A celebration of the literary and performing arts featuring acclaimed authors, actors, illustrators, musicians, and more.
Using fashion icon Jean Paul Gaultier's creative spirit as inspiration, six musicians respond to his collections in a one-of-a-kind, one-night-only performance with musical selections ranging from Mendelssohn and Madonna to Gershwin and Gaga. This marks the seventh collaboration with artistic programmer Ryan Taylor, who will create a multimedia extravaganza blending visuals of Gaultier's work with musical and literary excerpts designed to resonate with the imagination of the celebrated French couturier, designer, and social provocateur.
600-7:30 p.m. Ticketholders have the opportunity to view the exhibition The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk.
Dave Isay is the founder of StoryCorps, modeled after the WPA efforts to collect oral history. He is one of the best radio artisans in the business, and StoryCorps is heard on NPR weekly nationwide. Isay’s new book, All There Is, conveys stories of love and marriage.
In partnership with 
Actors Constance Gold Parry, Bryan Pitts, and Max Hartman read stories by Mary Ladd Gavell, David Haynes, Jack Handey, and Tim O’Brien.
Community Partner: Crow Collection of Asian Art
Maxine Hong Kingston, awarded both the National Book Critics Circle Award and the American Book Award and presented the National Humanities Medal by President Bill Clinton, will present her latest memoir I Love a Broad Margin to My Life.
Community Partner: 
Amor Towles and Richard Mason will transport us to a different time and place. Towles' new book, Rules of Civility, is set in Greenwich Village in 1938; two girls' chance encounter with a dashing young man will change their stations and test their social mores. Richard Mason is the bestselling author of The Drowning People. Mason's newest novel, History of a Pleasure Seeker, is set at the height of Europe's Belle Époque, in bourgeois Amsterdam. He tells a story of Piet Barol and his entry into a world of moneyed glamour and dangerous temptations.
Jeffrey Eugenides was catapulted into the literary spotlight with his first novel, The Virgin Suicides (made into a movie by director Sofia Coppola), and a decade later garnered a Pulitzer Prize for his novel, Middlesex. His new novel, The Marriage Plot, debuted on the New York Times Best Seller List.
Chip Kidd is described by USA Today as “the closest thing to a rock star” in graphic design. His iconic book covers have spawned a revolution in the art of American book packaging. The audience will take a peek behind the covers and hear about his creative process.
Actors Jane Kaczmarek, Isaiah Sheffer, and Michael Imperioli read stories by A.M. Homes, Lewis Robinson, and Stephen King.
Laura Numeroff wrote the #1 New York Times bestselling If You Give a Mouse a Cookie that began a series loved by children, parents and educators. Now her series, The Jellybeans, is capturing our hearts. She will present her new book, The Jellybeans and the Big Art Adventure, as part of this family-centric Late Night.
In partnership with 
Sarah Vowell makes both readers and listeners laugh out loud with her wry, comic observations on everything from politics to pop culture. Her distinctive voice has been heard not only on NPR’s This American Life, but also as the voice of Violet in the movie The Incredibles. Vowell’s books include Unfamiliar Fishes, Assassination Vacation, The Wordy Shipmates, and Take the Cannoli.
In partnership with Big Thought
At age 30, Jonah Lehrer is a popular science prodigy, having already published two books on modern brain science. A contributing editor at Wired, he's also written for the New Yorker and the New York Times. He will discuss his forthcoming book, Imagine: How Creativity Works.
Young writers ages 13-18 will explore the Mark Manders exhibition and then use Manders’ work and process as inspiration as they create their own poetry. The workshop will be led by Thomas Feulmer, Director of Educational Programming at the Rachofsky House, and Farid Matuk, author of three poetry collections and recipient of Ford and Fulbright Fellowships.
Sponsored by the Boshell Family Lecture Series on Archaeology
Madeline Miller’s love of ancient Greece was ignited at age five, when her mother began reading her the Greek myths. Miller’s debut novel, The Song of Achilles, has been praised by Ann Patchett as “at once a scholar’s homage to The Iliad and a startling original work of art by an incredibly talented new novelist.”
Actors Peri Gilpin, Barry Corbin, David Lozano, Lydia Mackay and Alex Organ read stories by Bill Porterfield, José Skinner, Justin Cronin, and Ellen DeGeneres.
Best-selling absurdist novelist Christopher Moore blends art and humor in his forthcoming book, Sacré Bleu. It is a tale of intrigue, passion, and art history filled with crusty bread, can-can girls, absinthe, Toulouse Lautrec, and many other French accoutrements.
Marc Brown is the author and illustrator of the best-selling series featuring the lovable aardvark, Arthur, the basis of the PBS series by the same name. At this event Brown share insights into his illustration technique and discuss a newly illustrated title, If All the Animals Came Inside; it explores what chaos and fun would occur if zoo animals suddenly became household pets.
Anne Enright, winner of the Man Booker Prize for The Gathering, shares the stage with Colum McCann, winner of the 2009 National Book Award for Let the Great World Spin.
Community Partner:
Judy Blume is beloved by generations of readers and is known for tackling challenging topics. Her thoughtful, funny, poignant titles include Freckle Juice and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Her first book in the timeless series about the indomitable Fudge, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
Paula McLain is the author of The Paris Wife, an instant New York Times bestseller, and a favorite among readers and critics alike. Readers of her book are immersed in the intoxicating world of Hadley and Ernest Hemingway in 1920s Paris.
In partnership with
Back again with new and unpublished material, David Sedaris returns for his fourth consecutive year with Arts & Letters Live. A bestselling author and widely popular speaker, Sedaris relishes the opportunity to share his stories with the audience and experience their reaction.
Actors Brad Leland and Steve Walters read stories by T. C. Boyle and Sarah Vowell. Final actor and author to be announced. Travel back to high school as we feature stories about football, family relationships, and the joys and sorrows of school, using the show Friday Night Lights as inspiration.
As an author of twenty-two works of nonfiction, it seems there is little that H. W. Brands doesn’t know about our country’s history. His newest book, The Heartbreak of Aaron Burr, is the second in his American Portraits series, a collection of books that “take moments and individuals who have interesting stories on their own, stories that are gripping in their own right, and use them to illuminate certain themes in American history.” Mark K. Updegrove has loved presidential history ever since he attended the U.S. Bicentennial celebration in 1976. Now the Director of the LBJ Library and Museum in Austin, his newest book is Indomitable Will: LBJ in the Presidency.
John Irving has created a body of fiction of extraordinary range, moving with ease from romance to fairytale to thriller. His first bestseller, The World According to Garp, won a National Book Award and was made into a movie starring Robin Williams. Irving will participate in a moderated onstage conversation to share insights about the body of his work and his new novel, In One Person, an absorbing novel of desire, secrecy, and sexual identity.
Ben Fountain has followed his award-winning short story collection, Brief Encounters with Che Guevara, with Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, a satirical novel about a reluctant Iraq War hero who finds himself at a Dallas Cowboys football game. Alexander Maksik’s novel, You Deserve Nothing, is a gripping story of power, idealism, and morality set in Paris at an international high school. Both authors are hailed as promising debut novelists, and this event promises thought-provoking exploration of moral dilemmas.
Community Partner: First Presbyterian Church of Dallas
Alan Lightman is a theoretical physicist as well as novelist best known for Einstein’s Dreams, which sold one million copies. His new work, Mr. g, a story of the creation, has been described as “a stunningly imaginative work that celebrates the tragic and joyous nature of existence on the grandest possible scale.”
Presented by: 
A FREE day of fun celebrating literature and the arts for families and children of all ages
