By Arielle Avila
It’s a big week for the literary community in Austin! Along with bestsellers and local authors coming through to speak, the Texas Teen Book Festival is going on this Saturday – and we’ll be there covering it! This huge literary event is a great way to see some fantastic YA authors speak about their experience as writers, and if you have your own work you’d like feedback on, they’re offering workshops. Join in on all the literary fun this week – we know we will be!
Lit City:
What’s Happening in the Austin Book World Sept. 24 – Sept. 30
Thursday, September 24 at 7PM @ BookPeople, come see award-winning food and nutrition journalist Toni Tipton-Martin speak about and sign her newest book Jemina Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks. Enjoy beverages and treats as well during the event!
Saturday, September 26 at 8:30 @ St. Edward’s University is a big day for the literary world in Austin. Join us at the Texas Teen Book Festival with keynote speaker, Sonia Manzano, closing speakers, Libba Bray and David Levithan, and other popular authors. Registration is not required and it’s free to the public – we hope to see you there!
Sunday, September 27 from 3PM to PM @ Malvern Books for a Banned Book Week reading. This event will feature a “read out,” with special guests, including Tish Hinojosa, Sarah Bird, and Mark Smith (Director of the Texas State Library and Archives) and more, reading from their favorite banned books. Audience members are also welcome to read. Attendance is free, but donations to The Freedom to Read Foundation will be gratefully accepted.
On Tuesday, September 29 at 7PM @ Book People, bestselling author Leigh Bardugo will be speaking about and signing her newest book Six of Crows as a part of The Magic and Mayhem Tour. Bardugo will be in conversation with another YA author, Julie Murphy, who wrote Dumplin’.
Wednesday, September 30 at 7PM @ BookPeople, join bestselling Austin author Mark Pryor as he speaks about and signs his book Hollow Man. The mystery book follows a man part musician, part lawyer, part sociopath through a criminal investigation.
Also on Wednesday, September 30 at 7PM @ Malvern Books, author Fiston Mwanza Mujila and translator Roland Glasser will be speaking about Tram 83. The book plunges the reader into the modern African gold rush as cynical as it is comic and colorfully exotic, using jazz rhythms to weave a tale of human relationships in a world that has become a global village. There will be live jazz music by Chris Hall as well.
Upcoming Events and Classes at The Writing Barn
Are you thinking about submitting to the 24th annual Austin Chronicle Short Story contest? What would happen if there was a class where you could work on your existing short story or compose something new, get feedback on your piece, fine tune your craft, experience community – all with the goal of working toward publication. Like a gymnast’s routine, crafting a short story requires a great opening, vivid details, escalating tension, a perfectly choreographed climax, and nailing the ending. In this six-week class, Lindsey Lane and Shelli Cornelison will help writers craft and polish a 2500-word piece ready to submit to the Austin Chronicle. The first class is on October 27, 2015 so sign up now to get those stories ready for Fall.
Meditation and writing are two practices that compliment each other beautifully. Meditation is an act of deep listening, and writing is taking notes on what you hear. But what if all you hear is senseless chatter, nagging doubts, and critical voices? Keep listening! There’s a quiet beyond the noise. It’s in this quiet that stories are born. It’s the source of our innate wisdom and creativity. The Writing Barn is offering a Meditation for Writers: A Four Week Class with Paige Britt that will focus on learning how to “write from the quiet.” This class is offered starting November 1, 2015 and runs for four sessions.
Join Margo Rabb, Matt de la Pena, and teaching assistant Lindsey Lane for a long weekend of lectures, craft exercises, and workshop in Austin, Texas which has been called The Paris of YA. Workshops The Soul of Fiction: Adding Depth to Your Characters and Your Story and The Magic of Narrative Balance: Showing Patience and Restraint in Writing for Children and Young Adults still have available seats. Make sure to reserve your spots before it’s too late!