San Antonio Book Festival announces 2025 lineup
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It's that time of year again — the San Antonio Book Festival announced its 2025 author lineup Wednesday, and local literature lovers will recognize some nationally acclaimed names.
The big picture: More than 100 writers will be featured at the free, one-day festival on April 12 at the Central Library and UTSA Southwest Campus downtown.
- It typically draws up to 20,000 visitors for panel discussions, book signings, food trucks and more.
The intrigue: This year will mark the festival's first panel on "romantasy" — a popular genre mixing fantasy and romance.
Some well-known authors attending this year include:
- Martín Espada, a MacArthur "Genius" recipient and National Book Award winner
- Laila Lalami, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and National Book Award finalist
- Linda Holmes, author and pop culture correspondent at NPR
- Stephen Harrigan, bestselling Texas author and journalist
Zoom in: Lupe Ruiz-Flores will present her book "The Pecan Sheller," out in April. It's a middle grade story set in 1930s San Antonio about a teenager who wants to be a writer, but has to drop out of school to shell pecans and eventually joins the famous strike.
What they're saying: "There are all sorts of books to fall in love with at the book festival, from picture books to thrillers and horror to nonfiction focusing on history, climate change and our cultural landscape," the festival's literary director Anna Dobben said in a statement.
If you go: The festival runs 9am-5pm. Session seating is first-come, first-serve.
What's next: A more detailed schedule will be released later this month.