Monthly Archive for October, 2009

Hey there, Five Things fans! Have you ever sat quietly in your home, looking at the schedule for the Texas Book Festival and wondering if there was a way you could check out panels and readings including Five Things alums, current and forthcoming? Well, you have some very specific needs and WE ARE ABOUT TO FILL THOSE NEEDS.

Five Things events for Saturday, October 31, 2009:

Literary Death Match

The Texas Book Festival is collaborating with Literary Death Match, a genre-busting performative reading that features four authors, three all-star judges, and a non-literary harebrained finale to decide the final winner. The event invites audiences, authors, actors and others to talk about literature, often with hilarious and profound results. Literary Death Match is a mix of four writers who perform their most electric work (in 8 minutes or less) before an audience and a panel of three judges. After a pair of electric readings, the judges take turns spouting affectionate, off-the-wall commentary about each story, each focusing on one of the three categories: literary merit, performance and intangibles (also, meanness is never a factor, as judges are there for non-sequiturs and comedy, not serious critique). They then select their favorite of the two writers to advance to the finals. And for the finale, we trade in the show’s literary sensibility for an absurdly comical climax to decide who takes home the Literary Death Match crown (which is invisible). It may sound like a circus — that’s the point. Owen Egerton, Richard Russo, and Jane Smiley will judge the brave efforts of Kyle Beachy, Amelia Gray, Jeff Martin, and Jason Sheehan.

Literary Death Match emcee Erin Hosier is a literary agent with Dunow, Carlson & Lerner, specializing in memoir, music biography and humor. She has been co-hosting the Literary Death Match with Opium founder Todd Zuniga in New York and L.A. since 2008.

Location:     The Sanctuary (1201 Lavaca, enter from Lavaca St.)
Date:     Saturday, October 31
Time:     2:30 – 3:30
Authors: Jane Smiley, Jason Sheehan, Richard Russo, Jeff Martin, Amelia Gray, Owen Egerton, Kyle Beachy
Emceed By:     Erin Hosier

DadLabs’ Guide to Fatherhood: Pregnancy and Year One

Join the dads of Dadlabs.com as they present their award winning, side-splitting, occasionally insightful videos on being a father in the 21st century. The dads of  Dadlabs.com have been filling the internet with irreverent advice, product reviews and entertainment to fathers for years. They’ve quickly become the go-to place for fathers. Their book Dadlabs: Pregnancy and Year One encompasses some of their information and commiseration for expecting fathers.  With videos featuring Kevin Nealon, Sara Hickman, a slew of comics and, of course, the dads, you’ll learn about breastfeeding, foreskins, inappropriate playground interaction, pregnant men, and all the joy of being a dad, having a dad, or knowing someone who has a dad.
11:00 – 11:45
Location:     Lifestyle Tent (10th & Congress)
Date:     Saturday, October 31
Time:     11:00 – 11:45
Authors: Brad Powell, Clay Nichols, Owen Egerton

Writing in the Shadows

“Keep on the sunny side of life,” the Carter Family urge us to do in that iconic song of theirs. “Though we meet with the darkness and strife/The sunny side we also may view.” But when the darkness and strife is so compelling and true, why try to coat it with sugar? We honor dark fiction and the process of creating it in this session (which is on Halloween day, get it?!).Moderator F. J. Schaack has been teaching creative writing in the Austin area for 16 years. His own work has appeared in Blue Mesa Review, Santa Barbara Review, Texas Observer, Seattle Review, and a bunch more reviews.

Location:     Capitol Extension Room E2.012
Date:     Saturday, October 31
Time:     11:30 – 12:30
Authors: Amelia Gray, Dan Chaon, Scott Blackwood, Kyle Beachy

Stuff White People Like

Somehow, Lander points out, a sizeable section of the U.S. population has declared themselves non-conforming individualists, yet have managed to merge into a mass of indistinguishable clones, all adhering to a collective of standards thought to be cool. Lander has built his book, Stuff White People Like: The Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions, on his popular blog. Introducer Will Clarke is the author of Lord Vishnu’s Love Handles and The Worthy, both were selected as The New York Times Editors’ Choice in 2006. Clarke was also named “The Hot Pop Prophet” by Rolling Stone Magazine as part of their annual “Hot List.”

Location:     Capitol Extension Room E2.026
Date:     Saturday, October 31
Time:     11:30 – 12:15
Authors: Christian Lander

Five Things events for Sunday,  November 1, 2009:

Jeanette Walls

Jeanette Walls’ new novel Half Broke Horses details the life and times of Walls’ grandmother, Lily Casey Smith, a fearless matriarch who rode 500 miles alone on horseback to Arizona as a teenager and later sold moonshine to make ends meet during prohibition. Walls, author of the bestselling memoir The Glass Castle, has written for Esquire, New York Magazine, and USA Today and wrote for “Scoop” at MSNBC.com for eight years. Novelist and short story writer Amanda Eyre Ward will introduce Walls.
12:30 – 1:15
Location:     House Chamber
Date:     Sunday, November 1
Time:     12:30 – 1:15
Introduction By:     Amanda Eyre Ward

r 31, 2009

11:00 – 11:45 Location: Lifestyle Tent (10th & Congress) Date: Saturday, October 31 Time: 11:00 – 11:45 Authors: Brad Powell Clay Nichols Owen Egerton	DadLabs’ Guide to Fatherhood: Pregnancy and Year One Join the dads of Dadlabs.com as they present their award winning, side-splitting, occasionally insightful videos on being a father in the 21st century. The dads of  Dadlabs.com have been filling the internet with irreverent advice, product reviews and entertainment to fathers for years. They’ve quickly become the go-to place for fathers. Their book Dadlabs: Pregnancy and Year One encompasses some of their information and commiseration for expecting fathers.  With videos featuring Kevin Nealon, Sara Hickman, a slew of comics and, of course, the dads, you’ll learn about breastfeeding, foreskins, inappropriate playground interaction, pregnant men, and all the joy of being a dad, having a dad, or knowing someone who has a dad.
11:30 – 12:30 Location: Capitol Extension Room E2.012 Date: Saturday, October 31 Time: 11:30 – 12:30 Authors: Amelia Gray Dan Chaon Scott Blackwood Kyle Beachy Moderated By: F.J. Schaack	Writing in the Shadows “Keep on the sunny side of life,” the Carter Family urge us to do in that iconic song of theirs. “Though we meet with the darkness and strife/The sunny side we also may view.” But when the darkness and strife is so compelling and true, why try to coat it with sugar? We honor dark fiction and the process of creating it in this session (which is on Halloween day, get it?!).Moderator F. J. Schaack has been teaching creative writing in the Austin area for 16 years. His own work has appeared in Blue Mesa Review, Santa Barbara Review, Texas Observer, Seattle Review, and a bunch more reviews.
11:30 – 12:15 Location: Capitol Extension Room E2.026 Date: Saturday, October 31 Time: 11:30 – 12:15 Authors: Christian Lander Introduction By: Will Clarke	Stuff White People Like Somehow, Lander points out, a sizeable section of the U.S. population has declared themselves non-conforming individualists, yet have managed to merge into a mass of indistinguishable clones, all adhering to a collective of standards thought to be cool. Lander has built his book, Stuff White People Like: The Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions, on his popular blog. Introducer Will Clarke is the author of Lord Vishnu’s Love Handles and The Worthy, both were selected as The New York Times Editors’ Choice in 2006. Clarke was also named “The Hot Pop Prophet” by Rolling Stone Magazine as part of their annual “Hot List.”
2:30 – 3:30 Location: The Sanctuary (1201 Lavaca, enter from Lavaca St.) Date: Saturday, October 31 Time: 2:30 – 3:30 Authors: Jane Smiley Jason Sheehan Richard Russo Jeff Martin Amelia Gray Owen Egerton Kyle Beachy Emceed By: Erin Hosier	Literary Death Match The Texas Book Festival is collaborating with Literary Death Match, a genre-busting performative reading that features four authors, three all-star judges, and a non-literary harebrained finale to decide the final winner. The event invites audiences, authors, actors and others to talk about literature, often with hilarious and profound results. Literary Death Match is a mix of four writers who perform their most electric work (in 8 minutes or less) before an audience and a panel of three judges. After a pair of electric readings, the judges take turns spouting affectionate, off-the-wall commentary about each story, each focusing on one of the three categories: literary merit, performance and intangibles (also, meanness is never a factor, as judges are there for non-sequiturs and comedy, not serious critique). They then select their favorite of the two writers to advance to the finals. And for the finale, we trade in the show’s literary sensibility for an absurdly comical climax to decide who takes home the Literary Death Match crown (which is invisible). It may sound like a circus — that’s the point. Owen Egerton, Richard Russo, and Jane Smiley will judge the brave efforts of Kyle Beachy, Amelia Gray, Jeff Martin, and Jason Sheehan. Literary Death Match emcee Erin Hosier is a literary agent with Dunow, Carlson & Lerner, specializing in memoir, music biography and humor. She has been co-hosting the Literary Death Match with Opium founder Todd Zuniga in New York and L.A. since 2008.
SUNDAY November 1, 2009

12:30 – 1:15 Location: House Chamber Date: Sunday, November 1 Time: 12:30 – 1:15 Authors: Jeannette Walls Introduction By: Amanda Eyre Ward	Jeanette Walls Jeanette Walls’ new novel Half Broke Horses details the life and times of Walls’ grandmother, Lily Casey Smith, a fearless matriarch who rode 500 miles alone on horseback to Arizona as a teenager and later sold moonshine to make ends meet during prohibition. Walls, author of the bestselling memoir The Glass Castle, has written for Esquire, New York Magazine, and USA Today and wrote for “Scoop” at MSNBC.com for eight years. Novelist and short story writer Amanda Eyre Ward will introduce Walls.