Schedule:
Inprint Writing Workshop
10:15–11 a.m. in the Allen Education Center (Second Floor)
Dollars and Sense
10:30–11:10 a.m. in the Green Garden (Second Floor)
Featuring Jamaul Pride
A financial literacy workshop with Jamaul Pride, COO of Dawson Private Wealth, Financial Services.
A Taste of Houston
11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in the Brown Foundation Performing Arts Theater (First Floor)
Kayla Stewart, Chris Williams, Ope Amosu, David Skinner, and Victoria Elizondo in conversation with Erica Cheng
Food writer Kayla Stewart and Lucille's chef and philanthropist Chris Williams discuss their newest book Black Texas, a cookbook that highlights the recipes and stories of the many contributions Black people have made to Texas cuisine. Chef and James Beard semifinalist Ope Amosu, whose brainchild ChopnBlok has quickly gained popularity in Houston and attention around the country, will discuss Houston's affinity for West African food and his journey to creating ChopnBlok. David Skinner, who showcases his Indigenous heritage through his tasting menu at Kemah's eculent, and Victoria Elizaondo, who serves Mexican food made with fresh and local ingredients at the successful restaurant Cochinita & Co., also join.
Storytelling in Sequence
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. in the Green Garden (Second Floor)
Yu Pei-Yun and Zhou Jian-Xin, with translator Lin King
A showcase with author Yu Pei-Yun and graphic artist Zhou Jian-Xin, the minds behind the graphic novel The Boy From Clearwater, which tells the tortured and triumphant story of Taiwan through the life story of a man who lived through its most turbulent times.
Teen Summit
12:15–1:15 p.m. in the Allen Education Center (Second Floor)
Featuring Tyrone Void
Frustrated by rules and banes that just don't seem to make sense? Feeling like your voice isn't heard in a world that's just too loud with divisiveness? Here's a chance to learn what you can do to push for change.
A Conversation With Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
1:20–2:20 p.m. in the Brown Foundation Performing Arts Theater (First Floor)
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni in conversation with Pritha Bhattacharyya
Writing About Us
1:30–2:30 p.m. in the Allen Education Center (Second Floor)
KB Brookins, Neesha Powell-Ingabire, Leslie Contreras Schwartz, and Elba Iris Pérez in conversation with Deborah "D.E.E.P." Mouton
A diverse range of authors discusses how their novels and memoirs inform their identities, cultures, and sense of place. KB Brookins, a Black, queer, and trans writer and cultural worker from Texas, reads from their memoir Pretty while Neesha Powell-Ingabire, a millennial journalist, essayist, and organizer shares Come By Here: A Memoir in Essays From Georgia's Geechee Coast, which traces the genealogy of systemic racial violence while paying homage to the area's long history of Black resistance and culture-keeping. Leslie Contreras Schwartz's memoir From the Womb of Sky and Earth recounts a poet's coming-of-age through a maze of abusive relationships and mental illness, woven with grlimmers of fierce love, and Elba Iris Pérez's lyrical, cross-cultural coming-of-age debut novel The Things We Didn't Know explores a young girl's childhood between 1950s Puerto Rico and a small Massachusetts factory town.
Reading and Q&A With Fady Joudah
2:30–3:30 p.m. in the Brown Foundation Performing Arts Theater (First Floor)
Fady Joudah in conversation with Hosam Aboul-Ela
Internationally renowned Houston poet Fady Joudah has published six collections of poems including The Earth in the Attic, Alight, and Textu, a book-long sequence of short poems whose meter is based on cellphone character count. Fady has also translated from Arabic the works of several leading Palestinian poets including Mahmoud Darwish, Ghassan Zaqtan, and Maya Abu Al-Hayyat.
Curtain Call: A Conversation With Houston Playwrithgts
3–4:15 p.m. in the Allen Education Center (Second Floor)
Tazeen Zahida, Marissa Castillo, and ShaWanna Renee Rivon in conversation with Errol Anthony Wilks
One of the world's oldest art forms, playwriting has been historically and culturally important in diasporic communities of color. Join Tazeen Zahida, Marissa Castillo, and ShaWanna Renee Rivon as they talk about plays and performance as a tool of history, representation, teaching, and healing.
Lit Lounge
3–6 p.m. in the Green Garden (Second Floor)
Unwind with fellow bookish folk, mingle with the authors and speakers in between panels, and enjoy literature-themed cocktails in BIPOC Book Fest's adults-only lounge.
A Conversation With Jasmine Guillory
4–5 p.m. in the Brown Foundation Performing Arts Theater
Jasmine Guillory in conversation with Reggie of Books Are Pop Culture Podcast
Chat with Jasmine Guillory about romance, joy, Black love, and her journey to becoming one fo the most celebrated romance authors right now. A book-signing will follow the conversation.
Poetry Showcase
5:15–6 p.m. in the Allen Education Center
Featuring Outspoken Bean
We close out the festival with our annual poetry showcase led by award-winning poet and Houston poet laureate emeritus Outspoken Bean, joined by other Houston poets.
