This year's Texas Book Festival ran on Veterans Day weekend, November 11 and 12, in Austin. The event was well attended, drawing tens of thousands of people for talks and panel discussions with more than 300 authors. Speakers included Stacey Abrams, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Michael Cunningham, Walter Isaacson, Jonathan Lethem, Ann Patchett, Amy Thielen, Angie Thomas, Abraham Verghese, and Jacqueline Woodson. Here are some highlights in photos:
Stacey Abrams shared her thoughts on thriller writing and the second volume in the Avery Keene series, Rogue Justice (Doubleday).
Elizabeth Crook, pictured signing her latest novel, The Madstone (Little, Brown), was given the 2023 Texas Writer Award, honoring a Texas author who has made significant contributions to the literary arts. Recipients are honored with a custom pair of handmade boots from artisanal El Paso–based bootmakers Rocketbuster.
A Saturday night Lit Crawl event featured stops a numerous literary-affiliated sites and drinking holes in east Austin, offering bookish trivia, games, and more.
Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack is a cookbook author, food blogger, YouTuber, and recipe developer in Denver. She offered a cooking demonstration with recipes from her latest cookbook Muy Bueno: Fiestas: 100+ Delicious Mexican Recipes for Celebrating the Year (Weldon Owen).
Book People Bookstore was the official bookseller of the Texas Book Festival.
Justin Cronin, author of The Ferryman (Ballantine), at left, and Ben Fountain, author of Devil Makes Three (Flatiron), discuss their books.
