On cold and wet days like this it is easy to stay put and not venture out into the gloomy weather, but with so many great things happening in the literary community this week, i’d suggest putting on your favorite coat, grabbing your umbrella, and braving the rain for these “can’t miss” events. I know I will be doing just that.
Here’s What’s Happening
Thursday, January 22 at 7pm, Austin Author, Greg Garrett will be speaking on & signing his book Entertaining Judgmanet: The Afterlife in Popular Imagination at Book People. Garrett’s book brings together decades of reflection on art, literature, and pop culture. He will be joined on stage by local authors Owen Egerton and Sarah Bird to start a conversation about how artists and writers depict the afterlife. Refreshments provided by Saint Arnold Brewing Company.
Also on Thursday at 7pm author Sheila K. Collins will be at Book Woman, as she shares her memoir in a unique and engaging way.
In lieu of traditional book readings, Sheila has traveled the country and beyond, enlisting the help of InterPlay performers to help her perform her book. Warrior Mother has been performed in theaters, home concerts, and book stores in Edinburgh Scotland, Dallas and Fort Worth, TX, Pittsburgh PA, Oakland CA, Youngstown OH, Des Moines and Iowa City, IA, Atlanta, GA and Racine WI. See Austin InterPlay improvisational artists as they dance, sing, and tell their own stories in response to the overarching themes suggested by Sheila’s memoir.
On Monday, January 26 at 7pm, Texas Monthly Writer, JAN JARBOE RUSSELL will be speaking on & signing The Train to Crystal City: FD
R’s Secret Prisoner Exchange Program and America’s Only Family Internment Camp During World War II at Book People.
On Tuesday, January 27 at 6pm, SCOTT BLACKWOOD will be having his Book Launch for See How Small at Zilker Clubhouse.The event is free for Library Foundation members, and tickets are $10 for non-members, available through the Library Foundation website: austinlibrary.org. Sponsors include Jack White’s Third Man Records and Revenant Records; Little, Brown and Company; Texas Book Festival; and BookPeople.
On Wednesday, January 28 at 7pm, Acclaimed Austin Author, AMANDA EYRE WARD will be speaking & signing her new novel, The Same Sky. Hispanic Alliance for the Arts Symphony will kick things off, then Kirkus Review’s Clay Smith will interview Ward and Alexia Rodriguez, who brought Ward to shelters at the border and served as translator while conducting research for the book.
Don’t Forget to check out what’s happening at The Writing Barn this week
On Sa
turday Jan 24, 2015 from 11:30 AM – 5:00 PM, The Writing Barn is excited to offer this FREE reading party in celebration of National Readathon Day. Bring your favorite books, or borrow one from the Barn’s Shelves, and celebrate in a comfy and cozy atmosphere, perfect for reading all day.
On Sunday Jan 25, 2015 from 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM, join journalist and food writer Melanie Haupt, in this half-day workshop, where we’ll look at what makes great food writing, from features to restaurant reviews, to ingredient-specific trend pieces, with writing exercises geared toward generating draft versions of each style. We’ll wrap things up with suggestions and pointers for getting started writing about food and pitching local and national publications. Register now at thewritingbarn.com
The Writing Barn is excited to unveil our latest free monthly programming, co-sponsored with Austin’s own Yellow Bird Editors: Words and Wine Wednesdays. We will open the Barn doors for everyone in the local literary community to venture out to our neck of the woods on January 28, from 7:30PM-9:00PM to hear our monthly Austin Author read from her upcoming book. This month’s Austin Author is fiction writer Mary Helen Specht. She will be reading from her debut novel, Migratory Animals. Books will be on sale and there will be wine and other refreshments.