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The Book Festival is proud to present its annual Literary Feast: the Book Appétit luncheon featuring JAMES McBRIDE, novelist, musician, composer, screenwriter, and winner of many accolades, including the National Book Award for Good Lord Bird. His most recent book is Deacon King Kong, a NYT bestseller, Oprah’s Book Club pick, and one of TIME‘s must-read books of 2020. This event, benefiting the 11th anniversary of the Book Festival at the Witte Museum’s Mays Family Center, is not to be missed!
SPECIAL THANKS:
Honorary Chairs: Cathy Obriotti Green, James Lifshutz, and Jordan Vexler Shannon
Event Chairs: Sherry and Ed Layman
Event Committee: Alejandra and Mac Altgelt • Tracey Bennett • Stephanie Dodge Bigley and Ryan Bigley • Jenny Browne and Scott Martin • Heather Ford Caussade & Luke Caussade • Tisha and Chuck Cortines • Dena Dalton • Katy & Ted Flato • Liecie & Nick Hollis • Jennifer Lloyd • Marcia Logan & Dan Goodgame • Anne and Chuck Parrish • Angela & Trey Rabke • Suzi Rathbone • Josie & Frates Seeligson • Shannon and David Stephens
We are no longer selling seats to this event.
About James McBride
James McBride is a novelist, musician, composer, screenwriter, and winner of many accolades, including the National Book Award. He also received the National Humanities Medal in 2015 “for humanizing the complexities of discussing race in America;” has toured as a saxophonist sideman with jazz legend Jimmy Scott; and is a distinguished writer in residence at New York University. McBride grew up in the Sixties in a Brooklyn, N.Y. housing project where his father had started the New Brown Memorial Baptist Church. A fictionalized version of that church, Five Ends Baptist, anchors and animates Deacon King Kong, a rollicking tale set spinning in 1969 when an elderly, alcoholic deacon, called Sportcoat—King Kong is Sportcoat’s favorite home-brewed hooch—shoots the most notorious drug dealer in the history of the local housing projects. As the highly robust story deepens, McBride brings to vivid life characters—neighbors, church members, local cops, Italian mobsters—whose stories are unique but whose struggles are universal, and that makes this a novel about all of us. In Deacon King Kong, McBride entertains us and shows us both the beauty and the ugliness of humanity.
TABLE SPONSOR LEVELS
PEN/Faulkner Sponsor ($2,500)
– One (1) table for ten guests
– Sponsor recognition on event program (time permitting) and website
– Complimentary valet parking for all guests
National Book Award Sponsor ($5,000)
– Everything included in the PEN/Faulkner Sponsor level
– Two (2) tickets to the private Epilogue author party Saturday evening following the 11th annual Book Festival on April 15, 2023
Pulitzer Sponsor ($10,000)
– Everything included in the National Book Award Sponsor level
– Private reception with James McBride prior to the program for ten (10) guests
– Two (2) tickets to the private Author Breakfast on Saturday morning before the 11th annual Book Festival on April 15, 2023
Kirkus Prize Sponsor ($15,000)
– Everything included in the Pulitzer Sponsor level
– Invitation for two (2) to private receptions at year-round SABF events
– Two (2) VIP passes to the 11th annual Book Festival, including reserved seating at all venues, access to the VIP room, and VIP parking
Nobel Sponsor ($25,000)
– Everything included in the Kirkus Prize Sponsor level
– Two (2) tickets to a Book It! luncheon with a featured author on Friday, April 14, 2023
– Recognition as Major Sponsors of the 11th annual San Antonio Book Festival
