Mitch Albom’s much-anticipated new novel is a stunning love story about magical second chances called Twice (Harper, October 2025), which dares to explore how our unchecked desires might mean losing what we’ve had all along.

The 2025 First Edition Literary Gala will be held at the Fairmont Austin on Friday, November 7, at 6 PM. The black-tie cocktail reception and dinner will celebrate books and reading, featuring speeches from eight-time #1 New York Times bestseller Mitch Albom, twenty-fourth U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, and Ford Foundation President Darren Walker, with the evening emceed by The Stacks podcast host Traci Thomas. Attendees can mingle with book lovers and supporters of the literary arts as well as award-winning authors and members of the Texas literary community.

30 YEARS OF OPEN BOOKS & OPEN MINDS

30 years ago, Laura Bush founded Texas Book Festival with the intent of supporting the state’s public libraries and establishing the first literary festival in Texas. Today, the annual event is a stage and playground for readers of all ages and interests to voyage beyond the page to engage in meaningful, important conversations with the authors they admire most. By attending the First Edition Literary Gala, you join the rich tapestry of supporters who continue making this vision of a literary state stronger and truer—a tapestry as big and bright as the constellation of stars that define Texas.

Thanks to 30 years of your support, TBF has distributed more than $3.7 million in library grant funding via Texas Library Grants, donated 180,000+ books to Title I elementary school Reading Rock Stars students, and served 5,000+ Real Reads teens. As Texas Book Festival’s primary fundraiser, this impact is made possible by Gala attendees and supporters like you.