no reservations required, but readers may attend a reception with the author and receive a copy of the book for $30. See site for details.

September 23-25: FenCon, the literary science fiction and fantasy convention at the Westin DFW in Irving (State Highway 114 and Esters Road). This year’s con incorporates a 1632 minicon, for fans of the series. $40 online registration through September 1, $45 at the door. Dozens of author panels and signings.

October 1: Texas Teen Book Festival, St. Edward’s University, 3001 Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas. Free, with loads of authors. It’s an offshoot of the big mama, the Texas Book Festival (see below). Need we say more? See site for details.

October 13: SMUReads hosts attorney Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy, 4:30 p.m. at McFarlin Auditorium, 6405 Boaz Lane, Dallas. Stevenson founded the Equal Justice Initiative, dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need. Stevenson’s lecture is free, but the university requests preregistration at www.smu.edu/smureads.

November 5-6: Texas Book Festival, with hundreds of adult and teen authors and dozens of venues in and around the State Capitol building, this is huge! Free, see the site for complete author list, schedule, and details about where best to enter the massive event.

Wordcraft -- Fall literary events in (mostly) North Texas

It’s still the dog days in Texas, so why am I posting about literary events of the fall? Because they start this weekend! Chances to meet and listen to your favorite authors in person, attend discussions with other crazed reading and writing fans, check out a new writing contest -- for students only at this point. Sometimes there’s even great food.

August 29-September 2 -- WorldCon, Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center, 200 E. Market Street, San Antonio. This is the big one -- the 71^st Annual World Science Fiction Convention. It’s the one where they hand out the Hugo Awards (which will be broadcast live September 1). Miss it, and you’ll have to fly to London to catch the 2014 convention. Walkup tickets still available, although online registration has closed.  For more information, directions, and program schedule, see  www.lonestarcon3.org/.

August 30-31 -- In Dallas, check out the 10^th annual Tulisoma South Dallas Book Fair, with activities at the African-American Museum in Fair Park, 3536 Grand Avenue, among other venues. The Heart and Soul cultural tour of South Dallas historical sites is currently filled, but check out the museum’s exhibits, lots of authors, and entertainment. Many activities free or moderately priced. See http://tulisoma.org/.

September 10 -- Richardson Reads One Book features The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. The Richardson Reads program was designed to bring residents of this Dallas suburb together. Previously, tickets were free but limited to Richardson residents. I’m hoping the program’s new venue at First United Methodist Church of Richardson, 503 North Central Expressway, with seating beginning at 6:45 p.m., will be roomy enough to seat nonresidents as well, but I’ll have not yet confirmed that with the Richardson Library. The Book Thief has been very popular with young adult readers locally, with Zusak making an appearance earlier this year at the Highland Park literary festival. And there’s a movie, scheduled for release in December. See http://onebook.cor.net/.

September 10 -- Also this date, public events from the Friends of SMU Libraries, beginning with lecture and book signing by historian James Reston, Jr., whose new book, The Accidental Victim, proposes a new theory about the assassination of President Kennedy. Reception at 6 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Ballroom on the SMU campus, followed by lecture and book signing. Free. For additional Friends events, see
http://smu.edu/libraries/friends/events/.

October 4-6 -- FenCon, the annual science fiction/fantasy convention at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 14315 Midway Road, in the Dallas suburb of Addison. Family-friendly events, including those especially for kids; panels by many local authors. New this year, a young authors’ short story contest, with deadline extended to September 20. For information, see www.fencon.org/.

October 15 -- Dallas Authors Live fall series begins at Dallas Heritage Village at Old City Park, 1515 Harwood, at 7 p.m. with Dallas author Kathleen Kent. Kent hit the best seller lists with historical fiction about the Salem witch trials. Her latest book is The Outcasts, set in nineteenth century Texas. Admission to her discussion is free through October 10, $10 at the door. For more information, see www.dallasheritagevillage.org/.

October 19 -- The fourth annual Literature + Medicine conference adds a poetry lecture, 5-7:30 p.m., in the Fogelson Forum at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, 8200 Walnut Hill Lane, Dallas. Keynote speaker is National Poetry Series award winner Dr. Rafael Campo. See also --

October 24 -- Literature + Medicine Conference, 5-7:30 p.m. in the same location, with keynote speaker John M. Barry, author of books on the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and the 1918 influenza epidemic. Cost is $15 for the poetry lecture, $25 for the Barry conference, with special rates for health care professionals. I attended last year and thoroughly enjoyed the format. Plus, the pre-lecture buffet is great! See
www.texashealth.org/.

October 26-27 -- Texas Book Festival, various venues around the State Capitol in Austin. Preliminary schedule and list of authors should start coming online in September. See www.texasbookfestival.org/.

November 8-10 -- Readers & ’ritas conference, Hilton Garden Inn -- Allen, 705 Central Expressway. Meet dozens of romance authors, including some locals, hear their discussions on your favorite topics, bring books to trade and donate (proceeds benefit Plano Family Literacy). Good food and bags of swag! See https://2013readers.eventbrite.com/.

And by the way, today, August 26, is the third anniversary of this blog. Ten friends read my first post -- how they found it I’ll never know, since even Google couldn’t locate the URL. Hundreds of posts and nearly twenty thousand views since, more than a thousand of you drop by each month. Hope you’re having as good a time as I am.