The Austin Public Library Friends Foundation shines a light on Texas’ big hitters in literary achievement with its second annual Illumine Awards.

This year four writers and one library advocate will be celebrated for their unique contributions to the world of letters: Douglas Brinkley, nonfiction (his biography of Walter Cronkite came out this May); Sarah Bird, fiction; Joe Ely, songwriting; Liz Garton Scanlon, children’s lit; and Darryl Tocker, who’ll receive the Luminary Award for literary patron (Tocker is the Executive Director of the Tocker Foundation, which provides support for libraries in rural Texas communities).

The honorees will be fêted at an awards dinner on Nov. 9 at the Hilton Austin. Texas Monthly editor Jake Silverstein will do double-duty as emcee and a presenter; other presenters include Tom Staley, director of the Harry Ransom Center; actor/filmmaker/advocate Turk Pipkin; Anita Rizley, Youth Program Coordinator at Austin Public Library; and Pat Smith, Executive Director of the Texas Library Association.

Tickets for the event come at a pretty steep price – $125 for individual seats, while whole tables run in the four digits – but we’re big fans of the cause: The Austin Public Library Friends Foundation was established to spread the good word of Austin’s public library system and to help raise money for its continued growth. (We’re looking at you, 2016.)

More info can be found here.

This article appears in August 17 • 2012.

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A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...