We’re excited to announce this year’s Festival Friends Pass sessions! Friends Pass holders will enjoy priority seating and access to the signing lines for these sessions. Want to become a Festival friend? There’s still time!

The Texas Book Festival brings culture, art, and literature to Texas for free thanks to generous donors. Become a 2019 Festival Friend by donating $100 or more and we’ll say thank you with a Festival Friends Pass. You’ll also know that you made a crucial difference in our communities by helping us keep arts and culture accessible for readers in Austin and across Texas.

To view Festival Friends Pass session times and locations, enter “friends pass” into the search field in the Festival Schedule!

Become a Festival Friend today!

The 2019 Festival Friends Pass sessions are: 

Big, Wonderful Thing: A New History of Texas
with Stephen Harrigan
Saturday, October 26, 11:30 am – 12:15 pm
First United Methodist Church

The Power of Kindness and Wonder: R. J. Palacio in Conversation
with R. J. Palacio
Saturday, October 26, 2019, 12:45 pm – 1:30 pm
First United Methodist Church

A Conversation with Alexander McCall Smith
with Alexander McCall Smith
Saturday, October 26, 11:45 am – 12:30 pm
House Chamber, Capitol Building

Pulitzer Prize-Winner Rick Atkinson presents The British Are Coming
with Rick Atkinson
Saturday, October 26, 1:00 pm – 1:45 pm
House Chamber, Capitol Building

More Than A Mystery: Crime Fiction That Confronts Racial Tensions
with Attica Locke and Steph Cha
Saturday, October 26, 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
House Chamber, Capitol Building

Truth and Toxicity: Fictional Accounts From the Underbelly of Unreliable Narrators and the Aftermath of Awful Men
with Jami Attenberg and Susan Choi
Saturday, October 26, 2:30 pm – 3:15 pm
Capitol Auditorium E1.004

Sea Stories: Admiral William McRaven On His Extraordinary Life
with William McRaven
Saturday, October 26, 4:00 pm – 4:45 pm
House Chamber, Capitol Building

Tim O’Brien in Conversation: Dad’s Maybe Book
with Tim O’Brien
Sunday, October 27, 1:15 pm – 2:00 pm
Capitol Auditorium E1.004

Aarón Sánchez: Life Lessons From a Latino Chef
with Aarón Sánchez
Sunday, October 27, 3:00 pm – 3:45 pm
First Baptist Church

American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race
with Douglas Brinkley
Sunday, October 27, 3:30 pm – 4:15 pm
Capitol Auditorium E1.004