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This fall, many of Texas's annual book festivals are going virtual. The Mid-Cities Teen Book Festival, the National Black Book Festival, the South Texas Book Festival, and the Texas Book Festival will all be taking place online in the coming months. Although we will miss being together in person, we are pleased that Texans across the state will have the opportunity to experience these literary events online, continuing the tradition of connecting with favorite authors and discovering great books. These programs are free and open to the public.

Books on display at the Byrne-Reed House at a Humanities Texas Holiday Book Fair.
Mid-Cities Teen Book Festival

The annual Mid-Cities Teen Book Festival, organized by North Richland Hills Library, will take place online on October 16, 2020. This fun-filled day is an opportunity for teens to meet nationally recognized authors, participate in writing activities, and learn more about upcoming Young Adult book releases. The 2020 author lineup features Lamar Giles, Amber Elby, Jonathan Maberry, Katie Zhao, Miracle Austin, and more. Additional guest authors and a full schedule will be released at a later date. For more information, visit the Mid-Cities Teen Book Festival website.

National Black Book Festival

The 2020 National Black Book Festival, originally scheduled to take place in Houston this fall, will be held virtually October 23–24. The festival, which is the largest African American book event in the South, features authors of a wide variety of genres and age-levels, as well as free workshops and seminars on topics such as self-publishing and adapting books to film. For more information, including the full two-day schedule, visit the National Black Book Festival website.

South Texas Book Festival

The South Texas Book Festival will take place online from October 29–November 1, 2020. Coordinated by McAllen Public Library, this annual festival is for readers of all ages, combining literacy promotion, regional and national authors, and children's entertainment in a festive atmosphere. The event kicks off on the evening of October 29 with Poetry & Wine: An Evening of Literature, featuring 2020 Texas Poet Laureate Emmy Pérez and José Antonio Rodríguez, two celebrated poets from South Texas. A full schedule and author lineup will be released at a later date. For details, visit the South Texas Book Festival website.

Texas Book Festival

This fall, the 2020 Texas Book Festival celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary with two full weeks of online programming for readers of all ages.

The festival kicks off on October 31 and November 1 with the Texas Teen Book Festival, featuring nationally and critically recognized authors, writing workshops, and workshops for educators. This year's keynote speakers are authors Nic Stone and Elizabeth Acevedo.

From November 2–6, the festival will spotlight children's programming, featuring acclaimed authors and illustrators of works for early readers.

The festival's adult programming is scheduled from November 6–15. The First Edition Literary Gala: A Virtual Evening with Literature's Brightest Stars will take place on Friday, November 6, featuring authors Julia Alvarez, Michael Ian Black, Nick Hornby, and Natasha Trethewey reading from their newest books and discussing the impact of literature on their lives. This year, instead of one event, the annual Lit Crawl Austin is scheduled for the evenings of November 7, 13, and 14, as well as two Lit Crawl Brunches on November 8 and November 15.

All live programming will be broadcast via Crowdcast. For more information, including a full list of participating authors, visit the Texas Book Festival website.