The Texas Book Festival is excited to unveil fifteen authors joining the weeklong hybrid Festival this fall. The Festival will feature Pulitzer Prize–winning author Colson Whitehead, Michener Center for Writers instructor Elizabeth McCracken, bestselling novelist and 2016 Kirkus Prize finalist Amor Towles, National Medal of Arts recipient and 2005 Texas Writer Award recipient Sandra Cisneros, bestselling children’s author R. J. Palacio, and many more. (Texas Book Festival, 2021)

Starting October 25, the weeklong hybrid Festival will include a robust, diverse lineup of established, emerging, and debut literary talent for readers of all ages. TBF’s full lineup will be completed and revealed later this summer.

The full list of the fifteen sneak peek authors include:
• Rumaan Alam, “Leave the World Behind”
• Benjamin Alire Sáenz, “Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World”
• Sandra Cisneros, “Martita, I Remember You / Martita, te recuerdo”
• Mary Gaitskill, “The Devil’s Treasure”
• Gabriela Garcia, “Of Women and Salt”
• Elizabeth McCracken, “The Souvenir Museum”
• Maggie Nelson, “On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint”
• R. J. Palacio, “Pony”
• Raj Patel, “Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice”
• Don Tate, “Pigskins to Paintbrushes”
• Amor Towles, “The Lincoln Highway”
• Sergio Troncoso, “Nepantla Familias: An Anthology of Mexican American Literature on Families in Between Worlds”
• Colson Whitehead, “Harlem Shuffle”
• Lawrence Wright, “The Plague Year: America in the Time of Covid”
• Cecily Wong, “Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurer’s Guide”

With a vision to inspire Texans of all ages, the Texas Book Festival connects authors and readers through experiences that celebrate the culture of literacy, ideas, and imagination. Founded in 1995 by former First Lady Laura Bush, Mary Margaret Farabee, and a group of volunteers, the nonprofit Texas Book Festival promotes the joys of reading and writing through its annual Festival Weekend, the Texas Teen Book Festival, the Reading Rock Stars Title I elementary school program, the Real Reads Title I middle and high school program, grants to Texas libraries, and year-round literary programming. This year’s hybrid Texas Book Festival will take place from October 25 through October 31, with virtual events October 25 – 28 and the Festival Weekend taking place on the grounds of the Texas Capitol October 30 – 31, featuring renowned authors, panels, book signings, and children’s activities. Thanks to generous donors, sponsors, and volunteers, the Festival remains free and open to the public.