The Southwestern Writers Collection’s “The Writer John Graves” symposium at the Alkek Library at Southwest Texas State University will include book signings by Old Man River himself today, Friday, Sept. 6, from 12:30 to 2pm, and Saturday, Sept. 7, from noon to 1pm. Free, open to the public, and highly recommended. Call 512/245-2313 or check www.library.swt.edu/swwc for more information. Graves, whose latest collaboration with photographer Wyman Meinzer is UT Press’ Texas Rivers, will also appear at Barnes & Noble Research on Monday, Sept. 9, 7pm… After you’ve shaken the hand of a genuine Texas arts & letters legend on Saturday, head up to Barnes & Noble Sunset Valley to shake the hand of SWT alum and genuine debut novelist Diana López, who, starting at 2pm, will read and sign her wonderful Sofía’s Saints (Bilingual Press, $14), the story of a woman who “must re-evaluate everything” in the wake of her mother’s death and the imminent loss of her childhood home, where she still lives and “indulges her artistic muse.” And if by chance Rahul Mahajan isn’t your kind of Thursday night thing, SWT will be hosting award-winning fictioner Junot Díaz (Drown) as part of its Lindsey Literary Series, 7:30pm in the Centennial Hall Teaching Center.
This article appears in September 6 • 2002.