If you have an appreciation for uncoventional talent and get fulfillment from contributing to a good cause, then the First Annual Houston Indie Book Festival is where you need to be this weekend.
Held in conjunction with the Fifth Annual Council for Literary Magazines and Small Presses Fair, the festival will be a venue for hundreds of regional and national independent literary publishers to sell discounted works as well as to give exposure to several underground titles.
"The Houston Indie Book Festival grew out of Gulf Coast’s (Council for Literary Magazines and Small Presses) Fair," Gulf Coast associate editor Nicole Zaza said. "The Council for Literary Magazines and Small Presses is basically an organization to help small magazines and press stay afloat. Every year Gulf Coast organizes a fair to sell magazines and books for big discounts."
Gulf Coast: A Journal for Literature and Fine Arts is the bi-annual literary journal put out by the University of Houston creative writing program. While it is the chief sponsor of the festival, the event is also co-sponsored by CLMP as well as Inprint and Domy Bookstore.
The vendors present will include: Kaboom, Blue Willow Bookshop, Brazos Bookstore, Arte Publico Press, Inprint, Houston Institute for Culture, American Book Review and Nano Fiction, among others.
"All the stores will be offering discounts, and Gulf Coast will be selling books for $4 and magazines for $2," Zaza said.
Persepolis author Marjane Satrapi will also make an appearance, and Gulf Coast will be giving out free tickets to her 7:30 p.m. reading at the Hobby Center.
"The festival is really popular with writers and people who like to read books outside of what the big boys have already cannibalized. These small venues are the best place to find talents and voices before they reach the mainstream," Zaza said.
Festival patrons are encouraged to bring their own books for donation to the Finnegan Park Community Center in the Fifth Ward. The donations will go toward building a library for the senior citizens there.
"Bring a book, you get a free book. Bring a box of books and get a free subscription to Gulf Coast. A perfect opportunity for spring cleaning," Zaza said.
The fair is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Domy Bookstore, 1709 Westheimer Road. Admission is free.
Zaza has high hopes for the event.
"People complain that Houston is sold out and corporate. Here is your chance to prove it’s not, book wise."
