Festival events
FRIDAY
EVENING FESTIVAL EVENTS
Kick-off night at Ruins – 6:00 PM
sponsored by the Southwest Review
As the largest publisher of translated literature in the United States, bringing global stories and perspectives to readers has long been at the heart of Deep Vellum’s work. We are excited to kickoff the Deep Vellum Music & Literature Festival with a night that celebrates Latin American translation and Latin music. This celebratory night at Ruins starts with a panel sponsored by the Southwest Review, where Editor-in-Chief Greg Brownderville will lead a conversation with Carmen Boullosa, Rodrigo Hasbún, and Robin Myers – literary figures with work published by both Deep Vellum and the Southwest Review. This conversation will be followed by performances by Ceci Ceci, a Nicaraguan singer-songwriter, and Cumbia band Cayuga All-Stars.
SATURDAY
DAYTIME FESTIVAL ACTIVATIONS
Poets of Dallas – 10:45 AM to 4:00 PM
A continuous poetry reading for the public featuring a lineup of over 20 poets from the Dallas area. Deep Vellum's programming work is intrinsically tied to the talent of writers here in Dallas, and these poets are a pillar of our arts community. Their readings will be ongoing in the courtyard outside of Poets Books in Deep Ellum, activating the space with a certain literary magic as their poetry spills out to the street for everyone passing by to experience. We consider this reading an opportunity to move the art of poetry beyond traditional venues and into the public eye, encouraging visitors to linger and build community through a shared cultural experience.
The Poets of Dallas event is supported in part by the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.
Deep Ellum Art Co. Music Stage – 12:00 to 5:00 PM
Pop in throughout the day on July 11 to watch North Texas music artists Sam Cormier, Mollie Danel & Kirk Thurmond, Mayhill, Frances Moth and Team Effort perform at this iconic Deep Ellum venue.
K.Co Press Reading Lounge @Kettle Art
Read more art. K.Co Press partners with Deep Ellum’s storied Kettle Art gallery to create a relaxing, inspiring Reading Lounge during the Deep Vellum Music & Literature Festival.
Deep Ellum has long been Dallas’ artistic center, and fascinating stories flow from the neighborhood’s rich history. At the K.Co Reading Lounge, festival attendees can browse and books on Texas art, history, and culture; and purchase a book, zine or print. The Reading Lounge will host panel discussions with a selection of K.Co’s authors and book subjects throughout the day, offering closer looks at the city’s art scene — in Deep Ellum specifically — with Jason Hensel, Frank Campagna, and Kettle artists, and little known moments of calamity and crime in the city’s history with Dallas artist Brad Ford Smith.
The K.Co Press Reading Lounge @Kettle Art will be open throughout the day on July 11.
DAYTIME FESTIVAL EVENTS
EARLY RISERS – 10:30 AM
a Little Engines morning reading
Start your Saturday with a reading with Adam Voith, Kyle Seibel, Harold Rogers, Sean Thor Conroe, and Mike Nagel. There will be coffee, there will be donuts, there will be wild words and good vibes. Do not miss EARLY RISERS. Get your worm, birds.
Nations Reshaped – 11:00 AM
presented by the Texas Book Festival
It may be tempting to think of a national identity as a fixed thing, but societal, political, and demographic norms are constantly evolving, shifting the cultures of nations. This panel will feature Karan Mahajan, author of The Complex (Viking), whose characters must reckon with the cost of power, the weight of tradition, and the shifting nature of love and allegiance as India erupts in violence and long-buried secrets come to light; and Maria Reva, the whose novel Endling (Vintage) follows an eccentric Ukrainian scientist breeding rare snails and sisters trying to find their activist mother – as Russia invades, they embark on a wild journey with kidnapped bachelors and a last-of-its-kind snail. Join us for a conversation on stories set in nations that are in the process of being reshaped.
Classics Revisited – 12:00 PM
There are literary works and fables whose influence have reverberated in the public consciousness for generations. Phantoms of the themes and characterizations present in these classics often find their way into contemporary literary works, underscoring the ways humans grapple with shared fascinations throughout our many eras. This panel will feature Ethan Rutherford, whose novel North Sun (A Strange Object) offers allegory of extraction and a tale of adventure and endurance during the waning days of the American whaling industry; and Anders Nilsen, whose graphic novel Tongues (Pantheon) retells the Greek myth of Prometheus, set in a version of modern Central Asia. Join us for a conversation on how modern writers wield and reshape our mythologies.
1storypod – 1:00 PM
Podcasts are now on video, but more important, this podcast is now live, for you. Enjoy the live theater of podcasting with the boys of 1storypod, Sean Thor Conroe and Harold Rogers. Sean Thor Conroe is the author of Fuccboi (Little, Brown), a novel that explores masculinity through its titular character, Sean, “as he attempts to live meaningfully in a world that doesn’t seem to need him.” Harold Rogers is the author of Tropicália (Atria), a novel that follows a family matriarch on her return to Brazil after years away, and the secrets that are brought to light in her homecoming.
Crafting Humanity – 1:00 PM
How does the writing process take into account the identities of its characters, in their dialogue, in their story arcs, at the line level of descriptors? Who should tell whose stories, and how can you build a world on the page that reflects the diversity of society and the complexities of the individual? These are big questions, and how a writer confronts them is woven throughout the mechanics of their craft, including plot, characterization, and point-of-view. This panel will feature Alex Temblador, whose book Writing an Identity Not Your Own (St. Martin’s Essentials) provides a practical guide to help authors authentically write and edit a character whose identity is different than their own; and LaToya Watkins, whose forthcoming novel The Book of Chuck (Tiny Reparations), set across Texas and spanning four generations, is a gimlet-eyed investigation into birthright and belonging through the story of one family in which certain members have clairvoyant powers. Join us for a conversation on how writers can develop characters thoughtfulling and respectfully.
False Prophet Book Launch with Afsheen Farhadi – 2:00 PM
Join us for a reading and conversation with debut novelist, Afsheen Farhadi. This former SMU Hughes Fellow’s new novel, False Prophet (Melville House), follows a grieving actor-turned-memoirist who reimagines his mother’s encounter with Jim Jones, the deadliest cult leader of all time—the only problem is, it’s mostly all lies. The pull of Hollywood and cults, the slippery slope of clouded judgements, and the mysteries of heritage come together in False Prophet.
David Marquis performs The River – 2:00 PM
with Denise Lee
Dallas writer and activist David Maquis will perform a reading of his River Trilogy (Deep Vellum), a collection of lyrical essays which offer hope in troubled times and a call for a more just and sustainable world. He will be accompanied in his reading by award-winning vocalist Denise Lee.
End of Earth – 3:00 PM
How would one hold on at the end of a human-dominated Earth? This panel will feature Mary Helen Specht, author of Mudlark (Ballantine Books), a dystopian novel about the fall of a troubled rockstar, her long-lost solo album, and her daughter’s epic search for redemption in the ruins of New York City; and Sasha West, a poet whose collection How to Abandon Ship (Four Way Books), wrestles with the state of the world as its speaker prepares to bring new life into it. These works examine the best and worst of human influence – our art, our compassion, our grit, our hubris, our plundering, our violence – and life beyond the end of earth as we know it.
On Wandering – 3:00 PM
Movement across space has long been a condition of the human experience. Our nomadic sensibilities continue to shape individual and global stories as humans move from place to place in pursuit of safety, security, and discovery. From tales such as The Odyssey and Jack Kerouac's On the Road to Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West, these themes of wandering and expulsion continue to be driving forces in our literature. This panel will feature Yu-Mei Balasingamchow, whose new novel Names Have Been Changed (Tiny Reparations) sees a woman start a confessional podcast about her years on the run around the globe; and Uchenna Awoke, whose novel A Siege of Owls (Catapult) wields folklore and magical realism as it follows a Nigerian man through savannas, deserts, and conflict zones, and into the heart of a nation’s unraveling. As our collective conversations around migration become increasingly urgent, join us for this conversation on our literary wanderings, and how they mold our spirits and perspectives.
On Filth Eaters and Chicano Horror – 4:30 PM
In celebration of Ito Romo’s debut vampire novel, Filth Eaters (Deep Vellum), join for a conversation with the author that delves into the Chicano horror tradition and the lure and infamy of the literary vampire. Hopping back and forth in time from the Indus River Delta in 1099 to the Muslim Spanish empire of the 1400s to a flooded cyberpunk New York City of the future, Filth Eaters pulls at the threads of empire, greed, and climate collapse, but the beating, bloody heart of the story is our very human desire for the love that gives life meaning.
A Community of Artists | Kettle Art Gallery
Dallas is known for many things. The Cowboys, JR, and Dealey Plaza, to name a few. But the city has a deep, rich artistic history that is just as memorable but largely under the radar. Jason Hensel, author of For The Love (K.Co Press 2025) and Kettle Art gallery owner, muralist, and “Godfather of Deep Ellum” Frank Campagna, will host a discussion exploring Deep Ellum’s art scene, how it’s developed, where it’s going and the meaningful impacts that Kettle’s community of artists have made on it.
Drawing The Past | An Artist’s Vision of Dallas True Crime, Calamity and Mayhem
Many stories lurk beneath the surface in Dallas. Any given street corner can hide a turbulent history of crime, misfortune, and catastrophe. Through meticulous research and study, artist and author Brad Ford Smith has uncovered dozens of little-known, calamitous events in the city’s history, most dating back more than a century. He lays them all out in his book Where To Find A Ghost (K.Co Press 2025,) which combines the stories with Brad’s signature India and walnut ink drawings. In his session at the Reading Lounge, Brad will share some of the stories and dark Dallas history he’s uncovered, along with his unique process for bringing them to life.
EVENING FESTIVAL EVENTS
Hanif Abdurraqib and Jamila Woods at Sons of Hermann Hall – 6:00 PM
Join us for our headliner event at the historic Sons of Hermann Hall. Acclaimed poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib will perform a headliner reading, followed by a conversation with writer, editor, and culture critic Lawrence Burney. Dallas musician, composer, and singer DAMOYEE will provide the opening performance for headliner poet and singer-songwriter Jamila Woods.
SUNDAY
DAYTIME FESTIVAL EVENTS
Sunday Morning Poetry with D-CLAIM – 11:00 AM
Poets Oksana Lutsyshyna, Robin Myers, and Sophia Terazawa will be joined by jazz collective D-CLAIM for a morning of poetry and music performed in concert with one another.