by Gardiner Brown
LitCity is a weekly Writing Barn blog rounding up the most interesting book-related events around Austin.
There’s lots of mystery and celebration this week in the Austin Book World! Several acclaimed mystery novelists will be reading their work around town, while organizations like the Texas Association of Authors will be honoring their recently published members with readings at Malvern books. We hope to see you at some of these events!
The Events:
On Saturday, June 21, The Texas Association of Authors will be hosting the first day of their event The Best of 2014 at Malvern Books at 1 p.m. This event will feature readings from these Texas authors: Jedah Mayberry, R. Flowers Rivera, Robert Stevens, and Myra Hargrave McIlvain!
On Sunday, June 22, The Texas Association of Authors presents the second day of their Best of 2014 series at Malvern Books! The event will be at 6 p.m., and the readers will be Elizabeth A. Garcia, Howard Webb, Marjorie Brody, L.A. Starks, and Kenneth Womack.
On Tuesday, June 24, Graeme Simsion will be signing and reading from his latest book, The Rosie Project, at 7 p.m. at BookPeople. The book follows the story of a genetics professor as he looks for love by way of his own scientific methods.
On Wednesday, June 25, Elizabeth Cantwell will be at Monkeywrench books readings from her first collection of poetry, Nights I Let the Tiger Get You, at 7 p.m. Her book was a finalist in the 2012 Hudson Prize.
At BookPeople at 7 p.m., Lisa Howorth will be signing and reading from her latest book, Flying Shoes, which follows the story of a Mississippi woman who goes home to confront her family and seek answers about the disappearance and murder of her brother. Based on events from Howorth’s own childhood, this reading is sure to be an emotionally powerful event!
Also at 7 p.m., Malvern Books will be hosting a poetry karaoke night! Roll a lettered die and select a poem from an author whose name begins with that letter to perform for the audience!
On Thursday, June 26, Megan Abbott and Alison Gaylin will be reading from and signing their books The Fever and Stay With Me at 7 p.m. This event is part of BookPeople’s Mysterypeople series and should be a great time!
Check back next week for another round of Lit City so you can make sure you don’t miss out on any of our local literary events!
What’s Happening at The Writing Barn
Our very own director, Bethany Hegedus, will be teaching a six-week class, Perfecting the Picture Book! The class features lessons by wonderful novelist and picture book author Bethany Hegedus, and students will get a chance to work on their own picture books-in-progress during workshop time. This class will meet on Tuesdays from 2-6 p.m., beginning on July 8. Register now! info@thewritingbarn.com
October 9-12, we will be hosting author and agent Ammi-Joan Paquette and author K.A. Holt to teach their workshop, Writing Outside the Box. This workshop will focus on non-traditional narrative structures and give participants the opportunity to dissect how other authors are telling their stories and even experiment with unusual ways of telling their own stories! There are only 16 spots in the class, so apply now!
And be sure to check out this week’s Rejecting Rejection by writer and artist Sue Cleveland!