National Book Awards Festival

Presented in partnership with the National Book Foundation and Sam Houston State University, and sponsored by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the MFA Program in Creative Writing, Editing, and Publishing.

Thursday, October 15, 2026

Lowman Student Center Theater
5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Mainstage Reading and Author Discussion
6:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Book Signing (author's books available for purchase)

Join National Book Award-honored authors:

Derrick Barnes (Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice, The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze, Crown: Anode to the Fresh Cut, I Am Every Good Thing, The King of Kindergarten, The Queen of Kindergarten)
Esther Lin (Cold Thief Place, Here to Stay: Poetry and Prose from the Undocumented Diaspora)
Sam Sax (Pig, Yr Dead, Madness, bury it)

Moderated by Giuseppe Taurino, Executive Director of Imprint and Associate Director of University of Houston's Creative Writing Program.

Presented in partnership with the National Book Foundation and Sam Houston State University, and sponsored by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the MFA Program in Creative Writing, Editing, and Publishing.