The Austinite Putting Texas Book Festival Together

Meet Hannah Gabel, the literary director for the Texas Book Festival. The festival is this weekend in downtown Austin. We caught up with Gabel to learn about the festival and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What's your favorite book?

“My all time favorite book I would say is The Alchemist. It's just such an inspiring and wise story that I try to read once a year.”

Let's walk a mile in your boots. What do you do on an average day? What does that look like for you?

“I spend a lot of time connecting with publicists and authors. Right now, we're kind of working on getting all the final details and information out to authors and answering questions from publicists (for the festival). That's really kind of year-round.

Once the festival's over, early in 2025, I'll be focused more on reading 2025 releases. Reading is certainly a very big part of my job, which is great, because I love to read.”

Why does expanding access to literature matter to you?

“I've always felt that reading is one of the reasons I personally love reading so much, and obviously there's tons of statistics that show kids who read do better in school and are more empathetic and so on and so forth. For me personally, I feel like reading gives you the ability to view the world through someone else's eyes.

Whether you're reading fiction or non-fiction, I think there's so much we can learn about people, communities, identities, and life experiences that are different from our own through books and generally becoming more knowledgeable about people, places, or things that you weren't previously familiar with. I think it leads to a deeper sense of empathy and understanding.

For that reason, I genuinely feel the world would be a far better place if more people were avid readers.”