Malvern Books In North Austin Showcases Writers With Disabilities

AUSTIN, TX — If only one could mix a love of literature with the notion of celebrating Halloween. Oh wait, one can — at Malvern Books, the little independent bookstore tucked away in a corner between Guadalupe and Rio Grande streets in North Austin.

On Sunday, Malvern Books will stage a special Halloween edition of its inclusive Lion & Pirate Open Mic for writers and musicians. Ghost stories, costumes and candy to share are encouraged, officials said. The event is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 29.

Concurrently, winners of the annual Pen2Paper Creative Writing Contest will be announced. Officials invite the public to drop in and join them, VSA Texas (The State Organization on Arts and Disability), and Pen2Paper for an afternoon of cerebral and inspirational fun.

The Pen 2 Paper Creative Writing Contest seeks works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and comics that treat the topic of disability. It's believed to be the only disability-focused creative writing competition in Texas with a trio of key goals: Give writers with disabilities a forum to share their work; advance awareness to disability issues through the arts; challenge people of all ages to think, rethink, and express their stories, perspectives, fears, and discoveries about disability.

Later that same day, the bookstore will celebrate the launch of Backyard Volcano and Other Mysteries of the Heart, an anthology of short stories by Kathryn Lane published by Alamo Bay Press. Lane will be joined by Texas fiction writer Lowell Mick White at the book launch, scheduled to start at 4 p.m.

Malvern Books is something of an under-rated Austin treasure, showcasing visionary literature and poetry from independent publishers with a focus on lesser-known and emerging voices. In today's fast-paced, Internet-driven world, the community space is a refreshing anomaly yielding a small oasis of thought and creativity.

That attention to the delightfully obscure was seen last year when the bookstore celebrated International Translation Day last September. Yes, it's a thing. While Hallmark might not create cards to commemorate it, it's a thing. Acclaimed translator Liliana Valenzuela read from her translated work of A House of My Own, an autobiographical treatise by author Sandra Cisneros. An award-winning literary translator, poet, essayist and journalist, Valenzuela toils at her day job at ¡Ahora Sí!, the Spanish weekly of the Austin American-Statesman. newspaper.

Also on hand at that memorable event were Jamey Gambrell, a writer on Russian art and culture, and Poet, scholar, translator, and editor, Kurt Heinzelman is Editor-at-Large of Bat City Review and former Director of Creative Writing at the University of Texas.

In addition to providing the Spanish text on works by Cisneros, Valenzuela has translated works by Julia Alvarez, Denise Chávez, Nina Marie Martínez, Ana Castillo, Dagoberto Gilb, Richard Rodríguez, Rudolfo Anaya, Cristina García, Gloria Anzaldúa, and many other writers.

Future Malvern Books events include an evening with Manuel Gonzales and Owen Egerton. The former is scheduled to read from his debut novel, The Regional Office is Under Attack!, which features a brilliantly conceived mythology, fantastical magical powers, teenage crushes, and kinetic fight scenes, as bookstore officials described. Eggerton is an Austin screenwriter, novelist and performer.

Gonzales and Egerton will read on Thursday, November 2nd, at 7 p.m. Malvern Books is located at 613 W 29th St., next door to the craft beer pub Growler USA.

Malvern Books fun fact: The store takes its name from from the Medieval poet William Langland and his epic “The Vision of Piers Plowman.” "It doesn’t get as much love these days as The Canterbury Tales or the chivalrous (but slightly behead-y) adventures of Sir Gawain, but it’s one of the most significant works of Middle English, and well worth a read if you like that sort of thing, i.e. mad quests, spiritual visions, and a trio of allegorical characters—Dowel (“Do-Well”), Dobet (“Do-Better”), and Dobest (“Do-Best”)—who could teach those wise monkeys a thing or two about proverbial threesomes," bookstore officials wrote on their website.

See what I mean?!?! Who knew? One really walks away learning something new at Malvern's Books — each and every time.

>>> Photos by Tony Cantú