Not to get all inside baseball on you, but this review of Shelley Seale's memoir/reportage from her time in India was delayed by an almost tragicomic set of circumstances seemingly destined to keep this book from getting reviewed at all. Throughout it all, Seale was polite but persistent, and after we (finally) had the book in our hands and read it, her dedication to the work came into a wider perspective. Most books have something of import to communicate to the reader, but this true life account of Seale's trips to India in the middle and end of the last decade exposed her to not just tremendous poverty, but to its most helpless and legion victims, children, many of whom are also having their years of innocence wiped away by plagues of disease, forced labor and nothing short of sexual slavery. more ›

On Monday night poet Naomi Shihab Nye spoke and read from her latest book of ultra-short stories, There is no Long Distance Now. The Mabee Ballroom at St. Edward's University was filled with students and fans, young and old. more ›

Note: This post is by new contributor Andrew Hilbert. Tonight, award-winning Texas poet Naomi Shihab Nye will be speaking and signing her latest collection of stories There is No Long Distance, Now. more ›

The Austin Public Library Friends Foundation - also known as the desperately-in-need-of-one-more-vowel acronym APLFF - is presenting the Austin Teen Book Festival on October 1st at the Palmer Events Center. The event runs from 10am to 5pm, and will feature author panels, a keynote speech from Scott Westerfeld, and many opportunities to purchase books from (and have them signed by) authors. more ›

With an event entitled See a Little Light With Bob Mould: An Evening of Music and Reading, this is clearly not a typical Bob Mould show - or even a typical concert. That’s because the veteran singer/songwriter/guitarist (still best known for his stint in Hüsker Dü, despite that band having been defunct for nearly a quarter of a century and Mould having built a catalog every bit as strong since, both solo and with Sugar) isn’t promoting a new album on this trek. Instead, he’s hitting the road with both guitar and reading glasses in tow in celebration of <em>See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody, a frank, powerful autobiography that is as compulsive a read as his records are a listen. As such Mould will treat the audience to passages from his book as often as test the tolerance of the sound ordinance. (Mould is one of the few performers whose audience requires earplugs even when he’s playing acoustically.) Given the general brilliance of both the musical and prose sides of Mould’s pen, this gig is likely to be something special. more ›

Seventy-one pages into his book Austin Nights, Herocious (a pen name for Michael Davidson) confirms what the reader has most likely been suspecting - “What you're reading reading is trying to stay formless and free, without limitations and plot.” The book floats from present to past, but the gist of it is this - Davidson, or a character he inhabits in these pages - has left Miami Beach with his girlfriend Bridget to move to Austin. Like so many others, the University is the impetus for their move, and Austin presents both difficult and happy challenges to their worldview. Bridget is also a narrator in Austin Nights, but the story is primarily told through Michael's words. Davidson is prone to the “occasional digression,” as he puts it, and his narrative is quick-moving, often familiar, and occasionally frustrating. more ›

Basically the idea behind our first Austinist Family Reading is this - join us for happy hour at Club Deville to hang and hear some of our site's longstanding (or shortstanding) writers break out of their mold for a bit. You've heard us dish on film and art and food and music, but there's more to us, like possibly prose and poetry and funny stories and etc.! This gathering will hopefully have the intimacy and fun of any good time out with pals, without the awkwardness and T.M.I. of an open-mic night. Guess we'll see! more ›

We're a literate city that loves music, but we're understandably skittish about combining the two. Over the years, a natural divide has yawned open between spoken word and live music - the two don't seem to need one another the way they did in the '50s. However...that doesn't mean they've stopped wanting one another. Billed as "A Night of Instrumental Expression and Poetic Thought," the "Lyr·i·cism" show at the Salvage Vanguard - presented by The Church of the Friendly Ghost and its members Bradford Kinney and Derek Rogers - is a four-hour program which fuses visuals, poetry, prose, and music. more ›

"Expletive-laden" may not describe much of the poetry you love dearly, but for the purposes of fun and sport, let's give this collection with an effer right there in the title a chance. Kings of the F**king Sea is a book of poems from Austinite Dan Boehl, a founder of the poetry press Birds LLC and an arts writer who has posited a challenge to our city's coverage of that subject in the past. His book is illustrated by Jonathan Marshall, whose work you can see here. more ›

Tonight, at 7pm, BookWoman will host local Austinite, animal rescuer, and author Cindy Marabito as she reads from her new book Pit Bull Nation, a candid look at what goes on behind the scenes at animal shelters that take in these often mistreated and misunderstood dogs. more ›

Our University of Texas has no doubt produced a great number of notables. Even if we’re restricting ourselves to literature, translation, and related disciplines, the school can lay claim to a nobel laureate, several Pulitzer Prize winners, Rhodes Scholars, and a bevy of other seriously gifted authors, poets, critics, and playwrights. (Aside from the obvious, the idea here is that you’re allowed to feel cool for living in a city that, as host to an institution of this caliber, has helped foster such breadth of talent). more ›

If you’re hurting for literary culture tomorrow afternoon, say around 3:30, consider heading over to Austin’s own feminist bookstore, BookWoman, for a reading and signing with Bastrop poet Mary Branan. She’ll be reading from her much-lauded book “Weavings,” winner of the Blue Light Press 2010 award, and will graciously sign copies thereafter. more ›

Pending your $5 bill or, in their words, contributory “hammer and a promise,” Monofonus Press (Austin-based record label & multimedia org) requests your attendence this Wednesday (Nov. 10th) and/or Saturday (Nov. 13th) for a celebratory two-day installation/party to mark the release of its own Andy Rihn's first book, “The Tiger’s Last Tooth.” Either token of admittance also gets you a book & CD and, yes, access to “tattoos, breadsnakes,” and some always-clutch Ambhar Tequila. more ›

You all know and love local literary legend Spike Gillespie—if not for her popular column on this site, then for one of the other six thousand things she does in the Austin community. Tonight's your chance to get up close and personal with Spike as she hosts “Bitch, Bitch, Bitch,” a free, one-night, Dick Monologues-esque reading at which she and ten others will share their thoughts on that rude word. more ›

If you're one of those people who doesn't go to author readings or maybe doesn't even read that many books (no, not you of course...but You) then you could easily remedy that problem with Joshua Ferris. You know, Joshua Ferris - the guy who wrote that debut novel a few years ago that was supposed to be really smart and funny, what was that called?(Then We Came To The End) And now he's got a new book out that's a bit darker but just as smart though not intimidatingly so, what's the name of it? (The Unnamed) And he kind of looks like that other author who is getting more hype than those women authors? (Jonathan Franzen) Yeah, Joshua Ferris. more ›

Exposing the raw truths and ironies often lacquered over by the typical 9-to-5 was, to put it one way, second-nature to David Foster Wallace’s genius. Indeed, if we’re abiding Wallace’s charge (and taking heed of his observations thereafter) to Kenyon College’s 2005 graduating class to suspend their "skepticism of the value of the totally obvious,” most members of the over-educated working class will find themselves chuckling (or nodding, depending) in acknowledgment. more ›

Riding a wave of critical adulation, current Austin resident and St. Edward’s creative writing teacher Doug Dorst comes to BookPeople tonight to read from The Surf Guru, his new collection of short stories. Dorst’s follow up to his highly praised debut novel, Alive in Necropolis, The Surf Guru is earning similar acclaim, including an Editors’ Choice selection in the New York Times Book Review and a starred review in Kirkus. more ›

• Houston just isn’t as pro-bat as Austin is! There’s not one good word about bats in the story about a bat colony that’s taken up residence in a Houston family’s townhome.
• Dallas Police Chief David Brown at a Public Safety Committee Crime Briefing: ladies, cut back on those drinks, lest you be raped.
• This is the wrong kind of Saturday excitement: bank robbery, car chase and suicide.

In our review of Tom Bissell's new book, Extra Lives, we talked about the author's struggle to prove to himself that his hours and hours glued to a video game console were worthwhile. Tonight, you can see Bissell make his case in person at Bookpeople. What with Bissell's book and the upcoming Protomen concert, July already seems like a good month for gamers. more ›

Monofonus Press is doing it again. Their cup runneth over with creative juices, and they’re giving us another chance to sample the sap. They’ve got the market cornered in this town when it comes to the cross-media, artistic explosion. They began the auspicious endeavor of mixing three different art forms like music, writing and illustration into one release with IF 01 often bringing together three different artists who would normally not collaborate. more ›

Tonight at Joe’s Coffee on South Congress next to the San Jose, Austinist favorite Owen Egerton and a likely Austinist soon-to-be-favorite Doug Dorst will be reading and other shenanigans to celebrate the Fall Issue of American Short Fiction. Their cahooting will be accompanied by the decidedly Austin tones of Blood Country (formerly Chili Cold Blood), who appear to have a swell sense of humor about their motherfuckin’ selves. Words, music, and the potential for public wrestling betwixt the two writers are all practically inevitable. This is a splendid trifecta display of Austin creativity, and the potential for the accidental production of a unified singularity of said creativity which would cause an implosion of all that we know is, well, actually that idea is completely absurd. And absurdity is the name of tonight’s game. more ›

Guitarist for The Golden Boys, writer, illustrator, all-purpose Renaissance dude...between these lofty pursuits and the more menial tasks of working two jobs to pay rent, John Wesley Coleman manages to keep a lot of balls in the air. In partnership with local start-up Monofonus Press, he's releasing a poetry collections/CD compilation under the title American Trashcan. more ›

The Utter Reading Series is back tomorrow, with more pathos than Hillary, more transcendance than Barack, more grit than McCain, and more exposure (for local writers) than a bead-strewn balcony on Bourbon Street. As always, the reading is free and open to the public, and the audience is invited to join the readers afterwards for drinks and conversation at Opal Divine's on 6th. more ›

After four of their utility cabinets caught fire or exploded—two incidents in suburban Houston, and the most recent explosion on Christmas Day in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin—AT&T has finally moved to replace the defective batteries, made by now-bankrupt Avestor. more ›

It’s been two weeks since Pimp C’s death. Last Thursday he was buried in Port Arthur. Reading through all of the eulogies and obituaries that have poured out of the local papers, the blogs, the national media, and the rap community since December 4th, you obviously will see trends. Everyone immediately identifies Pimp C by his drawl and how he rhymed through his vowels, and it seems as though this – his voice - will be a big part of his legacy, along with his production and his pioneer-status as an early and consistent member of the Texas rap scene. more ›

Photo courtesy My Guerrilla on Flickr[another wristband for the collection] Austin’s C3 Presents now has three major festivals to go along with their trio of Charlies. The producers of Lollapalooza and the Austin City Limits Festival will put on the Vineland Music Festival in rural New Jersey Aug. 8 to 10, 2008. Vineland is a joint venture with Melvin Benn’s Festival Republic. The U.K. event producer’s portfolio includes the Reading, Leeds and Glastonbury festivals. Set... more ›

Photo from Soundcheck Magazine Austin's 2nd Annual Green Holiday Festival, "The Sustainable Shopper's Ball!", returns to the Sunset Valley Farmers Market with over 60 local vendors and educators offering everything from bamboo homewares to luxury organic linens SXSW Film Festival Producer Matt Dentler shares some insider tips on what the film programming team is looking for - "Should you spend money on a fancy press kit? Should you check your DVD screener 4 different times... more ›

Photo by johnkoetsier on flickr Utter Reading SeriesMonday, Nov 5BookPeople [map]7pm, Free[info]This month’s Utter Reading Series features two standouts from a couple hours south on I-35. Both teach at Trinity University in San Antonio, and both are long-overdue candidates for the Utter Series, which spotlights hot Texas-based writers. One has just won a national award for his short stories, and the other is an Austin-bred recent graduate of the Michener Center at UT. After the... more ›

One of our own here at Austinist has a book out, in case you didn't know, and we are not above a little shameless self-promotion. We promise, however, to not shove it up your eyelids like Stephen Colbert and I Am America (and so can you!). Craig McCullough, who posts as the ever-irreverent Truecraig, is the author of the similarly parenthesized title, I Am An Idiot (but there is nothing wrong with you). McCullough’s debut... more ›

The UTTER Reading Series presents two young, local writers who are finding national success and recognition. Poet D. Antwan Stewart will present selections from his two books, The Terribly Beautiful (2006) and Sotto Voce (forthcoming) . Fiction writer Brian Hart, the winner of the first-ever Keene Prize for Literature, may read from his forthcoming and already-awarded novel, The Dog With the Broken Teeth, the One That Fetches Rocks. Stewart has an MFA from the Michener... more ›