“Before anyone finds out how high they can climb, Nell picks up a seed,” begins the cumulative tale of Austinite Anne Wynter’s award-winning picture book, nell plants a tree. In Wynter’s story, Nell nurtures a seed, a sprout, and a budding pecan tree that in time becomes a home, a refuge, and a place for exploration for generations to come.
Dr. Rosalind “Roz” Oliphant nurtured a similar seed 19 years ago when she began planning the first Austin African American Book Festival. This year, the festival takes place on June 28 and features acclaimed authors and industry professionals like crime writer Walter Mosley, novelist and literary mentor Marita Golden, and Black Classic Press founder Paul Coates, among local authors including Wynter and LBJ School of Public Affairs professor Dr. Peniel Joseph.
AAABF grew out of Oliphant’s now-shuttered bookstore Folk Tales, the legacy of which lives on in the festival and its attendees. “It’s a blessing to see how it has grown and become a literary cornerstone in this community,” Oliphant says. “So many of the young people who came to our Saturday storytimes, who participated in our summer reading camps, are adults now who bring their kids to the festival.”
There’s plenty for the next generation to do on Saturday. Alongside their robust adult programming, AAABF has consistently emphasized children’s events and readings. “We really want the kids in our community to see that we value reading,” Oliphant says. “We put a lot into creating a very exciting day full of movement and activity and reading and joy, all connected. Because for us, it is all connected.”
Wynter will lend the exultant joy of her recent book So Many Years: A Juneteenth Story to this year’s children’s programming with a timely reading. The sparse lyrical narrative of the story was inspired by gospel music and visually interpreted in luscious illustrations by local Jerome Pumphrey. “It’s a Juneteenth book but I really think it’s a book that can be applied to so many parts of the Black experience,” Wynter says. The author’s picture and board books, which have drawn acclaim and several Ezra Jack Keats Awards, draw on classic motifs and structures she relished in the books of her youth and reflect the kinds of people and stories that were missing.
“I definitely noticed a lot of representation lacking when I was a kid and that’s one of the reasons that I wanted to be an author,” Wynter says.
Now, she finds her books shelved alongside others she’s glad her kids get to grow up with – like Saturday by Oge Mora, who illustrated Wynter’s book Everybody in the Red Brick Building. Wynter’s kids, having grown up attending the festival with her, are looking forward to middle-grade author Don Tate’s art-based presentation and a session with Zell Miller III, Austin’s recently named poet laureate, about the poetry of Nikki Giovanni.
“It’s so important, especially as a parent – but also as an individual – to be able to go somewhere and see Blackness celebrated and to see all of these Black authors and Black books and artists come together and present this community,” says Wynter.
2025 Austin African American Book Festival
Saturday 28, George Washington Carver Library and Museum
Growing Black Literary Joy at Austin African American Book Festival
A version of this article appeared in print on Jun 27, 2025 with the headline: Growing Black Literary Joy at Austin African American Book Festival
This article appears in June 27 • 2025.
