This year’s Texas Book Festival poster features the piece “Viva Texas Rivers” by San Antonio-based artist Clemente Guzman Credit: courtesy of Texas Book Festival

The Texas Book Festival had already planned for a hybrid festival this year, offering both in-person and virtual programming. But amid concerns over the Delta variant’s continued prevalence in Austin, TBF has announced in-person events will be scaled back dramatically.

There will be no longer be any sessions held at the Texas State Capitol or any of the other regular Downtown Austin venues. Children’s programming and the Texas Teen Book Festival shift to online-only Oct. 23-24, while adult fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and cooking panels will be offered virtually Oct. 25-31.

Some in-person events will still take place, with COVID precautions in place (including limits on the number of attendees). On Oct. 30, Symphony Square’s outdoor amphitheater will play host to children’s picture book authors for the “Read Me a Story” session; the always-popular “adults-get-rowdy” Lit Crawl is also on the docket for Oct. 30. Some adult programming – not yet announced – will be held on Oct. 31 at Austin Central Library. All in-person sessions are free, but capacity will be limited and attendees will have to RSVP for each session on a first-come, first-served basis in advance of the festival. 

Texas Book Festival will announce the full author lineup on Sept. 22. Previously announced speakers include Colson Whitehead, Amor Towles, Sandra Cisneros, and Elizabeth McCracken.

This article appears in September 10 • 2021.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US

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...