Category: Festival News

Patrice Shavone Brown at The BookFest Spring 2021

Patrice Shavone Brown’s appearance at The BookFest Spring 2021 is part of her ongoing effort to help people. Photo: amazon

Patrice Shavone Brown is the CEO of Restoring Bodies and Minds, LLC. She is a Mental Health Counselor and founder of The Confident Fat Girl’s Movement.  A helper at heart, she has dedicated her life to better the world around her, helping others shine, and spreading joy and support as a Mental Health Counselor.  Brown is also a prolific writer with seven books under her belt, including “Secrets of a Crazy Mental Health Counselor,” “A Fat Girl’s Confidence: Beating Depression and Building Self Esteem,” “We Blend Well Together,” “The Day Momma Made Me Dance,” “The Finesser,” and “The Finesser 2.” Her latest book “A Fat Girl’s Confidence Guide: I’m Fat, So What” is a powerful and uplifting read that enables big girls to embrace their bodies just as they are, to feel attractive, love themselves, and celebrate life. (Black Château, 2021)

As a speaker at The BookFest Spring 2021, happening this Saturday April 17 and Sunday April 18, she will give insights and practical advice on how people can tend to their minds, bodies and our hearts during long-term social distancing and the extended effects of the pandemic. It is free to attend, just visit the website during the event. 

Along with other experts, Brown will share her wisdom on the keynote panel, Mental Health and Physical Wellness: Books for the Extended Pandemic on Saturday, April 17, at 2pm. She will also discuss what people can do when their coping strategies stop working, and how they can overcome feeling ugly, down, overwhelmed, or exhausted.

Patrice Shavone Brown’s appearance at The BookFest Spring 2021 is part of her ongoing effort to help people, which is at the heart of everything she does. For the last two decades, she has served her community as a Mental Health Counselor and continues to dedicate herself to empowering others and assisting in people’s healing through the power of words.

“My role is to inform others, challenge, and inspire people to live life better than yesterday.” Patrice Shavone Brown

2021-04-17T12:14:00

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The BookFest Spring 2021

DelFest 2021 announces lineup

DelFest 2021 will take place on September 23-26 in Cumberland, Maryland. Photo: google

DelFest, the beloved genre-spanning festival brainchild of McCoury Music and High Sierra Music is pleased to announce the initial lineup for its 14th annual festival, once again taking place in beautiful Cumberland, Maryland, on September 23-26.  (DelFest, 2021)

The festival, which typically takes place on Memorial Day weekend, will make a one-time move to the fall in 2021 to ensure a COVID-safe gathering. Festival organizers are working with local and state health officials to ensure the safety of musicians, attendees, and staff, and will adhere to local, state, and federal safety mandates. COVID-specific protocols will be announced closer to the festival. For information including camping, parking, partners, and more, please visit DelFest online and follow DelFest on all social platforms.

This year, festival hosts The Del McCoury Band and The Travelin’ McCourys will be joined by Old Crow Medicine Show, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Sam Bush, The Infamous Stringdusters, The Lil Smokies, Della Mae, Cris Jacobs Band, Hot Club of Cowtown, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, The Broomestix, Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, Steve Poltz, Sister Sadie, Lonesome River Band, Ghost of Paul Revere, Dre Anders, Twisted Pine, Fireside Collective, The Jakob’s Ferry Stragglers, Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band, Birches Band, Haint Blue, Dirty Grass Players, and The 9th Street Band. As always, Joe Craven, will emcee for the weekend. 

In addition to traditional stage sets by these world-class artists, attendees can again expect to see one-of-a-kind collaborations, special guest sit-ins, various tributes to Del McCoury and his musical legacy, and intimate appearances from the artists. DelFest will, as usual, be immediately preceded by the 3-day DelFest Academy hosted by The Travelin’ McCourys and other all-star players.

Located along the Potomac River in the scenic Appalachian Mountains, and personally chosen by Del, the Allegany County Fairgrounds in Cumberland, MD (2.5 hours from Baltimore and D.C.) serves as the ideal location for DelFest. The fairgrounds are conveniently located near four major airports and can be easily reached by rail or road. The city of Cumberland, MD, is a welcoming host offering multiple hotel options, a charming downtown, and great amenities that include biking, fishing, and kayaking, as well as a steam train engine and museum, and interesting dining options. Come for the music, and perhaps stay an extra day to explore the area offerings which are well suited for music fans and outdoor enthusiasts alike. 

 

2021-09-23T09:10:00

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DelFest 2021

The BookFest Spring 2021 set for April

The BookFest 2021 will be on April 17 and April 18 with virtual events for writers and readers. Photo: google

The BookFest®, an award-winning educational and entertainment platform for booklovers, announces the schedule for the 3rd biannual online bookish adventure.  This April 17 and 18, 2021 the event will feature panel discussions, conversations, and live author chats with writers, literacy professionals and experts. Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords; prolific The New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry; Patrick M. Oliver founder of Say it Loud!; and skeptic, author and thinker, Michael Shermer, are doing conversations during the two-day online event. These intimate one-on-one talks give attendees the opportunity to learn more about everyone, and to take a deep dive into the topics discussed. (Black Château, 2021)

Delivering the opening keynote for The BookFest Spring 2021 is author of the #1 Amazon bestseller “The Art of Hybrid Timber Framing,” Bert Sarkkinen. As the founder of Arrow Timber, Sarkkinen takes attendees on a journey to find long-term happiness. Panel discussions include an array of writers, literary professionals and experts discussing the books we read, relevant topics of our times, the art and craft of writing, and more. Speakers include Elaine Ash; Dr. Janet Bond Brill, Nancy J. Hite, Steven Joseph; Kathleen Kaiser; Dr. Raye Mitchell, Deborah M. Pratt, James Rollins; Scott Ryan; Katharine Sands, Edgar Scott, and many more.

Free to attend, The BookFest delivers vital conversations, entertainment, and educational programming for the reading and writing community. See the schedule here. The Saturday, April 17 live stream programming is dedicated to readers while the Sunday, April 18 programming is geared toward writers. People are encouraged to register for email updates online to stay informed and to receive exclusive offers like The BookFest Virtual Gift Bag. It will be emailed after The BookFest to all who subscribed to the email list and will include digital downloads and offers presented by many of The BookFest partners.

Throughout The BookFest, there will be special segments to enjoy between panels, including: Little Lion presents health, wellness, and mini creative activity sessions for attendees to watch and participate in and Todd Debreceni, author of “Special Makeup Effects for Stage and Screen,” who does special effects makeup to create a famous literary character, to be revealed at The BookFest.

A fan-favorite, the Big Bundle of Books Giveaway, presented by Books That Make You, returns with a picnic basket theme. Owlcrate once again offers a prize for booklovers. Other bookish goodies are also up for grabs. Attendees can browse “Virtual Booths,” which are pages for BookFest partners. There is also a “Books Page” showcasing books from participants. The BookFest organizers encourage booklovers to browse books and support the authors and partners who help bring this free-to-attend event to attendees around the globe.

The BookFest® is the leader in virtual literary events and produces vital conversations on the world’s stage for those who love to read, and those who love to write. It launched May 2020 and quickly became the leader in online book festivals. Free to attend, the biannual event happens in the spring and fall, and streams panel discussions, conversations, and festivities for readers and writers. As an award-winner, The BookFest® is presented by Black Château and Books That Make You and is a registered trademark of Desireé Duffy, who is the founder of all three.

2021-04-17T11:05:00

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The BookFest 2021

San Antonio Book Festival announces addition of Isabel Allende to lineup

Bestselling author Isabel Allende will be participating in this year’s San Antonio Book Festival. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

The San Antonio Book Festival is thrilled to announce a major addition to the 2021 Author Lineup. Bestselling author Isabel Allende, known for her 25 bestselling books, will be participating in this year’s festival. Some of her most recognizable works include “The House of Spirits,” “City of the Beasts,” and “A Long Petal of the Sea.” The author has had her novels translated into more than 42 languages and she has sold more than 74 million copies worldwide. Allende has been called “the world’s most widely read Spanish-language author.” In 2004, Allende was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 2010, she received Chile’s National Literature Prize. President Barack Obama awarded her the 2014 Presidential Medal of Freedom. (San Antonio Book Festival, 2021)

In addition to her acclaim as a novelist, Allende is a proud feminist and is devoted to many human rights causes. The charity that she established in honor of her late daughter, Paula Frias, has awarded grants to more than 100 nonprofit organizations. Isabel Allende will be participating in the online edition of the San Antonio Book Festival to talk about her latest novel “The Soul of a Woman,” on Sunday, April 11 at 3:30p.m.  

To register for the festival and Allende’s session visit San Antonio Book Festival online. Almost the entire festival is free and open to the public with a few exceptions. Ticket price for this session is $28 and includes a copy of Allende’s brand-new nonfiction book, “The Soul of a Woman,” and a flat processing fee for the Festival’s bookseller, Nowhere Bookshop. Books will be shipped after April 11.

Isabel’s session, SABF & Miami Book Fair Present Isabel Allende, will be moderated by esteemed writer and journalist, Anjanette Delgado. Some of Delgado’s works include the novels “The Heartbreak Pill” and “The Clairvoyant of Calle Ocho.” In addition to her work as a novelist, Delgado has also written for The New York Times, Vogue, NPR, HBO, and more. She is also the editor of the forthcoming “Home in Florida: Latinx Writers and the Literature of Uprootedness.” In conjunction with her latest book, the session will explore the question –“ what feeds the souls of feminists – and all women – in the modern age?” Allende’s novel and the session’s discussion will explore this question and more. 

The San Antonio Book Festival unites readers and writers in a celebration of ideas, books, libraries, and literary culture. First presented in April 2013, the SABF is a free, open, and all-day event that currently features over 90 national, regional, local, and emerging authors and welcomes more than 18,000 visitors.

Isabel Allende’s ‘The Soul of a Woman.’ Courtesy photo, used with permission.
2021-04-09T13:50:00

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2021 San Antonio Book Festival

Brownsville Guitar Festival presented by Brownsville Society for the Performing Arts

On Sunday February 28, the Brownsville Society for the Performing Arts presented The Brownsville Guitar Festival Concert with Connie Sheu, Xavier Jara, and Matt Palmer live-streamed on Facebook. This was an excellent opportunity for the community to hear a variety of guitar performances by some of the best guitarists around.

This hour and a half concert consisted of three outstanding guitarists who each brought their best a-game and performed almost a half-hour each of inspiring music. Connie Sheu began her set with a few words about what music means to her and it would have been nice to hear some personal words from the other guitarists. They performed classical guitar selections from Vicente Asencio, Dilermando Reis, Sergei Rudnev, and other composers.

For a live-streamed concert, the quality of the sound and visuals was exceptional and the transition between performers went smoothly. Hopefully, the community appreciates the efforts of the BSPA to bring this level of performances to the masses. Congratulations to everyone involved and may there be more in the future, whether in person or live-streamed.

Performer profiles:
Connie Sheu studied U.S. History and Music at Columbia University and earned a Master of Music from the Juilliard School. She completed her Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Southern California. She is a dynamic guitarist, devoted teacher, and ardent advocate of classical guitar.

Xavier Jara earned his master’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in May 2020. He is the 1st prize winner of the 2016 Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition. A native of Minnesota, he was a student of Alan Johnston at the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis until 2011 when he moved to Paris, France to study with Judicaël Perroy.

Matt Palmer holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The University of Arizona and has appeared as a soloist throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico, Canada, South America, and the Caribbean. A recent recipient of the “Up and Coming Guitarist of the Year” award by Guitar International Magazine, Matt has been described by critics as “a young artist about to make a real dent in the world of classical guitar.” (Premier Guitar Magazine)

The Brownsville Society for the Performing Arts (BSPA), located in Brownsville, Texas, was founded in 1994, and its mission is to enhance quality-of-life in the community through cultural entertainment, striving to produce quality programming to a largely underserved community. Of special interest to the BSPA are performing arts that are mostly inaccessible to a large portion of the community. To the best of its ability, the BSPA generates performance opportunities, organizes competitions, endows scholarships, provides financial assistance, holds master classes and clinics, and supports similar activities with a clear educational value. BSPA helps those that pursue a career in music and dance education or other work in the performing arts field.

World premiere of ‘The Spine of Night’ at SXSW 2021

‘The Spine of Night’ will premiere at this year’s virtual SXSW. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

In SXSW Film Festival 2021 news, Yellow Veil Pictures has acquired the sales rights to the animated fantasy “The Spine of Night.” It will premiere in the SXSW Midnighters section of the festival which will run virtually from Tuesday March 16 through Sunday March 20, 2021. Written and directed by Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King, the cast includes Richard E. Grant, Lucy Lawless, Patton Oswalt, Betty Gabriel, Joe Manganiello, Abby Savage, Larry Fessenden, and Rob McClure. (EG-PR, 2021)

From Gorgonaut Pictures, “The Spine of Night” is an ultra-violent, hand-rotoscoped epic fantasy inspired by the cult classic works of animators Ralph Bakshi and Frank Franzetta. The film is set in a fantasy land ripe with magic and intrigue where a dark force is unleashed sending mankind into an age of ruin. It falls on heroes from different eras and cultures to fight back. This epic begins many years ago when an ambitious young man steals forbidden knowledge from a sacred plant and, as he falls to its darker temptations, unleashes ages of suffering onto mankind. As his power grows over the years, there are many who stand against him. Among them are a daring tomb-robber, star-crossed lovers, a maniacal necromancer, winged assassins, and an undying guardian.

Guy Clark documentary Without Getting Killed or Caught to premiere at 2021 SXSW

Without Getting Killed or Caught will premiere at 2021 SXSW Film Festival. Photo: google

Without Getting Killed or Caught is a remarkable documentary film about the mythical, complicated relationship between legendary songwriters Guy Clark, Susanna Clark, and Townes Van Zandt, and the art it inspired; a film with enough charm to create new fans of Clark and his music and enough depth to appease long-time followers. Without Getting Killed or Caught—which will make its virtual World Premiere at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival March 16-20—was produced and directed by longtime Americana music producer and executive Tamara Saviano and filmmaker Paul Whitfield. The film was originally scheduled to debut at SXSW in 2020 before the pandemic shuttered the festival, and for those not already attending SXSW 2021, stay tuned for additional information on public screenings with Kessler Presents, YETI, SiriusXM Outlaw Country, and more. (IVPR, 2021)

Without Getting Killed or Caught is the true story of Guy Clark, the dean of Texas songwriters, who struggles to write poetic, yet indelible songs while balancing a complicated marriage with wife Susanna, and a deep friendship with singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt, on whom Susanna forged a passionate dependence. Clark, who died in 2016, wrote and recorded unforgettable songs (“L.A. Freeway,” “Desperados Waiting for a Train”) for more than forty years. His lyrics and melodies paint portraits of the people, places, and experiences that shaped him, and no one inspired Guy more than his wife, painter, and songwriter Susanna Talley Clark, and their best friend, fellow songwriter Townes Van Zandt. 

Narrated by Academy-Award winner Sissy Spacek, Without Getting Killed or Caught follows Guy, Susanna, and Townes on their journey from obscurity to reverence: Guy, the Pancho to Van Zandt’s Lefty, struggling to establish himself as the Dylan Thomas of American music, while Susanna writes hit songs and paints album covers for top artists and Townes spirals in self-destruction after writing some of Americana music’s most enduring and influential ballads. Based on the diaries of Susanna Clark—the film tells the saga from Susanna’s point of view—and Saviano’s 2016 book “Without Getting Killed or Caught: The Life and Music of Guy Clark,” which No Depression called “an intimate, affectionate, sometimes sad, often hilarious, and vibrant chronicle of one of our most memorable artists.”

 The film uses Clark’s songs, family photographs and archives, vintage film footage, and radio talk shows on which Clark appeared solo and in tandem with Van Zandt. The real emotional impact, though, comes from Susanna’s pained remembrances, taken from her private journals and secret audio diaries, as well as taped conversations that Susanna made of the trio and of the “salon” that regularly gathered around them—all serving as witnesses to this seemingly fated intersection of love, art, and tragedy.

Virtual Texas Book Festival highlight schedule

The Texas Book Festival is going virtual this year and begins today and goes through Sunday November 15, 2020. Photo: google

The 2020 virtual Texas Book Festival, the largest book festival in Texas, starts today with its lineup of adult fiction and nonfiction authors participating from November 6 through November 15. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the festival will bring together thousands of readers and authors across Texas and beyond for engaging, enlightening and educational virtual programming. (Texas Book Festival, 2020)

The Texas Book Festival includes 150+ authors, illustrators, poets, journalists, artists and thought leaders across a diverse array of genres and topics. Highlights include:

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8 at 12p.m.: “A Better Man” Michael Ian Black in Conversation. Comedian and actor Michael Ian Black writes a letter to his college-bound son in this heartfelt meditation on masculinity. As he looks back on his relationship with his father, Black reexamines the lessons he learned about being a man and makes the case for radical vulnerability.

12:45p.m:  PEN America Presents: Killing the Story: A Conversation with Journalist Témoris Grecko. Journalist and filmmaker Témoris Grecko (“Killing the Story: Journalists Risking Their Lives to Uncover the Truth in Mexico”) joins Univision’s Hugo Chávez Montes to discuss a profession sometimes fraught with danger and to showcase his journalist colleagues’ courage, bravery and tenacity. This conversation will be in Spanish with English subtitles.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14 at 12p.m:  “Caste:” Isabel Wilkerson in Conversation with Saeed Jones. In her new book, Pulitzer Prize winner and Texas Book Festival alum Isabel Wilkerson describes the United States’ own invisible caste system: A hierarchy informed by race, class and gender that affects everything in which we participate, from baseball games to presidential elections. Caste is a portrait of American inequality that shows how privilege and power shape our lives every day. Texas Book Festival alum and Kirkus Prize winner Saeed Jones leads the discussion.

4p.m:  Environmental Activists Erin Brockovich and Catherine Coleman Flowers in Conversation. Erin Brockovich (“Superman’s Not Coming: Our National Water Crisis and What We the People Can Do About It” and MacArthur genius grant recipient Catherine Coleman Flowers (“Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret”) illuminate—in a conversation about sustainability and environmental justice—the failures and dangers of our water and water-management systems and policies, from California to Appalachia.

Texas Book Festival books are available at the BookPeople festival store to receive exclusive perks such as signed books, Texas Book Festival merch, activity bundles and more. For the full list of TBF books and more information, visit Book People.

With a vision to inspire Texans of all ages to love reading, 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, 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.

San Antonio Book Festival 2021 will be virtual event

The 2021 San Antonio Book Festival will be an online event. Photo: San Antonio Book Festival, used with permission.

For the first time ever, the San Antonio Book Festival (SABF) will take place entirely online. Featuring three full days of free virtual programming, the 2021 Festival will run Friday April 9 through Sunday April 11. The festival will bring together thousands of readers and writers across Texas, the U.S., and beyond for engaging, enlightening and educational programming. Pending the pandemic numbers in 2021, the Festival could be somewhat hybrid with select in-person, socially distanced events, which will be announced at a later date.  (San Antonio Book Festival, 2020)

SABF is a free, family-friendly event that showcases both first-time and established, prominent writers, introducing attendees to new and well-known literary talents and connecting them with their favorite authors. The 2021 Festival will feature more than 75 local, regional and national authors participating in virtual sessions, including programming for adults, young adults, middle-grade readers and children. All festival writers will be announced in early February 2021.

SABF will be using the online platform called Accelevents to run the festival, which gives each event a clear, high-quality look. Accelevents allows the Festival to offer book clubs, groups of friends and classes the opportunity to chat privately among themselves during an event. There is also a “networking” capability to mimic the in-person festival, where attendees can meet one another and talk about which events they’re attending and enjoying.

For the first time, locally owned and operated bookstore Nowhere Bookshop will be the Festival’s official bookseller, a change from Barnes & Noble in previous years. The Book Festival’s singular fundraiser, the Book Appétit Literary Feast, featuring novelist Amor Towles, has been rescheduled to April 8, 2021 and will also be held online.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak and stay-at-home measures in the U.S., the San Antonio Book Festival has produced several online programs, including a virtual mini festival for kids and teens, in collaboration with The DoSeum and a handful of stand-alone author events. SABF is excited to continue providing additional online programming in the months leading up to and through the three-day virtual Festival, offering even more book discussions, author panels and interviews, bringing these inspiring conversations from celebrated and emerging writers into the homes of readers across Texas and the country.

The mission of the San Antonio Book Festival (SABF) is to unite readers and writers in a celebration of ideas, books, libraries and literary culture. SABF was first presented in April 2013. Founding partners include the San Antonio Public Library, the Southwest School of Art, the San Antonio Public Library Foundation and Texas Book Festival. This “Fiesta for the mind” is a gift to visitors and the citizens of San Antonio, free and open to all.

“While the uncertainty of the coming months drove our decision, we are embracing the potential to reach a wider audience and elevate the Book Festival’s reputation on a national scale. Are we disappointed? Of course. It’s another year that we don’t get to celebrate books in person with our Festival friends. But the safety of our attendees, writers, moderators, and volunteers is our first priority. If we have to be virtual, we’re focusing on ways to make the online experience as close to the real thing as we can.” – Lilly Gonzalez, SABF’s executive director.

Texas Book Festival announces 2020 Lit Crawl schedule

This year’s Lit Crawl will take place from November 7 through November 15. Photo: Texas Book Festival, used with permission.

Texas Book Festival will be hosting their annual Lit Crawl events virtually this year during the Festival, with several evening times between November 7 to November 15 along with two Sunday brunches. The events include storytelling sessions, spoken-word performances and themed discussions, ranging from topics including moments of pivoting, celebrating Black creativity and more. Featured authors include Kathy Valentine, Natalie Diaz, Kelly J. Baptist, and more. (Texas Book Festival, 2020)

For the evening event “Literary Death Match” and brunch event “Tarot Town Hall with Typewriter Tarot,” the first 100 registrants per event will receive a special Camp Mocha cocktail kit from Desert Door Texas Sotol. Cocktail pickup will take place on Saturday, November 7 from 12p.m. to 5p.m. outside the Texas Book Festival office (1023 Springdale Road, Building 14, Suite B, Austin, Texas 78721). All recipients must be 21 years of age or older, with proper ID, and must wear a mask to pick up the cocktail kit.  Sparkling water from Rambler will also be available. 

Lit Crawl Austin 2020 schedule (all times CST)

The 2020 Virtual Texas Book Festival will take place from October 31 through November 15. As always, all Lit Crawl events are free and open to the public thanks to the generosity of the Texas Book Festival community. To support the Texas Book Festival, Lit Crawl Austin and participating authors, donations can be made online. For the first time ever, Texas Book Festival is offering an exclusive Lit Crawl armadillo enamel pin. Donations of $25 or more to Lit Crawl will receive the one-inch pin, perfect to embellish denim jackets, backpacks, tote bags and more. 

With a vision to inspire Texans of all ages to love reading, 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, 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.