By Gardiner Brown
This seems to be a week full of crime, intrigue, and the South in the Austin literary world! We’ve got an event almost every day this week, so come out to one or two, and maybe you’ll see us!
The Events
On Friday, July 11 at 7 p.m., head over to Book People to hear local authors Martha Louise Hunter and Sara Rose Salih read from their first books. Hunter’s book, Painting Juliana, follows the story of a woman forced to step away from her every day life and stand up to the troubles of her childhood, and was named a finalist in the Writers League of Texas Mainstream Fiction Contest. Salih’s book, Tales of a Sevie, is the first in her new series Life As We Note It, and is told from the perspective of three young women in middle school, entirely through the notes they leave for their friend, Summer.
On Saturday, July 12 at 7 PM, author and journalist Brian Krans will be at Malvern books reading from his new novel, Assault Rifles and Pedophiles: An American Love Story. This novel follows the story of a young reporter stepping into a new side of his field: celebrity suicide. You can read the first chapter of Krans’ book here.
Also on Saturday, July 12, the Fifteen Minutes of Fame non-critique writing club will be having its monthly meeting at the Twin Oaks branch of the Austin Public Library. The group meets every third Saturday of the month at 10 a.m.
On Sunday, July 13 at 7 p.m., acclaimed author Wilton Barnhardt will be at Book People reading from his latest novel, Lookaway, Lookaway, the story of the conservative, Southern Johnston family struggling to adjust to a changing world. Lookaway, Lookaway is Bernhardt’s fourth novel.
On Tuesday, July 15 at 7 p.m., Book People will be hosting author and playwright James Magruder as he reads from his new collection of short stories, Let Me See It, which follows the lives of two gay cousins as they grow up together. There will a signing following the reading.
On Wednesday, July 16 at 7 p.m., author and historian Richard Zelade will be reading from his new, Austin-based book, Guy Town By Gaslight, which traces the history of one of Austin’s wildest neighborhoods, the First Ward, in its heyday in the early twentieth century.
On Thursday, July 17 at Book Woman at 7 p.m., author Marion Winik will be reading from her three recently-published collections of essays, Guesswork, The End of the World As We Know It, and August in Paris.