Austin, City of Books
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"Austin is a city of books, I think, as much as music."
–Elizabeth McCracken
As a creative hub, Austin is home to musicians, artists, filmmakers, and yes, many poets and fiction writers. With an internationally renowned archive on campus, one of the largest and most acclaimed book festivals in the country, several popular and diverse bookstores, loads of literary events, and two highly regarded MFA programs in fiction and poetry, it’s easy to see the attraction the city has for writers.
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Photo Credit.
"Austin is a city of books, I think, as much as music."
–Elizabeth McCracken
As a creative hub, Austin is home to musicians, artists, filmmakers, and yes, many poets and fiction writers. With an internationally renowned archive on campus, one of the largest and most acclaimed book festivals in the country, several popular and diverse bookstores, loads of literary events, and two highly regarded MFA programs in fiction and poetry, it’s easy to see the attraction the city has for writers.
Founded in 1983, the Harry Ransom Center at UT-Austin is now recognized as one of the world’s great collections of literary works. The HRC holds more than 42 million manuscripts, a million rare books, along with the manuscripts of such notable writers as Gabriel García Márquez, Doris Lessing, Don DeLillo, Julia Alvarez, and David Foster Wallace.
Benson Latin American Collection
The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, also located on the UT-Austin campus, is one of the world’s most extensive collections of Latin American materials and literature. The library hold over a million volumes, as well as a trove of original manuscripts and photographs, including the papers of prominent Latinos, including Alturista, Gloria E. Anzaldúa, Carmen Lomas Garza, and Américo Paredes.
Held each fall across the beautiful grounds of the Texas State Capitol and downtown Austin, the Texas Book Festival is one of the country’s premier literary events, featuring over 300 authors talking about some of the best books published every year.
Along with having 20 local branches throughout the city, the Austin Public Library’s central location is a six-story complex overlooking Town Lake, one of our main recreation areas. The central library has a living rooftop garden, reading porches, outdoor amphitheater, art gallery, and a large space for reading events.
Edited by MFA candidates from the New Writers Project and the Michener Center for Writers, Bat City Review is a literary journey that publishes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art “crafted with passion and precision–work that expands our imaginations and complicates our conversations; work willing to take risks, surprises, experiment, and play.”
American Short Fiction is a national literary magazine based in Austin. Twice nominated for a National Magazine Award, ASF publishes short stories, novel excerpts, and features both established and emerging writers. Their stories have been anthologized in Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Prize Stories, and The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses, and elsewhere.
As part of the University of Texas at Austin, UT Press publishes an impressive array of scholarly books and journals concerned with Latin America, anthropology, Native American studies, African American studies, Middle Eastern studies, film and media studies, and photography, among many other areas.
Voted by the Austin Chronicle as having “The Best Obscure Literature Collection,” Alienated Majesty is a wonderful place to lose yourself in their rare selection of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, and translated books. Located just three blocks from the UT campus, this independent bookstore also hosts many literary events.
Black Pearl Books is a black-woman-owned independent bookstore whose mission it is to use literature to promote diversity, inclusion, and representation. Established in 2019 as an online store and later run out of the owner’s home garage, Black Pearl is now centrally located in Austin and offers a large assortment of books, including many currently banned by some school districts.
Aside from being the largest independent bookstore in Texas, BookPeople has consistently been voted best bookstore in town by the Austin Chronicle, and in 2005, Publishers Weekly named it “Best Bookstore in the U.S.” BookPeople hosts some of the most interesting and important authors launching their books.
BookWoman is Austin’s feminist bookstore and has become an institution since it opened its doors in 1975. A short drive from campus, the staff is always helpful in recommending new titles that match your tastes.
It’s not every day you find a cool independent bookstore inside what for ages had been a neighborhood post office. First Light Book Shop, located in Hyde Park, just north of campus, also has a lovely coffee shop, wine bar, and cafe.
- Harry Ransom Center
Founded in 1983, the Harry Ransom Center at UT-Austin is now recognized as one of the world’s great collections of literary works. The HRC holds more than 42 million manuscripts, a million rare books, along with the manuscripts of such notable writers as Gabriel García Márquez, Doris Lessing, Don DeLillo, Julia Alvarez, and David Foster Wallace.
- Benson Latin American Collection
The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, also located on the UT-Austin campus, is one of the world’s most extensive collections of Latin American materials and literature. The library hold over a million volumes, as well as a trove of original manuscripts and photographs, including the papers of prominent Latinos, including Alturista, Gloria E. Anzaldúa, Carmen Lomas Garza, and Américo Paredes.
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