Book Worms Rejoice

Beloved San Antonio Book Festival reveals star lineup for 2022 event

The San Antonio Book Festival returns with in-person programming on May 21.

After being canceled in 2020 and going virtual in 2021 due to the pandemic, the San Antonio Book Festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary with in-person programming on Saturday, May 21. The free annual festival brings together a wide variety of authors from across Texas and the nation, and this year’s lineup includes renowned authors like Jericho Brown, Julia Glass, Margo Jefferson, Natalie Diaz, Emma Straub, and more.

Held at the Central Library and Southwest School of Art, the full-day event kicks off at 9:30 am with an opening ceremony featuring remarks by Mayor Ron Nirenberg and special performances by poets Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson and Naomi Shihab Nye.

“For our 10th anniversary, we could not be more thrilled to return to being in person at the Library, which has recently been restored to its glorious ‘enchilada red’ hue,” says the festival executive director, Lilly Gonzalez, in a release. “Book festivals foster a sense of community and inspire people to think beyond their individual experiences. Reading is a solitary act, and for the past two years, Texas readers have been plunged deeper into isolation, with books serving as a vital gateway to connecting with the world. It feels extra special to be able to come together for this milestone year.”

In addition to in-person events, the festival will also include an all-virtual tent with pre-recorded sessions from authors like Pulitzer Prize winner Margo Jefferson, poets David Hassler and Tyler Meier, and journalist Joshua Prager.

Texas authors abound in this year’s lineup, including Fernando A. Flores, whose book Valleyesque captures the spirit of the Texas-Mexico border. Austin-based novelists Sarah Bird and Stephen Harrigan will both be in attendance: Bird’s sweeping new novel, Last Dance on the Starlight Pier, brings 1930s Galveston to life while Harrigan’s latest, The Leopard is Loose, captures a young boy’s struggle to find his place in his family and country while growing up in 1950s America. Closer to home, the 2022 lineup features several familiar San Antonio faces such as former Mayor of San Antonio Phil Hardberger, newcomer suspense novelist Katie Gutierrez, and Judge Nelson Wolff.

The family-friendly event will also feature children’s book authors, including local writers such as Cariño Cortez, chef of La Familia Cortez Restaurants, whose book, Camila La Magica Makes Tamales, tells the story behind her family's tamale-making tradition. Fellow San Antonian Stephen Briseño will promote his book, The Notebook Keeper: A Story of Kindness From the Border, an inspiring story about a mother and daughter waiting to cross the United States border.

For more information about the San Antonio Book Festival and a full lineup of authors, head to sabookfestival.org. A detailed festival schedule will be available in April.

festivals books literature

Preserving history

San Antonio art exhibit honors recently uncovered history of 1875 church

San Pedro Creek, public art, St. James AME Church, San Antonio

Courtesy San Antonio River Authority

Artist Gordon Huether's rendering shows part of a planned public art project, “Presence of the Past” and “Culture Crossing Pavilion." Set to open in February 2025, the installation will pay tribute to the history of St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church, San Antonio's first AME church, along San Pedro Creek.

Come February 2025, visitors to San Pedro Creek will be able to check out a new public art installation that will pay tribute to part of San Antonio’s heritage.

California artist Gordon Huether is creating Presence of the Past and Culture Crossing Pavilion, a two-part, $2 million project that will represent the legacy of the St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church. Renderings of the art project were unveiled at a September 4 press conference.

Construction crews worked to restore and improve San Pedro Creek on the western edge of downtown in 2020, while archaeologists uncovered the cornerstone of the church, which was laid in 1875.

Over the past four years, church members worked with the San Antonio River Authority, which maintains the creekway, to come up with a permanent way to memorialize the congregation’s origins and the church’s impact on the community.

River foundation officials said St. James served a key role for local African Americans in the post-emancipation era. Formerly enslaved and free African Americans were able to gather and worship under the direction of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The first congregation members initially met in each other’s homes between 1867 and 1871, until they secured a central place to worship — the former San Antonio Soap Works along San Pedro Creek.

St. James AME Church these days sits on North Richter Street on the city’s West Side; part of the original church site is now home to the Soap Factory Apartments.

According to a news release, Huether is putting together historic quilt patterns to lead visitors through the Presence of the Past, which is designed to resemble the church’s façade, and examine its emergence as the first AME church in San Antonio from 1867-1878.

The art installation will feature the AME shield, which will guide visitors to an altar bearing the names of the original church parishioners, and commemorate their contributions. The pavilion, the release says, will engage today’s church and community members, and encourage them to share their tales that will act as a larger story of San Antonio’s evolution.

The September 4 event, which happened at the future art installation site on West Houston Street, included San Antonio Poet Laureate Emeritus Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson reading a poem inspired by the site's story. Sanderson collaborated with several San Antonians to craft personal quilt patterns inspired by their individual histories, which will appear above the dais at the exhibit. These patterns are meant to bring to life a lively tapestry reflecting an important yet often-overlooked portion of San Antonio’s history.

"We are thrilled with the entire project, from the discovery of the St. James foundation and cornerstone to the unveiling of this innovative design that creatively and architecturally preserves the original structures,” Rev. Cynthia Ladson, St. James’ pastor, said in a statement.

Leaders from SARA and the river authority’s nonprofit arm, San Antonio River Foundation, said Huether’s previous large-scale public art installations around the nation will serve to inspire a unique exhibit commemorating St. James AME Church and early contributions of San Antonio’s African-American community. They also said the art installation will be a welcome addition to San Pedro Creek Culture Park.

“Thanks to careful assessment and input from the community, this site will be rehabilitated into a gathering place where people can connect with San Antonio’s dynamic and multi-layered history, honoring the contributions of the diverse ethnic groups that shaped the city’s unique culture,” Frates Seeligson, SARF’s executive director, said in a statement. “The site remains a tangible landmark of the thriving Reconstruction-era African American community.”

SARA Chair Jim Campbell said St. James AME Church was the first local Black house of worship where parishioners could gather autonomously, free from external restrictions.

“The church quickly became a beacon on the west side of San Antonio, championing political participation, education, civil rights, public service, and economic empowerment,” he said in a statement.

The river foundation is accepting donations toward the completion of the project.

san antonio st. james ame church public art san pedro creek