By Amanda Hart Photo courtesy of Chris Grawl & Kelly Allen Houston now has its very own traveling library. When we saw The Billy Pilgrim Traveling Library at the most recent Lone Star Bazaar we figured it was deserving of an interview. FPH caught up with creators Chris and Kelly to learn more about their book-peddling bus. Who is Billy Pilgrim and where did he get the idea to create a traveling library? Knowing who Billy Pilgrim is has sort of implicitly become part of the initiation process at the BPTL.  Some come to our library with that knowledge intact.  ... Read More »

It’s time for the annual Texas Crawfish and Music Festival!  Held in Old Town Spring each year in April, the festival runs for two weekends and features dozens of food vendors, three stages of live music, a carnival, and of course, all the crawfish you can eat. More than twenty five tons of live mudbugs are delivered and boiled on site for your tasting pleasure. As the largest and longest running crawfish celebration in the South (take that Louisiana!), The Texas Crawfish and Music Festival is a staple event in the Lone Star State. This year will mark the festival’s ... Read More »

On April 30, Word Around Town (WAT?!), Rebel Crew, and Nuestra Palabra will present the second ever Poet Draft at Taft Street Coffee. Poet Draft participants will compete for seven spots in the eighth annual Word Around Town Tour. The Word Around Town Tour is a spoken word competition that will take place from August 4 to August 10 at a different location every night. The event was introduced in 2006 with the intent to expose both audiences and poets to cool Houston hang-outs, and of course bring together great poets. Poets competing in Poet Draft for a spot in ... Read More »

On Saturday, April 20, Inprint will put on the 2013 Houston Indie Book Festival, which will take place alongside the Menil Community Art Festival. The Houston Indie Book Festival brings together an eclectic bunch of prose writers, poets, performers, editors, and entrepreneurs for a fun and stimulating literary experience. Come learn about the industry of publication, hear emerging authors talk about craft, listen to readings, and get exposed to hard-to-find literature. The event is free and celebrates Houston’s vibrant writing community. For an hour, beginning at one, Austin Tremblay, Sophie Klahr, and Adam Peterson will discuss their time spent as ... Read More »

While some may find the task of reading to be a tedious endeavor, others relish in the infinite possibilities that books hold. Reading is often less about the story and more about the journey – the places, the people, the memories that heighten your senses and expand your imagination with every page turned. That’s why Young Adult literature, better known as YA Lit, has such transformative potential for not just teens, but also for any reader willing to suspend reality a bit and let the words take over. Interestingly enough, Houston is home to a number of YA authors, reviewers, ... Read More »

When we are young we all have dreams of  adventure, travel, love, and purpose. High school and college aged kids say to each other, “I want stories to tell. I want to lean against my rocking chair when I’m old and crippled, and think about the nights I got drunk in a small town off the coast of the Mediterranean; or about the time I had to sleep in a Parisian ally because me and my friends had to choose between a hotel room or a train ticket to Germany. I want to tell my grandchildren about the world and ... Read More »

One hundred and twenty years ago on February 22nd, 1892, the poetess who wrote the famous lines, “My candle is burning at both ends/It will not last the night;/ But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends–/It gives a lovely light” was born in Rockland, Maine. Edna St. Vincet Millay is one of the most celebrated American poets of the 20th century. She became the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for poetry and was a devout activist throughout her life. As a child, Edna Millay (who preferred the name Vincet) read eagerly. After her parents divorced when she ... Read More »

“Voices and thoughts will be expressed and it’s going to be a poetic, acoustic twist,” said Kris Smith, curator of the Poetic Park event held at Emancipation Park this Saturday February 23rd, 2013 from 6:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. “The purpose of this event is to give every poet a chance to shine, especially, those who have never performed for Counter-Crawl,” Smith explained. Counter-Crawl is a multiple venue community building event for artists that anyone can be a part of. Poetic Park is a poetry event being held in anticipation of the Counter-Crawl event held by the community every four ... Read More »

Over the past couple of decades, Houston has become a watering-hole for writers. This literary migration to our fine, muggy city can be largely attributed to UH’s esteemed Creative Writing Program. But you frequently meet aspiring writers around town who have already earned their academic credentials and moved to Houston with no intention of returning to school– they came here to write. Most, of course, are unpublished and struggling to appease the gatekeepers of literary success. And in a city bustling with talented writers whom have yet to cross the threshold of big-time publication, there should be a place where ... Read More »

DiverseWorks ArtSpace recently resurrected Slinging Ink, and has sent out an invitation for writers in Houston to participate. Slinging Ink is a writing competition in which contestants submit their poetry, fiction, or nonfiction (including letters, reports, wish lists, manuals, complaints, proposals, etc.) to be selected by a panel of judges for a reading at DiverseWorks on Wednesday. The writers chosen to read their pieces at DiverWorks on Wednesday will compete for a $100 cash prize. The idea for Slinging Ink came from a medium that most of us, nowadays, don’t associate with storytelling, the radio. Hank Hancock, founder of Slinging ... Read More »