MEGHAN GOEL: <\/span>The Texas Teen Book Festival began in 2009 when librarian Heather Schubert partnered with BookPeople to see if we could start a festival together. A number of other librarians joined the cause. And the rest is history!<\/p>\nWhat is the festival\u2019s primary mission?<\/p>\n
Our primary mission is to introduce readers to exciting literary voices and bring teens together around conversations that use young adult literature as a jumping-off point for anything that\u2019s on their minds.<\/p>\n
How has the festival grown since its beginnings?<\/p>\n
We launched the festival in a high school performing arts center, but it was clear at that first event that we already needed more space. The festival doubled in size the next year, then doubled again, and has continued to grow into an event that now attracts four thousand readers annually. Starting with sixteen authors in attendance, we now regularly host more than thirty-five authors and have added workshops, contests, and all kinds of interactive programming.<\/p>\n
Take us behind the scenes; what is involved in putting on an event of this size and scope?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to know where to begin! A dedicated committee of booksellers, librarians, and Texas Book Festival staff begin planning in January and works right up until the final week to get everything ready for the big day. From working with publishers and authors to exhibitors and vendors to A\/V and caterers, there are a lot of details to put into place, but it\u2019s a lot of fun to see what we can come up with to make each festival better than the last!<\/p>\n
What can you tell us about this year\u2019s author lineup?<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s lineup is jam-packed with incredible voices. Headliners Nic Stone<\/span> and Neal and Jarrod Shusterman<\/span> are leading an all-star line-up that mixes twelve returning TTBF alumni and big-name bestsellers with exciting debut voices.<\/p>\nWhat are some of the panels planned for this year?<\/p>\n
For the first time, we\u2019re hosting a really interesting panel of activists-turned-authors that includes Ebony Adams, Anita Sarkeesian, Julissa Arce, <\/span>and Nadya Okamoto.<\/span> We are also featuring Patrick Ness<\/span> and David Levithan<\/span> in conversation about the art of adaptation and the experience of taking stories from page to screen and back again. And beyond that, we have a whole slate of awesome panels and conversations for readers to check out.<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s new this year?<\/p>\n
We are once again expanding our interactive options for attendees. In addition to a full day of activities and events in the tent, which we launched last year, we have launched a brand new StudioCreate tent where exhibitors and community partners will offer creative, interactive activities and content throughout the day.<\/p>\n
What is your favorite memory of past festivals?<\/p>\n
This is the fourth year of our Delacorte-sponsored teen writing contest, and I think my favorite memory from the festival was watching the winners come to the stage while being cheered on by their favorite authors. I get emotional during the announcement every year.<\/p>\n
What are the future plans for the festival?<\/p>\n
With ten years under our belt, we\u2019re excited to see where the festival goes in the next ten. Who knows \u2014 hover-tents? It could happen!<\/p>\n
What books are on your nightstand?<\/p>\n
We Will Never Meet in Real Life<\/span> by Samantha Irby<\/span> and Bridge of Clay<\/span> by Marcus Zusak.<\/span><\/p>\n* * * * *<\/p>\n
\n
Visit the 10th Annual Texas Teen Book Festival<\/h1>\n
Sat., Oct. 6, 2018<\/p>\n
St. Edward\u2019s University<\/p>\n
Austin, TX<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Each week Lone Star Literary profiles a newsmaker in Texas books and letters, including authors, booksellers, publishers. Michelle Newby Lancaster…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1321\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/span><\/span><\/span>Michelle Newby Lancaster<\/span> is a reviewer for Kirkus Reviews<\/span> and Foreword Reviews, <\/span>writer, blogger at TexasBookLover.com, and a moderator for the Texas Book Festival. Her reviews appear in Pleiades Magazine, Rain Taxi, Concho River Review, Mosaic Literary Magazine, Atticus Review, The Rumpus, PANK Magazine,<\/span> and The Collagist.<\/span><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/lonestarliterary.etypegoogle10.com\/sites\/lonestarliterary.etypegoogle10.com\/files\/description\/goel%2c%20meghan%20ttbf_montage%2c%20093018%20sm.jpg\")
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