NBF Presents: Worldbuilding Past, Present & Future

Join us for the annual celebration of National Book Award–honored authors at Sam Houston State University! Laird Hunt (Zorrie, 2021 Fiction Finalist), Erin Entrada Kelly (The First State of Being, 2024 Young People’s Literature Finalist), and Octavio Quintanilla (The Book of Wounded Sparrows, 2024 Poetry Longlister) will read from their most recent works and join together in a cross-genre conversation about the places, people, and time periods that inspire their books. Moderated by francine j. harris, author of three poetry collections, 2025 John Simon Guggenheim Fellow, and Professor of English, University of Houston. Presented in partnership with Sam Houston State University, and sponsored by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the MFA Program in Creative Writing, Editing, and Publishing.