The 10th Annual South Texas Book Festival
Graphic by Gonzalo Puente
“What makes the mockingbird special anyway?,” said this year’s Poet Laureate of McAllen, Daniel García Ordaz, to poetry lovers in a coffee shop.
The crowd listens with rapt attention, keen on every word, as the poem from his book “Cenzontle/Mockingbird: Songs of Empowerment” comes to an end: “The mockingbird sings what the heart cannot pray, the mockingbird sings what the heart cannot pray.”
The South Texas Book Festival kicked off Thursday, Oct. 26, with “STELLARVERSE: An Evening of Cosmic Poetry” at CommonSpace coffee shop in McAllen. The poetry night featured García Ordaz, Rodney Gomez, Victoria Lopez and Emmy Perez. This year, STBF will feature 25 authors and a presenter. Friday featured author presentations in schools across the valley. Saturday, Oct. 28, the McAllen Public Library will host a day of speakers and book signings at 11 a.m. All events are free to the public.
The UTRGV Chair of the Department of Creative Writing and 2020 Texas Poet Laureate, Emmy Perez, grew up in Santa Ana, California. However, her mother’s family was from the borderlands of El Paso, Texas. Perez said that she feels a connection to the Rio Grande that was near her mother’s neighborhood in El Paso. Her book of poetry, “With the River On Our Face”, explores that connection.
“I moved to El Paso in the year 2000 and I lived a couple miles from the Rio Grande,” said Perez. “I lived in the same neighborhood that my mom grew up in. The river is very important to our family, so I decided that I wanted to write a book that sort of embraces my family’s connection to [it].”
Perez started the Creative Writing and Social Action course so that students could get college credit for volunteering to teach creative writing at juvenile and adult detention centers.
“It’s really fun and important [for students] to share what they are learning in the classrooms with their community,” said Perez. “They learn from the community, too. There’s so much knowledge in the community that doesn’t always make it to our university. So, really, it’s a pleasure and an honor for us to learn from community members that may not yet have access to the university.”
The McAllen Public Library specializes in that category. What started as a book festival for just children and teens, turned into a festival for all ages after 2020 after suggestions from community members. The festival features arts and crafts, game stations, food and book vendors, book discussions, storytimes for kids and art workshops. The library staff works year-round to ensure that they are ready for the influx of patrons that come in from all over Texas and Mexico for the festival.
Priscilla Suarez, a peer of Perez’ and an events coordinator of the McAllen Public Library, works on the planning committee as well as subcommittees to make sure that everything runs smoothly. She said that coming to the festival is inspiring to many. It is important to make connections within the community and to support a love for literacy, especially at a young age.
“This is the way that we document our stories: with literature, with poetry,” said Suarez. “ … I feel like there’s this excitement where our community–especially kids–get to meet the people who are writing our stories. They get to see how diverse they are and, at the same time, how much they are like us. It could be your teacher. It could be your relative. It could be the same kid in the future who is writing. Just seeing them face to face, [they realize that] it’s something that they could do. Getting to ask questions and interact with them is something that’s really cool.”
Suarez said that the South Texas Book Festival is not what people expect; it is a lot more fun.
“A lot of people will think it will be all about books,” said Suarez. “ … I think that one of the misconceptions that people have about libraries is that they don’t realize that it’s also a cultural hub. … Coming in, you’re going to see it has a carnival aspect. You’re going to see kiddie train rides, we’re going to be giving out free popcorn and cotton candy. We’re going to have inflatable slides and games for kids. Our community partners are going to be having different activities and games and crafts. We are actually going to be bringing McAllen Public Works … who have all those tractors and big trucks–recycling trucks. They are going to have a truck petting zoo.”
The festival is free to all to meet local and well-known authors. Suarez said that the community’s energy and input is the biggest part of the festival and that it is important to go out and show support.
“This is for [the community],” said Suarez. “This is their festival and their input matters. It’s really a great opportunity for artists and authors, even aspiring authors, to come and get to network. That’s something you’ll see also: authors being able to meet each other and being able to come and find their circle. Authors are always really helpful and down to earth and always willing to give input–especially if they’re local authors–to give connections; to help you network. That’s something that’s inspiring to authors. … That always inspires you.”
Saturday, Oct. 28, the South Texas Book Festival will feature author of “The Family Izquierdo”, Ruben Degollado, who is also an alumnus of UT Pan American. Also featured will be Kimberly Garza, author of “The Last Karankawas.” The festival will be at the Main Library from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Entry is free.
