More fun for Bibliophiles

Texas Book Festival releases finalized schedule including late night Lit Crawl

Actor and writer Stephen Tobolowsky will be performing with The EncyclopediaShow at Pine Street Station.
Experimental fiction writer Amelia Gray returns to Austin to read at her oldwriting series, 5 Things.
Tyler Stoddard Smith reads from his latest nonfiction book, Whore Stories, inthe first half of the "Sex, Drugs, and Rock n' Roll" series at Shangri-La.
Photo by Tyler Stoddard Smith

The Texas Book Festival explodes around the Texas State Capitol in three weeks, but it's not too early to start planning out your two days of bibliophilic fun.

Texas Book Festival has just announced the latest additions to the 2012 schedule, including locations and lineups for the nighttime Lit Crawl, which provides exciting, unconventional readings by TBF authors over drinks at various well-known venues on Austin's East Side.

Based on the long-running Lit Crawl held in San Francisco, the Texas version of the walking/drinking/reading event was an enormous success last year. Organizers Clay Smith and Jill Meyers are back again with new venues and new authors to make this year's Lit Crawl an even more spectacular first night of the festival.

This year, the Lit Crawl will take place at Clayworks, Rio Rita, Pine Street Station, Shangri-La, Cheer Up Charlie's and The Texas State Cemetery, with shows beginning at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. at each location.

In the earlier shift, House of Leaves author Mark Z. Danielewski reads from his new novel, The Fifty Year Sword, at The Texas State Cemetery. Meanwhile, Suzy Spencer, Tyler Stoddard Smith and J.R. Helton will fill Shangri-La with their salacious tales of sex and drugs, while storytellers from The Austin Bat Cave's Story Dept. entertain the masses at Cheer Up Charlie's.

Then, at 9 p.m., stick to your current locale or travel to a nearby spot for a whole new show. The Encyclopedia Show welcomes actors/writers Chris Elliott and Stephen Tobolowsky into the educational fold at Pine Street Station. Texas historians Will Erwin and Jason Walker will give tours of the cemetery once again this year, and 5 Things founder Amelia Gray returns to Austin to join four other authors telling ghost stories at Cheer Up Charlie's.

For many, the Lit Crawl is the favorite new addition to the Texas Book Festival schedule, since it avoids the daytime heat and includes access to a bar. But, of course, it's all about the great literature from fantastic authors, in which none of these shows are lacking.

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Check out the entire schedule for the Texas Book Festival and the Lit Crawl at the festival website. You can organize your schedule online and create a game plan for both days.

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Historic Austin museum will close for more than a year for restoration

Photo courtesy of the City of Austin

The Elisabet Ney Museum will close at the end of 2024 and reopen in mid-2026.

Every building needs some maintenance here or there, and the historic Elisabet Ney Museum needs some extra-special care. Formerly the art studio and residence of its namesake, it's been standing since 1892. It'll spend 2025 in relative solitude, as it undergoes renovation for a year and a half with no visitors allowed.

The museum will close to the public December 30, 2024, and open again in the summer of 2026 if all goes according to plan, a news release from the City of Austin shares. It'll be a quiet period compared to the 21,000 people visiting from around the world each year.

According to a museum overview on the city's website, Elisabet Ney, a European portrait sculptor, bought the property and called her new studio Formosa. She worked on sculptures depicting important Texans like Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston, and collected works of European contemporaries.

The building at 304 East 44th St. includes 3,700 square feet of museum space, which was converted by Ney's friends after her death in 1907. It retains its unique look that juxtaposes a Neo-Classical main studio from 1892 with a later addition from 1902 including a tower for her husband, Edmund, to write in. It is also on 2.5 acres of land, which has largely been restored to its natural state with native species.

A press release lists these tasks (verbatim) within the scope of the new work, referred to as the Capital Improvement Project (CIP):

Restoration of original exterior wood doors and windows
Upgrades and replacement of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system
Replacement of the exhibit and general lighting systems
Repairs to the roof, masonry, plumbing, and interior finishes.

There will also be work to do outside of the building. Workers will replace the pedestrian bridge across Waller Creek, stabilize a 20,000-square-foot portion of the bank, and make the grounds more accessible by adding new pathways.

Funding comes from several sources, according to a release: "the 2012 Bond, Proposition 14, the Parkland Dedication Fund, the Historic Preservation Fund, Partners in Preservation through the National Trust, and contributions from the Friends of the Elisabet Ney Museum."

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