Each month I’ll be investigating events around town that might pique the interest of book nerds, the literature obsessed, and those who enjoy stimulating entertainment and socializing.
Not surprisingly, Austin has a number of things going on every month the BookPeople community would enjoy.
The Dionysium Spring Show
PERCEPTION
Wednesday, June 5th @ 7pm
Alamo Drafthouse Village
The Dionysium debate pits two experts against each other in toe-to-toe parliamentary combat. Dionysium debate resolutions have covered everything from Social Security reform to the future threat of genocidal robots. An audience interrogatory segment allows guests to personally challenge our debaters, and every resolution is adopted, or defeated, by an audience vote.
Tickets: $12, available on the Alamo Drafthouse Village website
Copies, Fakes, and Reproductions: Printmaking in the Renaissance
The Blanton Museum of Art
Through June 16th
Artistic training in the Renaissance involved drawing, or copying, from nature, from antique sculptures and from the work of other acclaimed artists. While Raphael and Michelangelo were painting for the Popes in Rome, skilled printmakers such as Marcantonio Raimondi and Giorgio Ghisi were widely disseminating the painters’ famous compositions through the relatively new medium of engraving. Not all artists, however, wanted their creations reproduced by others.
This exhibition will present works which showcase the various intentions behind copies, ranging from collaborations between designers and printmakers to the unauthorized copies of Albrecht Dürer’s woodcuts, which resulted in a landmark legal decision against image piracy.
Jeremy Blake: Winchester Trilogy
The Blanton Museum of Art
June 9th – September 1st
Jeremy Blake’s haunting Winchester trilogy explores the history of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California. In the late 1800s, Sarah Winchester, heiress of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, began to turn her eight-bedroom home into a sprawling mansion. Over the course of thirty-six years, Winchester hired construction workers to continually build over a hundred rooms, miles of hallways, and stairs leading to nowhere. Rumors swelled and many believed that Winchester—after losing her child and husband at an early age—was cursed and the seemingly never-ending construction project was the only way to appease the spirits of those killed by Winchester rifles.
Blake layers archival photographs, digital animations, ink drawings, frame-by-frame retouching, and an ominous score to, “provide an abstract or emotional tour – not so much of the architecture, but of some of the more fearful chambers of Sarah Winchester’s mind.”
The Rise of Everyday Design
The Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain and America
The Harry Ransom Center
Through July 14th, 2019
See more than 200 items including books, drawings, furniture, decorative arts objects, photographs, and flyers, broadsides and advertising ephemera that offer a new and detailed look at the history of the Arts and Crafts movement.
The Arts and Crafts movement occupied a central place in discussions about modern life in Britain and America from the late 1840s to the early 1920s and beyond. Arts and Crafts reformers were concerned with the daily realities of the industrial age, and used design to envision and promote a new and improved way of living.
Austin Central Library
710 W. Cesar Chavez St.
All Austin Library events are free and open to the public!
Rick Atkinson discusses and signs his new book The British Are Coming: the Ware for America, Lexington to Princeton 1775 – 1777 with Clay Smith, editor of Kirkus Reviews. Wednesday, June 5th from 7:30pm – 8:30pm.
Nicole Dennis-Benn in conversation with Clay Smith (editor of Kirkus Reviews) about her new novel, Patsy. Tuesday, June 11th from 7pm – 8:30pm.
Magik Theatre Presents Jack and the Beanstalk (recommended for ages 5 – 9). Sunday, June 16th @ 1pm.
Pride Prom: Queer Space (adults 18+ only). Okay, not a literary event, per se. But it’s pride month and I want to amplify this event!
SCREENINGS
A listing of upcoming screenings of book-to-film adaptations.
Under the Skin (2014) – Based on the bizarre and surreal novel by Michel Faber (pub. 2000) and starring Scarlett Johansson and directed by Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast).
- Alamo Drafthouse Ritz, Monday, June 10th @10:25pm and Wednesday, June 12th @ 7:15pm
KIDS CAMP SCREENINGS
All Kids Camp screenings are Pick Your Price – $1, $3, $5 – with 100% of ticket sales donated to local nonprofits!
Kids Camp: The Neverending Story (1984) – Based on the German fantasy novel by Michael Ende (1979). One of my favorite childhood films.
Kids Camp: Paddington 2 (2017) – Based on the popular children’s series by Michael Bond.
Kids Camp: The Lorax (2012) – Based on the Dr. Suess book of the same name from the creators of Despicable Me.
- Various days, times, and Drafthouse locations from June – August.
RECURRING MONTHLY EVENTS:
One Page Salon (every 1st Tuesday)
Tuesday, June 4th – 7:30pm @ The North Door (FREE)
Queer Film Theory 101 (every 1st Wednesday)
Wednesday, June 5th – 8pm @ Barrel o’ Fun, Alamo Drafthouse Mueller
Story Department by Austin Bat Cave
Tuesday, June 11th – 8pm @ Home Slice Pizza (FREE)
Theme: Under New Management
Nerd Nite (every 2nd Wednesday)
Wednesday, June 12th – 8pm @ The North Door (FREE)
Follow @nerniteaustin on Twitter for updates!
Astronomy on Tap (Every third Tuesday)
Tuesday, June 25th – 7:00pm @ The North Door (FREE)
Follow @AoTATX on Twitter to view archives and events from other AoT events around the world!
Greetings From Queer Mountain (every last Wednesday)
Wednesday, June 26th – 9pm @ Cheer Up Charlie’s (FREE)
Testify ATX (every last Thursday)
Thursday, June 27th – 7:30pm @ The Spiderhouse Ballroom
$5 cash cover ($6 if paying with a card)
February Theme: The High Road
Follow @TestifyATX on Twitter for performer spotlights and updates!
Austin Events for the Literati is researched, curated, and written by former BookPeople bookseller Sarah Holdgrafer. Its purpose is to make it easier to discover events that would interest people in the literary scene or people that read the BookPeople blog, here in ATX. It is by no means comprehensive!
So, if you are hosting or know about a literary-themed event here in Austin in the upcoming months, email sarah (dot) holdgrafer (at) gmail (dot) com and let her know about it (hopefully with at least a few weeks advance warning)! The Austin Events for the Literati blog post goes up around the 1st of every month.
NOTE: These events are not produced by or affiliated with BookPeople. We just think they are great, that you’ll like them too, and hope to see you there!
For official BookPeople events, please see the BookPeople Events Calendar!
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