San Antonio Book Festival Releases The Moth Storyteller Lineup

We’re bringing back The Moth Mainstage as part of our 7th annual Book Festival weekend! The international storytelling show will feature five storytellers on The Majestic Theatre stage sharing notable experiences from their personal lives. Tickets are available on Ticketmaster and at the Majestic Theatre box office. This year’s theme is “Occasional Magic,” which is also the title of The Moth’s second book, featured at the Book Festival on Saturday in a session with Catherine Burns, The Moth’s Artistic Director.

 

“The Moth is thrilled to be back at the San Antonio Book Festival,” said Burns. “San Antonio is a magical city, and the Majestic is one of the most beautiful theaters in the country. It is always joyful sharing stories in front of an audience who loves books and reading as much as we folks at The Moth do.”

 

 

This year’s lineup will include a diverse assortment of five storytellers: a visual artist from the Eastern Shawnee Nation of Oklahoma; a mountain guide, comedian, and storyteller; a Mexico native and bestselling author; an acclaimed novelist; and an award-winning designer. San Antonio native David Crabb will emcee this year’s event and introduce the newly revealed lineup.

“We love our bragging rights that we were the ones who brought this incredible program to San Antonio,” said Lilly Gonzalez, SABF’s Executive Director. “Book Festival weekend is all about celebrating books and the stories within them. That’s what makes our partnership with The Moth so perfect. At The Moth, storytelling is given the spotlight. I can’t recommend this program enough to people.”

The Moth Mainstage is on Friday, April 5 at 7 p.m. at The Majestic Theatre located at 224 E. Houston Street. General Admission tickets range from $25-$45. VIP tickets are $100 and include admission to the exclusive afterparty held at the Hotel Valencia with The Moth storytellers and producers, San Antonio Book Festival authors, and complimentary food and beverages. The San Antonio Book Festival will be on Saturday, April 6. 

About the Host

David Crabb is a writer, actor, Moth host, and storyteller in Los Angeles. His solo  show BAD KID was named a New York Times Critics’ Pick. Bad Kid, the memoir, was released in 2015 by Harper Perennial. David’s stories can be heard on The Moth, NPR, Buzzfeed & Risk! He has directed and taught storytelling in the U.S., Australia, Ireland, and Canada with The Moth, The Story Studio and Upright Citizens Brigade. He is currently a professor of Autobiographical Performance & Storytelling at Occidental College in LA, where he’s performed the solo shows $1800, Whoever You Are I Hope You’re Okay, and US & Them & Me & You. You can find him at @thedavidcrabb on all the things, where he posts about his favorite things: storytelling, fancy coffee, The Smiths, his husband Jack and their dog Frankie. 

About the Storytellers

Alistair Bane is a citizen of the Eastern Shawnee Nation of Oklahoma and currently resides in Denver Colorado. Besides being a storyteller he is also a visual artist. He makes dance regalia, quilts and paints. In 2016 he was a resident artist for the Denver Art Museum’s Native American Arts Program. In his spare time he enjoys rehabilitating feral rez dogs, which is a much more relaxing hobby than it might sound like, as long as you don’t mind a tiny bit of growling.

Monte Montepare is a mountain guide, comedian and storyteller who grew up in Breckenridge, Colorado. At the ripe age of 20, he and his best friend moved into his truck and drove to Alaska. For the better part of the last decade, he lived in McCarthy, AK taking people on the adventures of a lifetime as one of the co-owners of Kennicott Wilderness Guides. Even though he’s based out of LA these days, the Wrangell Mountains will always feel like home. He’s a three-time Moth StorySLAM Winner, a Moth GrandSLAM Champion and was recently Keynote Presenter at the 2018 Ouray Ice Climbing Festival.

Reyna Grande is originally from Mexico and the author of the bestselling memoir, The Distance Between Us, (Atria, 2012) and its much-anticipated sequel, A Dream Called Home (2018). Her other works include the novels, Across a Hundred Mountains, (2006) and Dancing with Butterflies (2009). Her books have been adopted as the common read selection by high schools, colleges/universities, and cities across the country.  Reyna has received an American Book Award, the El Premio Aztlán Literary Award, and the International Latino Book Award. In 2012, she was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Awards, and in 2015 she was honored with a Luis Leal Award for Distinction in Chicano/Latino Literature. The young reader’s version of The Distance Between Us received a 2017 Honor Book Award for the Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature and a 2016 Eureka! Honor Awards from the California Reading Association, and an International Literacy Association Children’s Book Award 2017. Currently, she teaches creative writing at writing conferences, travels across the country and abroad to give presentations about her books, and is at work on a novel set during the Mexican-American War.

Ernesto Quiñonez is an acclaimed novelist and a product of public education from kindergarten to his Masters at the City College of New York. His latest novel “Taina” about a teenage immaculate conception in Spanish Harlem will be published by Random House on September of 2019. He is a Sundance Fellow and an Associate Professor at Cornell University.

Lori Weitzner, principal and Creative Director of Lori Weitzner Design, is internationally known for her contributions to the world of textiles, wall coverings, rugs and other products for interiors.  Expanding upon her textile background, she has recently launched a jewelry and accessory line under her own name. Her work is in the permanent collections of such museums as the Cooper-Hewitt in New York and The Victoria Albert in London. She is the recipient of more than twenty-five prestigious design awards and her work is featured regularly in the media, including Elle Décor, Architectural Digest, and The New York Times. She recently authored her first book, Ode to Color, The Ten Essential Palates for Living and Design, published by Harper Collins and lectures around the world on the effects of color on our well being. She lives in New York City with her husband Mike and daughters Emma and Sophie.