We are thrilled to honor four stars at this year’s event: the award-winning author Laura van den Berg will receive the Literary Star award for her spellbinding and exquisite new novel The Third Hotel; Elizabeth McCracken, a masterful writer in her own right, will receive the Gold Star award for outstanding teaching and mentorship; Fernando A. Flores, an up-and-coming writer with two books on the way, will receive the Emerging Star award for writers in Texas; and S. Kirk Walsh, the founder of Austin Bat Cave and leader of the 9-month workshop, will receive the Community Star award for her generous service to Austin’s literary legions. Her honors include the Bard Fiction Prize, the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Pushcart Prize, an O.