This weekend, while many of our friends are shaking their fists across town at the Fun Fun Fun Fest, the bookworms among us will climb the Capitol steps to get our “shhh!” on at the Texas Book Festival. We’ve waited all year for this, the biggest literary event in Austin. All the great local writers will be on hand, along with a smattering of nationally recognized authors. For anyone looking for a thorough introduction to the literary scene in Austin and in Texas, the TBF is a great place to start.

What will you find? Well, a lot of Republicans (Lynne Cheney, Jenna Bush, and Kay Bailey Hutchinson are among the biggest names—thank Honorary Chairman Laura Bush.) Look closer, and you’ll also find a lot of under-the-radar talent, plus a few superstars whose signatures might be worth the price of admission on eBay. Here’s your guide to ten must-see events at the festival (stay tuned for Part 2, later today).

Texas Book Festival
Saturday & Sunday, Nov. 3rd & 4th
multiple locations around downtown
Free
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Photo by merfam on Flickr

Saturday

10-11 am. Hecho in Tejas, A Celebration of Texas-Mexican Literature (House Chamber)

Writers of Mexican descent have taken an enormous role in shaping the literature of Texas. Two of Austin’s greatest, Rolando Hinojosa-Smith and Dagoberto Gilb, will share the stage with Macarena Hernandez, Diana Lopez, and a master accordion player for this reading. This might be the most important book launch at the festival—a canonical anthology stretching back to the sixteenth century, bringing into one book a history of this sometimes marginalized but never marginal literature.

2-2:45 pm. Joe Ely performs Bonfire of Roadmaps (Capitol Auditorium E1.004)

This should be one of the more performative readings of the festival. Ely, a legendary local songwriter and live musician, will share selections from his journals of life on the road. Some jottings become songs, he says, while others remain, “"snapshots of what was flying by, just out of reach, so to savor at a later date when the wheels stop rolling, and the gears quit grinding, and the engines shut down." The man must have stories to tell—he’s played with both the Clash and the Boss, not to mention his own band, the Flatlanders.

2:30-3:15 pm. Mark Penn Microtrends (Capitol Extension Room E2.026)

Like politics? Well, there’s no Obama at this year’s festival, but the organizers did land Penn, the mastermind behind both Bill and Hillary Clinton’s electoral strategies. He may not be a charmer, but he does know how to win by identifying and targeting small demographics. If you’ve ever used the phrase “soccer mom,” then you’re already speaking Penn’s language—he invented it.

3:30-4:15 pm. George Saunders, The Braindead Megaphone (Capitol Auditorium Room E1.004)

Saunders is one of the real stars of this year’s festival. Over the past eleven years, through three short story collections, he has maintained one of the most consistent, innovative, hilarious, and devastating voices in American fiction. He’s also a swell guy in person. If you haven’t checked Saunders out yet, here is your chance. He will read from his new essay collection.

7-9 pm. Tom Perrotta screens Little Children (Alamo Drafthouse Ritz)

Watch the acclaimed movie with the guy who wrote the screenplay and the book it was based on. Check out our previous post about the screening here.

8-10:30 pm. Lit Smackdown: Fiction vs. Nonfiction (The Gallery at the Continental Club)

Lynn Cheney and Jenna Bush pulled out of this after-hours lucha libre event at the last minute, citing groin injuries, so organizers had to scramble to fill their spots with hipster literary stars like George Saunders and Vendela Vida, plus locally bred talents like Emily Rapp and Eric Martin. This should be the most fun event at the festival—a laid back, alcohol infused discussion of why some fiction writers are turning to non-fiction. Owen Egerton, the Chronicle’s 2007 Best Local Author (we concur), will emcee.

Sunday

12-12:45 pm. Carl Bernstein, Woman in Charge (House Chamber, 12-12:45)

Have you ever gotten a president impeached? No? Well, then has Jack Nicholson ever played you in a movie? Okay, what about Dustin Hoffman? Not him either? Well at least one of the Kids In the Hall probably portrayed you in some movie or other—right? Wrong? None of the above? Then you are not Carl Bernstein. You also probably didn’t just write the first major biography of Hillary Clinton, and you’re probably not rolling in dough from those book sales.

12:30- 1:30 pm. Texas Comics Scene (Capitol Extension Room E2.010)

Curious what’s happening with comics and graphic novels in the Lone Star State? Wondering who else is making or trying to make comic books? Texas authors and illustrators Matthew Sturges, Terry Moore, Lea Fernandez, and Paul Benjamin will tell their experience, and, who knows, there might be some comics artists in the audience as well.

2-2:45 pm. Jill Nokes, Yard Art and Handmade Places (Lifestyle Tent—10th & Congress)

All weekend, the lifestyle tent will be devoted to readings and presentation about healthy or artful living in the Whole Foods model.. This one sounds like the most interesting of the bunch. A local author, Jill Nokes, has written a book on an art form that defines Austin.

3-4 pm. Kinky Friedman Performs and Talks About His Latest Book (Music Tent)

We sometimes find ourselves suddenly sad and lonely, now that everyone’s favorite cowboy pardner/smoking buddy isn’t in the news anymore. But this Sunday, Kinky’s back! He has a new book out, You Can Lead A Politician to Water, But You Can’t Make Him Think: Ten Commandments for Texas Politics. Think there’s one about not using campaign donations just to fund your own celebrity? Nahh...