-
Courtesy of San Antonio Book Festival / Collage by Kelly Merka Nelson
-
From Left: Amalia Ortiz, Yvette Benavides, David Martin Davies and Andrea "Vocab" Sanderson
Heads up, Alamo City bibliophiles — the San Antonio Book Festival (SABF)
just announced the lineup for this year, and it's a good one.
Alamo City readers will recognize a slew of familiar names from the list. In addition to South Texas literary favs
Naomi Shihab Nye,
Sandra Cisneros and Tim O'Brien, local author/musicians
Amalia Ortiz (
The Canción Cannibal Cabaret & Other Songs) and
Andrea "Vocab" Sanderson (
She Tastes Like Music) will be in attendance. Local TPR stalwarts Yvette Benavides and David Martin Davies will also be on hand to promote their upcoming book
San Antonio 365: On This Day in History.
Of course, the fest is about more than just Texan writers. The lineup of more than 120 guests is filled out by a slew of authors in every genre imaginable, including notables like Y.A. juggernaut Maureen Johnson, poet and Buzzfeed Executive Editor of Culture Saeed Jones, 2011 National Book Award Finalist Téa Obreht and even Go-Go's rocker Kathy Valentine.
On top of the usual festivities, this year's SABF introduces a brand new free event called the "Lit Crawl," which will tie in with First Friday festivities at the Blue Star Complex the night before the festival proper. The Lit Crawl will feature live performances by writers, poets and storytellers that integrate audience participation. Also of note are two dangerous games: the author vs. author "Literary Death Match" and a drinking game where audience members will have to take a shot anytime a speaker says certain pre-selected words.
Free, 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Saturday, April 4, San Antonio Public Library Central Branch and Southwest School of Art, 600 Soledad St. and 1201 Navarro St., (210) 750-8951, sabookfestival.org.
Get our top picks for the best events in San Antonio every Thursday morning. Sign up for our Events Newsletter.