Booking It

Texas city's storied book festival returns virtually with all-star author lineup

Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black, will make an appearance at this year's fest.

Photo by Sam Zalutsky Spiegel and Grau

More than 200 authors, including a couple from Dallas-Fort Worth, are taking part in the 2021 virtual San Antonio Book Festival. On March 9, organizers revealed the full details behind this year's celebration, which includes more than 100 sessions and special lit-themed events.

The weekend festivities take place April 9-11, and will allow attendees a chance to engage with celebrated authors from across the city, state, and nation. Registration is free and can be done here.

North Texas authors joining this year's virtual San Antonio Book Fest are Dallas' Aaron E. Sánchez (Homeland: Ethnic Mexican Belonging Since 1900, Volume 2) and Fort Worth's Gregg Cantrell (The People’s Revolt: Texas Populists and the Roots of American Liberalism).

Among the literary stars participating are Walter Isaacson (The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, the Future of the Human Race); Kristin Hannah (The Four Winds); Jeff VanderMeer (Hummingbird Salamander); Gary Paulsen (Gone to the Woods: Surviving a Lost Childhood); Annette Gordon-Reed (On Juneteenth); Adam Silvera (Infinity Reaper: Infinity Cycle, 2); Guy Raz and Mindy Thomas, hosts of the NPR's "Wow in the World" and co-authors of Wow in the World: The How and Wow of the Human Body: From Your Tongue to Your Toes and All the Guts in Between; Nic Stone (Dear Justyce); and poet Martín Espada (Floaters: Poems), who will be in conversation with Luis Alberto Urrea, a member of the Latino Literature Hall of Fame and best-selling author.

Other notables making an appearance: Emily V. Gordon, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Samantha Irby, Piper Kerman, Ted Flato, Roy Benson, Elizabeth McKracken, and Meg Wolitzer.

The weekend-long celebration will also feature a series of special events, including Lit Crawl, "a virtual block party for books and everyone who loves to read them."

Another highlight is the debut of Sandra Cisneros Presents, a new program where the acclaimed writer introduces four of her favorite writers to festival audiences. Among Cisneros’ accolades are the Texas Medal of the Arts, a MacArthur Fellowship, and the National Medal of the Arts, which was awarded to her by President Obama in 2016. This year, the author will feature Diana Marie Delgado, John Olivares Espinoza, Joe Jiménez, and Christine Granados as part of the inaugural Sandra Cisneros Presents.

Additional sessions are available for teens, adults, and children, and a full list can be found here. Spotlighted events include:

Revolutionary Women of Texas and Mexico examining the role of women in the Mexican Revolution with co-editor Kathy Sosa, contributors Ellen Riojas Clark and Cynthia E. Orozco, and moderator Norma E. Cantú.
Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty, an in-depth look at Maurice Chammah’s debut book.
Nic Stone in Conversation with J. Elle, a discussion with two of the most successful young adult authors working today.

“When I look at this year’s book festival lineup and programming, the word that comes to mind is ‘abundance,’” said Lilly Gonzalez, SABF’s executive director. “Longtime fans will find comfort in the wealth of options that our online edition offers. Plus it’s reassuring to know that amid everything that’s happened, art is still thriving. It’s reason enough for us to come together, even if that’s via our computer screens this year.”

This year's festival does come with one big change: its official bookseller. Locally owned Nowhere Bookshop has taken over as the festival's book purveyor.

For more information and a full schedule of events, head to the SABF's official website.

books festivals

Movie Review

Jessica Chastain drama Dreams stumbles through steamy romance

Photo courtesy of Teorema

Isaac Hernández and Jessica Chastain in Dreams.

The opening scenes of the new drama Dreams are bracing, fictional sequences that call to mind real-life scenarios. In them, a young Mexican man named Fernando (Isaac Hernández) goes through a somewhat harrowing journey from the back of a semi truck in South Texas all the way to San Francisco. It’s a familiar immigrant story that seems to set the stage for a film with something interesting to say.

It turns out, however, that Fernando has not made the long and arduous trek for a job. Instead, it’s to be with Jennifer McCarthy (Jessica Chastain), a rich woman who helps lead a foundation dedicated to multiple things, including funding dance academies. Fernando, a talented dancer, and Jennifer have been in an off-and-on affair for years, with Jennifer wanting to keep their relationship a secret.

Although both are drawn to each other in an inexplicable, lustful way, their bond is tenuous, with each of them dissatisfied for different reasons. Fernando clearly sacrifices much more of himself than Jennifer, who wants for nothing except maybe more affection from her father, Michael (Marshall Bell), and brother, Jake (Rupert Friend).

Writer/director Michel Franco seems to try to inject tension into Fernando and Jennifer’s relationship from the start, an attempt that is only halfway successful. It’s clear from the way they greet each other - not to mention a steamy sex scene shortly thereafter - that they have known each other for a good length of time. Franco is able to get across this familiarity with an economy of scenes, and the intensity of their bond holds for a while.

But as the film progresses and both of them grow disenchanted with their arrangement, Franco starts taking the story in some odd directions. The biggest issue is that it’s never clear at what point in time the story is taking place. Fernando ends up making multiple trips back and forth across the border, with Jennifer doing the same at one point, and Franco’s use of flashbacks muddies the waters, wrong-footing the audience when he should be trying to draw them further into Fernando and Jennifer’s complications.

Revelations in the final act make the story even more confusing, as both main characters start saying and doing harsh things that seem to come out of nowhere. That would be all well and good if Franco actually committed to their changes of heart, but he keeps things wishy-washy for most of the final 15 minutes, resulting in an ending that makes little sense for either character.

Despite the story issues, both Chastain and Hernández give compelling performances. Chastain has been a little under the radar since winning an Oscar for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, but she keeps this character interesting longer than it should have been. Hernández has limited credits and appears to have been cast for his dancing ability, but he goes toe-to-toe with Chastain on more than one occasion and acquits himself well.

Dreams had all of the ideas to explore a more in-depth story about the complicated immigration policies between Mexico and the U.S., or how wealthy people take advantage of those less fortunate. But Franco never finds the right footing, settling instead for a titillating and somewhat mystifying relationship story that feels half-baked.

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Dreams is now playing in select theaters.

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Movie Review

Jessica Chastain drama Dreams stumbles through steamy romance