There's a festival this Saturday downtown that's unlike every other the city has to offer. It’s the San Antonio Book Festivaland Katy Flato is its executive director. What can you expect if you go?
"The main thing you can expect is to hear a lot of really talented, smart people telling wonderful stories."
The festival continues to grow, but the power of good storytelling is still at its core.
"I like to think of the Book Festival as the library coming alive. All of those books, you understand, were written by people, and all those people are there to stand up and tell their stories of what's in the books."
Flato says the event is packed with those who have designed some of your favorite moments in reading.
"We have 96 authors. We take questions from the audience so there's always the opportunity to ask authors how they did what they did or what inspired them or what their work habits are."
I asked Flato to highlight a few coming. With so many it was hard to nail her down on just a few.
"Greg Barrios and Naomi Nye, Steve Harrigan and HW Brands are coming from Austin along with the fabulous Sarah Bird. We have two leading lights of Mexico--Carmen Boullosa and Alejandro Enrique. Sonia Manzano has written a memoir of growing up the Bronx and it's very strong."
You may know Manzano from a role she played on PBS: Maria from Sesame Street. There are dozens more authors presenting at the free event, and then there's the not-free portion of the event: the Literary Death Match.
"It is very hilarious. Very irreverent. Lots of audience participation. Four authors have to compete against each other," she laughed. "It's like American Idol, but for book nerds. They take it very seriously and it's a ton of fun."
The San Antonio Book Festival is this Saturday starting at 10 a.m. at the library and Southwest School of Art downtown. The Literary Death Match is at the Empire Theater at 7 Saturday night.
Find more on the San Antonio Book Festival here.
