News/Print

Briefly, I want to clarify a bit in the item about Cyndi Hughes' departure as director of the Texas Book Festival in the "News/Print" of Jan. 23 . Due to an editing error on my part, the context surrounding "As the festival has grown into national prominence, Hughes says that 'one of my favorite parts of the job is every spring when we get to send out those checks'" was omitted, relegating the information to non sequitur status. Her "send out those checks" comment was in reference to the fact that the TBF has awarded more than $1.5 million to Texas public libraries during the past decade, and the column should have stated such. By the way, the TBF has announced Hughes' successor: Mary Herman, she of much Austin event planning and fundraising, starts March 1... As January draws to a close and spring hovers just ahead like a warm death blanket, the Austin literary event calendar is getting serious as it girds its loins for the annual national-prominence battle with South by Southwest. So, clip and save, folks, clip and save. We begin with local Laurie Lynn Drummond (Anything You Say Can and Will Be Used Against You: Stories) on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 7pm, at BookPeople. Then T.C. Boyle, he of the National Book Award finalist Drop City, who will be at the store on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 7pm. That's big. Also big and also at BookPeople is the Sunday, Feb. 8, 3pm reading and signing by ZZ Packer, whose Drinking Coffee Elsewhere was one of the most celebrated debuts of all time. All time. Soon after comes Anna Menendez on Feb. 9 (Loving Che), the Austin Chronicle Short Story Contest announcement party on Feb. 11, and former Austinite Faulkner Fox on Feb. 12 (Dispatches From a Not-So-Perfect Life, set in Austin). In between, on Feb. 6, 7pm, are Peter Manseau and Jeff Sharlet of Killing the Buddha. Look for more on the them next week. And in the meantime, for all the specs and more events, pay a visit to www.bookpeople.com... Elsewhere, it should definitely be known that the one and only Roddy Doyle will be at the Katherine Anne Porter House in Kyle later in February, on the 27th at 7:30pm, in fact, as part of Texas State University's reading series, and that the KAP pad has recently been unanimously approved for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. We missed George Saunders out there; we will not miss Doyle. Neither should you... Meanwhile, at Barnes & Noble Arboretum, upcoming appearances by Web rebel Max Barry on Feb. 10 at 7:30pm (Jennifer Government), Harper's contributor Bill McKibben in March (Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age), and Margaret Atwood (Oryx and Crake) in April – the month of the Austin International Poetry Festival, FYI – have us shaking uncontrollably, but in a happy way, definitely... Horns up: I hear that Sherman Alexie will be doing some teaching at the Michener Center for Writers. More on that soon. Also over at UT, photojournalist David Douglas Duncan's archive has made itself at home in the cozy confines of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center just in time for the Norton release of his Photo Nomad.