The Texas Book Festival is just around the corner.
The event will take place in Austin at the Texas Capitol the weekend of Nov. 16 and 17, which means you have two months to start reading up on titles that will be discussed at the festival.
Luckily, Texas Standard has talked to a good number of the authors invited to the festival in the last year. Take a look at our interviews with authors below, and you can find the full list at the festival’s website here.
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‘Juneteenth Rodeo’ by Sarah Bird
The myth of the cowboy was grown deep in the heart of Texas, but for years so was the erroneous mainstream image of what a “real” cowboy looked like – one that often excluded women, queer people, Mexican-American vaqueros and, of course, Black cowboys.
In the rodeo world of the 1970s, Black cowboys tested their skill and competed at Black rodeos. And in “Juneteenth Rodeo,” photos and moments from those rodeos here in Texas are coming to light after being packed away for decades.
Writer and photographer Sarah Bird spoke with Texas Standard about reconnecting with the photos, getting the afterward written by “Black Rodeo in the Texas Gulf Coast Region” author Demetrius Pearson, and the excitement of connecting the names and stories with the faces.
‘Loose of Earth’ by Kathleen Dorothy Blackburn
In Kathleen Dorothy Blackburn‘s Lubbock home, evangelical faith always occupied a central place during her childhood. But when her father was diagnosed with cancer at age 38, the family’s belief morphed into a desperate search for recovery.
Blackburn’s father lost his battle with colon cancer. While she was researching her memoir, she learned that her father had been exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, or “forever chemicals.” That exposure likely came during his time as an Air Force officer and during his childhood on Air Force bases where the chemicals were used.
Blackburn’s “Loose of Earth” is both a memoir and a call for environmental justice.
‘Texas, Being: A State of Poems’ by Jenny Browne
Ever since the notion of Texas first came into being, people have strained to describe it in words.
But corralling such an enormous space can be an impossible task. So a new book of poetry called “Texas, Being: A State of Poems” doesn’t attempt to sum up all things Texan.
It does take the reader on a journey, though, through Texas’ beauty, brutality and nuance. The 47 poems were selected and assembled by Jenny Browne, a poet and professor of English at Trinity University in San Antonio whose work is also in the book. Browne was named the poet laureate of San Antonio in 2016 and Texas poet laureate in 2017.
‘Canto Contigo’ by Jonny Garza Villa
Mariachi music, for many in Mexican culture, is a direct line to the emotions at the core of all of us with its powerful vocals and heartstring-tugging lyrics. So of course the world of mariachi music makes the perfect setting for a story about family legacy, making one’s own way and youthful romance.
It’s the premise of the new book “Canto Contigo,” the third novel from author Jonny Garza Villa. They spoke with the Standard about weaving their culture into their writing and the dichotomy of a story showcasing mariachi music and a queer love story.
‘We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family’s Mythmaking and Migration’ by Jessica Goudeau
Jessica Goudeau grew up learning myths about her family history that tied closely to the myth she knew about her home state of Texas.
Goudeau’s family lived in the Lone Star State for seven generations, and after an off-hand comment from a relative, she started digging deeper into her ancestors’ roles in much of Texas’ mythology and history.
In “We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family’s Mythmaking and Migration,” Goudeau traces her family’s legacy and uncovers a complicated group of people and stories – living in a much more complicated place than she imagined as a child.
‘The Stadium: An American History of Politics, Protest and Play’ by Frank Guridy
We often identify stadiums and arenas with a sports team – the home of the Cowboys, the Spurs, the Longhorns. But these giant edifices of concrete and steel are much more than sports palaces where fans cheer on their favorites. Stadiums are also centers for entertainment, protest and activism.
In ‘The Stadium: An American History of Politics, Protest and Play,” historian Frank Guridy traces the evolution of these community institutions over the past century.
‘The Devil Behind the Badge’ by Rick Jervis
In September 2018, the border town of Laredo was rocked by a series of grisly murders.
Juan David Ortiz, a 10-year veteran of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection service, was eventually arrested for killing four sex workers over the span of 12 days. Ortiz confessed he lured his victims into his white Dodge truck and drove them to the outskirts of town, where he violently executed them, leaving them dead or dying on the sides of dark, rural roads.
Author Rick Jervis explores the gruesome story in his new book, “The Devil Behind the Badge.”
‘City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America’s Highways’ by Megan Kimble
In urban Texas, highways have been central to the way we move from place to place. But some Texans are beginning to challenge long-held assumptions about highways, asking whether the destruction of neighborhoods required to build them and the segregation these projects intensify are worth the promised quicker commute.
These activists even question a basic assumption about highways – that bigger roads reduce traffic congestion.
In “City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America’s Highways,” journalist Megan Kimble examines the effort to rethink urban highways in Texas. She also traces the history of racism and inequality that carved up communities in three of the state’s’ largest cities.
‘We Were the Universe’ by Kimberly King Parsons
Plenty of novels have been written celebrating heroic Texas archetypes. But Lubbock-born Kimberly King Parsons’ latest tracks a more modern and everyday archetypal Texan: A new mother named Kit navigating love and grief in the Dallas suburbs.
In “We Were the Universe,” the recent death of Kit’s sister and the duties of parenting have become a challenging emotional and mental backdrop to her life. A trip with a friend to Montana makes her question what she’s lost and who she is – and even, at times, the boundaries between fantasy and reality.
‘Chuco Punk: Sonic Insurgency in El Paso’ by Tara López
While synonymous with rage and rebellion, punk rock is also rich with a history of amplifying oppressed communities and creating spaces for them: Think backyard shows, makeshift venues and networks of zines, tape traders and DIY show bookers.
“Chuco Punk: Sonic Insurgency in El Paso” from author Tara López, an assistant professor of ethnic studies at Winona State University, examines the El Paso punk scene from its beginning to the turn of the century.
‘Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir’ by Pedro Martín
Many coming-of-age stories are timeless tales shared through literary memoirs. But author Pedro Martín took a road less traveled, in a sense, when he decided to tell the story of a childhood cross-country trip through Mexico in a cramped motorhome.
He’s written and illustrated this tale in “Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir,” which some critics are already calling an instant classic.
‘The King of Diamonds: The Search for the Elusive Texas Jewel Thief’ by Rena Pederson
They were at the top of Dallas high society in the ’50s and ’60s: Millionaires with private planes, prestigious country club memberships, unlimited credit at Neiman Marcus.
Their bank accounts were often lined with oil money — and many of them were victims of a character whose exploits seemed ripped from a movie script: slipping over the fences of the city’s finest homes, sometimes dropping in from rooftops and making off with millions in jewels.
Half a century later, whatever happened to the elusive Texas jewel thief? Author Rena Pederson picks up the trail in “The King of Diamonds: The Search for the Elusive Texas Jewel Thief.”
‘Freedom is a Feast’ by Alejandro Puyana
From the bustling barrios of Caracas to lush jungles along the coast, Alejandro Puyana takes us on a decades-long saga of a Venezuelan family in his debut novel, “Freedom is a Feast.”
A native of Venezuela now living in Austin, Puyana is also a graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas.
