The San Antonio Book Festival unites readers and writers in a celebration of ideas, books, libraries, and literary culture.

The Festival is a day-long event that unites readers and writers alike. Authors talk about their books in lively conversations encouraging audience participation. Outdoors the Festival grounds are active with book sales, signings, children’s story time and learning projects, family activities, and a technology area. Food trucks offer a variety of eats.

Join in for a part of the National poetry month reading series.

Dickinson famously wrote: “Tell all the truth but tell it slant.” And Audre Lorde: “Only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth. And that is not speaking.” Our conversation today is based on a study of how poets weave narrative and lyric, the personal and political, autobiography and history in their poems and hybrid works. Examples may include poems or portions of poems by Layli Long Soldier, Terese Svoboda, Tarfia Faizullah, Jean Valentine, Robert Hayden, Vievee Francis, and Linda Bierds, among others. Based on our readings, students might go on to practice braiding…

Join us Friday, March 31 at 7pm for a poetry reading with Dana Levin and Christopher Brean Murray, organized with the UH Creative Writing Program.

Poets Michael Earl Craig, author of Iggy Horse, and Christopher Brean Murray, author of Black Observatory, will read from and discuss their new books.

The free event begins at 7 p.m., and a book signing and reception will follow.

Fellow poets Christopher Brean Murray (of Houston, TX) and Michael Earl Craig (of Livingston, MT) read from new books Black Observatory (Murray’s first) and Iggy Horse (Craig’s sixth), respectively. Please join us at 5pm.

Light refreshments will be served. Parking is available in Lot D. Our friends at Strive Publishing & Bookstore will have books for sale in person at the event our you can order them online at Milkweed Books. Photos from Augsburg’s Pan-Afrikan Archive will be on display.

Location: Augsburg University’s Hagfors Center, Room 150 & Zoom (pre-registration for virtual attendance is preferred).

Contact: Monica McDaniel, Sustainability Officer (mcdaniem@augsburg.edu)

Priyanka Kumar is the author of Conversations with Birds, widely acclaimed as “a landmark book” that “could help people around the world rewild their hearts and souls” (Psychology Today). Kumar will talk about what inspired her to write Conversations with Birds and segue into reading two passages from the book specifically about her experiences with Sandhill cranes and long-billed curlews.

To be followed by an interactive Q&A about these birds and their habitat needs and then a book signing.