Clay Smith

Ah, it’s that time of year again. Austin City Limits Festival. The State Fair. The Red River Shootout. Post-drought autumn leaves. Halloween displays and — curse them — even the occasional turkey and Christmas tree in stores. Signs of autumn and the Texas Book Festival.

It’s the biggest celebration of books and authors in the state and one of the premier literary festivals in the country. This year’s event is — to borrow an expression from fashionista Rachel Zoe — “Bah-NANAS!!!!” Two hundred twenty authors will descend on the State Capitol in Austin the weekend of Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, to talk about books, writing, and all things literary.

Before I go much further, you need to know this, dear reader: It used to be when orange and black became the predominant retail color scheme, I would be too busy to notice or even care. My annual Halloween costume? Trying not to be a total witch. I would be in full-tilt TBF mode, getting ready to throw that annual literary party for 40,000 people at the Capitol in late October or early November. Having served as the founding director of the Festival from 1996 to 2003 (eight years — or 56 years in dog years, which is what it often felt like), I always looked forward to the Monday after the Texas Book Festival. Still, it was one of the best jobs, ever!

Now, it’s my sweetie-darling friend Clay Smith, the Festival’s literary director (a.k.a. the Rachel Zoe of the literary world), who is in that autumnal fog. Since 2005, Clay has been doing the heavy lifting on getting all of these heavy hitters in place. First, the boy has to chase after the desired authors and cajole their publishers, publicists, speaking agents, and the occasional gate-keeping significant other. Then comes the fun part: assembling the big jigsaw puzzle otherwise known as the program schedule.

Unlike the last few years, when political books were all the rage, this year’s lineup has a strong literary bent. “It’s not a big political year in publishing this year; it’s a great literary year in publishing,” Smith says. “The Festival will have a totally different feel this year. I’m excited about authors like Margaret Atwood, Jonathan Lethem, and Jim Crace.”

This year may be Clay’s best yet. Just look at the lineup of authors: Margaret Atwood, Taylor Branch. Robert Olen Butler. Ally Carter. Barbara Ehrenreich. Jonathan Safren Foer. Julia Glass. Harold S. Kushner. Jonathan Lethem. ZZ Packer. Jon Scieszka. Rosemary Wells. Mo Willems.

But here’s where a Texas literary freak screeches “I die!!!!” a la Zoe: Check out these Texas authors: Sandra Brown. Bryan Burrogh. Rolando Hinojosa Smith. Joe Lansdale. Antonya Nelson. Rick Riordan. Benjamin Alire Saenz. Amanda Eyre Ward. And sooooo many more!

The Festival generally selects authors with books published in the current year (books in paperback are included from the year before if the author had not been invited for the hardcover version). Because of that, Smith says, “we are able to present the newest and hottest ideas in publishing. It’s also interesting that we’re featuring more authors than ever before. Yet, given that it’s more, they’re fitting together so nicely. It all came together this year so much better than before.”

The Texas Book Festival schedule just went up today (Sept. 30). Be sure to check it out and take full advantage of a new gizmo: You can create your own TBF schedule by clicking “Add to My Schedule.” And then share it with your reading/writing buddies, so they’ll know where to find you on the Capitol grounds Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.

Who am I most excited about? Tune in next week to find out. Hint about one of many: I get to interview her in the Senate Chamber on Saturday morning! Oh, and the Writers’ League of Texas will announce the winners of the 2009 WLT Book Awards on Oct. 31.

But most of all, I’m just thrilled that I can actually attend a few sessions at the Texas Book Festival and not have my cell phone and walkie-talkie going off at the same time while someone’s screaming about not being able to hear anything in the House Chamber!

Here’s to Clay, for a job well done!

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• Lone Star Lit 101

When you think of Texas, certain images pop into mind: Oil wells. Cowboys. Football. The Alamo. Tex-Mex food. Big hair. Honkytonks. For me, I immediately think “writers.” “What the heck?!?!” you may be asking?

Well, remember that vintage postcard map of a Texan’s view of the United States? I’d argue that Texas is just that big when it comes to authors and books. Maybe it’s because I accidentally made Texas writers my business, starting with my stint at Texas Monthly, then as the founding director of the Texas Book Festival, and now as the executive director of the Writers’ League of Texas.

To be sure, Lone Star Literature was in full swing long before I moved to Texas in the –– ahem! –– 1980s. O. Henry did some time (literally and figuratively) right here in Texas, then Katherine Anne Porter escaped her Texas childhood to carve out her own initials on the American literary map. From there, the usual suspects took over: J. Frank Dobie, Roy Bedichek, and Walter Prescott Webb, followed by the likes of John Graves, Larry McMurtry, Larry L. King, Willie Morris, Bud Shrake, and Dan Jenkins.

But in the last 20 years or so, what has been going on down here is nothing short of breathtaking for those of us who devour books and literature. Here are some categories – and just for grins, note which names surprise you:

• Bestsellers: Larry McMurtry, Cormac McCarthy, Sandra Brown, Rick Riordan, Bud Shrake and Harvey Penick
• Prizewinners: Mark Doty (National Book Award), Lawrence Wright (Pulitzer), William Goetzmann (Pulitzer), David M. Oshinsky, Steven Weinberg (Nobel laureate), Louis Sachar (National Book Award)
• Westerns: Elmer Kelton, James Carlos Blake, Cormac McCarthy, Larry McMurtry
• Children’s Books: Kathi Appelt, Pat Mora, Angela Shelf Medearis, Kimberly Willis Holt, David Rice, Rene Saldana, Jr., Cynthia Leitich Smith (oh yeah, and the aforementioned Sachar and Riordan)
• Poets: Ai, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Mark Doty, Edward Hirsch, Harryette Mullen, Naomi Shihab Nye
• Journalists: Bill Moyers, Jim Lehrer, Bob Schieffer, Liz Carpenter
• The Texas Monthly Effect: Bill Broyles, Gary Cartwright, Stephen Harrigan, Gregory Curtis, Lawrence Wright, Mimi Swartz, Jan Jarboe Russell
• Dang Good Reads: Sarah Bird, Sandra Cisneros, Mary Karr, Karleen Koen, David Lindsey, Reginald McKnight, Benjamin Alire Saenz, Marion Winik
• Mysteries/Thrillers: J.A. Jance, Joe Lansdale, James Lee Burke
• Inspirational/Self-Help: Larry Dossey, T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen, Marianne Williamson, Joe Vitale
• Grande Dames: Molly Ivins, Liz Carpenter, Ann Richards
• Romance: Anita Bunkley, Judith McNaught, Christina Dodd, Lisa Kleypas
• Science Fiction/Fantasy/Speculative Fiction: Michael Moorcock (an interntational legend), Neal Barrett Jr., William Browning Spencer, Elizabeth Moon
• The Historians: H. W. Brands, Douglas Brinkley

Any of those names surprise you? There are oh so many more, not to mention all of those people who haven’t lived in Texas but write about it (i.e., Robert Caro and the presidential scholars!). And I haven’t even touched on Texas publishers, bookstores, MFA creative writing programs, etc.

Unlike so-called Southern literature, which tends to focus on family, the history of the south, and even race and Gothic mystique, Texas lit doesn’t have a distinctive Texas voice or typical subject matter. That is quite okay with me. Why should Texas writers echo one another and all be forced to write about Texas? I would argue that the fact that Texas writers crank out such an amazing variety of books makes our literary scene the most vibrant in the whole United States. Take that, Big Apple!

So next time you pick up a book at a bookstore or library, take a closer look –– chances are, you just might be reading a Texas author!

For more on Texas literature, check out Don Graham’s anthology, Lone Star Literature: From the Red River to the Rio Grande (W. W. Norton, 2003). And don’t forget the Texas Book Festival Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.

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