David Bowles didn’t dream of writing books, but he always wanted to tell stories.

The McAllen native grew up sitting at the feet of his grandmother, hearing the stories and folktales, which grow plentifully on both sides of the Rio Grande Valley.

“She was living by herself in this little trailer in a trailer park in South McAllen. We would get dropped off over the summer on Saturdays to supposedly keep her company, and she would tell us these incredible stories. You know, spooky, creepy stories. Because we were all boys, and we just loved that,” Bowles said.

His grandmother blended the Southern Gothic stories of Texas with Mexican folklore.

“That unique voice made me want to find my own way to tell the stories,” he said. “I began to imagine taking the stories I had grown up with and putting them into books.”

Today Bowles has written over 40 books, many of which retell or weave new stories into the myths and folktales he grew up hearing. The author uses several types of genres and mediums to tell his stories. His award-winnining works include children’s book, poetry collections, graphic novels and anthologies.

“Eventually I got married and had kids and had to tell stories to my children,” Bowles said. “I really began to realize just how important stories are for family cohesion and community.”

The Power of Myth

The Rio Grande Valley, Bowles argued, is often overlooked by Texas writers. His work focuses on “rootedness” — being rooted to a place, namely the Valley — and being rooted to culture, both Mexican and Texan cultures as well as the Mexican-American culture.

“Growing up in a transnational community, growing up bilingual, growing up bicultural definitely has informed the kinds of things that I choose to write about,” he said.

He enjoys writing about mythologies, or sacred stories as he called them.

“Sacred stories are all about contemplating the place of human beings in the greater cosmos and trying to think of ‘Who we are.’ ‘How did we get here? ‘What’s our responsibility to the cosmos?’ I think that mythology is just a really good way to think about that,” Bowles said.

He finds the insights pulled from folktales and sacred stories are especially helpful for children and young people. Bowles gave the example of Llarona, the wailing women. The Latin American folktale is a cautionary tale of a woman who drowns her children after discovering her husband’s infidelity.

“There’s a version of that story, in nearly every single town throughout the Southwest,” Bowles said. “But all the stories are about the social contract: ‘What does marriage mean in the community?’ ‘What does it mean when that contract is broken?’ ‘How does it impact the entire community.’ Each iteration, each place, brings something new out about these stories.”

Changing the Narrative Even the most retold stories evolve over time. They change depending on the setting or speaker.

Before writing his adventure fantasy book “The Garza Twins,” Bowles had been intrigued by the idea of the Aztec Underworld. Two of his children are especially close and he wondered how their relationship might look if they were twins. He wove in the story of Nagual, a human who can shapeshift into animals, which he learned from his days in the McAllen trailer park.

“Stories are always, always about what matters to the writer in a particular moment,” Bowles said. “It’s the way to work through issues or or to gain understanding, or to impart understandings to other people.”

The author teaches creative writing, children’s literature and Nahuatl, an Aztec language, at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He also runs the English Education Program, where he teaches future educators.

He currently serves as the President of the Texas Institute of Letters. Through his activism work he helped negotiate greater Latinx representation in publishing.

Bowles loves when teachers reach out, saying they used one of his books to teach students about a new folktale or culture.

“My primary audience might be, you know, people who are like me. I want to gift their heritage in written form,” he said. But, I definitely want everybody to thrill to these stories. They are in their specificity, universal.”

Festival details

The 2026 festival will be hosted in three locations — Pioneer Memorial Library, St. Joseph’s Halle and the Gillespie County Historical Society’s Sanctuary. A complimentary trolley will

Other books by Bowles

Ghosts of the Rio Grande Valley The Garza Twins Series My Two Border Towns

shuttle attendees among the three venues.

There will be hands-on activities for children and teens, plus a pop-up appearance by Pete the Cat at the library.

At the sanctuary, special guest Typewriter Rodeo will be creating free custom, on-the-spot poems on vintage typewriters, based on whatever topic is requested.

This year, many Main Street restaurants will have specials for festivalgoers who show their book festival attendee badge.

For information about volunteering at the festival, sponsorship opportunities and donating to Friends of the Written Word, email fredericksburgtxbookfestival@ gmail.com or visit

Ancient Night 13th Street Series The Prince & the Coyote The Witch Owl Parliament

fredericksburgbookfestival. org.

About Friends of the Written Word

The Fredericksburg Book Festival promotes literacy, facilitates connection between authors and readers, and celebrates public libraries as a fun and inviting center of discovery, community and conversation. The Fredericksburg Book Festival is a function of the Friends of the Written Word Inc., a 501(c)3 organization.

Annie Bresee is a Report for America corps member who writes about agriculture, conservation, water and environmental issues for the Standard-Radio Post.