Texas Book Festival 2014 author lineup announced
Martin Amis, Joyce Carol Oates, Walter Mosley, Norman Lear, Lidia
Bastianich, Ziggy Marley among headlining authors
AUSTIN—More than 275 authors are coming to the 2014 Texas Book Festival, the
largest lineup in the Festival’s 19-year history, it was announced tonight.
Nationally renowned authors coming to this year’s Festival include Martin
Amis, Joyce Carol Oates, Walter Mosley, Norman Lear, Lidia Bastianich, Ziggy
Marley, James Ellroy, Katherine Applegate, Nicholas D. Kristof, John Dean,
Valerie Plame Wilson, and Héctor Tobar.
Headlining authors also include Charles Blow, Emily St. John Mandel, Michael
Ruhlman, Douglas Brinkley, Richard Linklater, Francisco Goldman, Meg
Wolitzer, Jacqueline Woodson, and Sarah Bird. The entire list of authors is
available online at www.texasbookfestival.org.
“This year is bigger than ever, with more authors, more titles, and more
sessions,” says Steph Opitz, Festival literary director. “It wasn’t that we
intentionally set out to make it bigger, it’s that there were so many
fantastic submissions we fell in love with this year that we had to make
more room.”
Several themes have emerged in the lineup, Opitz says, and they are as
exciting and diverse as Festival fans have come to anticipate. It’s “the
year of the chef,” Opitz says, with 12 cookbooks. There are two powerhouse
books on Nixon and Watergate, immigration in fiction and nonfiction, a
strong poetry showing, poker, small presses, and graphic novels.
More than 40,000 people are expected to attend the Texas Book Festival Oct.
25 and 26. One of the nation’s premier literary events, the Festival
continues to be free and open to the public. The Texas Teen Book Festival,
newly under the auspices of the Texas Book Festival, will be held Oct. 18 at
St. Edward’s University, “bookending” the Festival Weekend.
The Texas Book Festival Weekend kicks off with the First Edition Literary
Gala, Friday, Oct. 24 at the Four Seasons Hotel. Headlining authors who will
speak at the Gala are Martin Amis, Walter Mosley, Lidia Bastianich, and
Katherine Applegate. Proceeds from the Gala help keep the Festival free of
charge, and support the TBF’s Reading Rock Stars Literacy Program, which
provides author visits and book donations to children in low-income schools,
and Texas Library Grants, awarded annually to selected libraries across the
state.
For the first time, there will be an after party following the Gala, at 9:30
p.m. at the Four Seasons for Gala guests and also as a separate event with
tickets for $75. Cocktails with the Authors will give guests an opportunity
to mingle with authors, and will also allow more people to be part of the
Gala festivities.
“What amazes me daily is the depth and breadth of support for the Book
Festival,” says Lois Kim, executive director. “That support is why we’re
expanding our Reading Rock Stars program to Houston, why we gave more than
$60,000 in grants to public libraries this year, and why we’ve been able to
add the Texas Teen Book Festival to our programming.”
The 2014 Festival poster, by renowned photographer Dan Winters, is an image
of a vintage movie palace in Seguin. Winters is internationally known for
his celebrity portraits, photojournalism, and illustrations. He will present
his book, Road to Seeing, at the Festival.
Major sponsors of the Texas Book Festival include presenting sponsor H-E-B
plus Brigid Cockrum and Family, Texas Monthly, the Tocker Foundation, AT&T,
Buena Vista Foundation, Pentagram, the Austin American-Statesman, Central
Market, Kirkus Reviews, C-SPAN and new this year, Lincoln Motor Company.
A favorite perk for donors who give $100 or more is the Fast Pass, which
allows Festival-goers plus a guest priority line access to designated author
sessions. To make a donation and receive a Fast Pass, go to
www.texasbookfestival.org.
