One of our favorite local writers, Elizabeth Crane, is about to break new ground. With her distinctive experimental style and quirky, charming voice, Crane has authored three remarkable collections of short stories—When the Messenger is Hot, All This Heavenly Glory, and You Must Be This Happy to Enter. Now, she’s excited to publish her first novel We Only Know So Much (Harper Perennial) and kick off her national book tour next month. We can’t wait to see what Crane does in long form, but she ... [READ MORE]
NOTEBOOK
Local Folk: Reading with Kester Smith
Craving a great spring read, but don’t have anything specific in mind? Can’t stop thinking about that book you read last year, but don’t remember the title? You shamefully SparkNoted your way through your high school reading curriculum, and now you deeply regret it? For all these problems and more, Kester Smith is your guy. Kester is a devoted book reader and bookseller at Austin’s beloved independent literary hub, BookPeople. “I love books, and I love people,” says Kester. “I am clearly ... [READ MORE]
Web Exclusive Author Interview: Sal Pane
Just in time for NBA playoff season, our May web-exclusive story, “John Starks” by Salvatore Pane, is here. And what a story it is. “John Starks” is a basketball story. It’s a tale of competition, regret, forgiveness. Folks, this is a story about NBA Jam and dunking in the face of life’s adversities. In other words, this is one you don’t want to miss. Read “John Starks” here, and check out our interview with the author below. Bonus feature: Not familiar with John Starks and the 1993 Knicks v. ... [READ MORE]
Local Folk: Reading with Barbara Galletly
Barbara Galletly is new to the Austin literary scene. Coming to us from Los Angeles and New York, where she worked for a nonprofit bookstore and a literary agency respectively, Barbara is now pursuing her master’s degree at the University of Texas. When she stumbled into Domy Books on East Cesar Chavez, she was impressed by the communal vibe and the unique selection of books, zines, and art. So she decided to get involved. “I love book clubs and bookstores, but I’d never done a book club at a ... [READ MORE]
ASF Presents: Jess Stoner, Justin Sirois, War, Memory, Fiction
We’re super stoked about what’s happening tomorrow, April 18, at 7 p.m. at Domy, y’all—Jess Stoner and Justin Sirois are reading from their new books, neither of which we could put down. Jess’s I Have Blinded Myself Writing This is a striking work of fiction that explores memory, telling the story of a woman who loses part of her past each time her body needs to heal a wound in the present. Justin’s Falcons on the Floor is a war story that “rehumanizes everyone involved,”says Dahr Jamail. The ... [READ MORE]
Web Exclusive Author Interview: David Schuman
What can I say about our April web exclusive, “Squirrel" by David Schuman? I might say that it’s that rare sort of story that conveys with equal grace the featherlight details of daily life and the ponderous mysteries of this crazy planet. I might say that it’s beautifully written, with sentences that’ll cut right you right open. But maybe I should just let the author speak for himself: “there are other stories besides ours, and of course in the end these other stories are part of our story, the ... [READ MORE]