PLA Announces Keynote Speakers for National Conference

Several prominent authors will provide keynote addresses during the upcoming Public Library Association (PLA) National Conference, "PLA 2004." The conference will be held February 24-28, 2004, in Seattle, Washington. Scheduled events include:

Preconference Luncheon - Tuesday, February 24, 2004

The preconference author luncheon will feature E. Ethelbert Miller. An award-winning poet, commentator, and educator, Miller also is the author of several books including "Beyond the Frontier," "Fathering Words: The Making of an African-American Writer," "Buddha Weeping in Winter," and many others. Tickets are $35 for this event.

Opening General Session - Wednesday, February 25, 2004

Novelist and Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Anna Quindlen will keynote the PLA 2004 Opening General Session. Quindlen's novels include the critically acclaimed "Blessings," "Object Lessons," and "One True Thing," as well as "Black and Blue," which was an Oprah Winfrey Book Club selection. Both "Living Out Loud" and "Thinking Out Loud," collections of Quindlen's Op-Ed columns for the ' New York Times,' were instant bestsellers, as was her popular "A Short Guide to a Happy Life." Quindlen's current column, "The Last Word," appears biweekly in ' Newsweek.'

Closing Session - Saturday, February 28, 2004

Poet, writer, and film producer Sherman Alexie will keynote the PLA 2004 Closing Session. Alexie published his first book, "The Business of Fancydancing," in 1992. His collection of short stories, "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven," was a citation winner for the PEN/Hemmingway Award for Best First Fiction and his novels, "Reservation Blues" (1995)," and "Indian Killer"(1998), also received critical acclaim. His most recent book, "The Toughest Indian in the World," was published in 2001. He is currently working on a screenplay for his novel, "Reservation Blues," which he will also direct and co-produce.

Author Luncheons - Thursday, February 26, and Friday, February 27

On Thursday Linda K. Rath, curriculum director for "Between the Lions," and Christopher Cerf, author, television producer, and cofounder of the educational television production company, Sirius Thinking, Ltd. will keynote the children's author luncheon. Thursday's adult author luncheon speaker is unconfirmed at this time. Friday's Luncheon speakers include Harlan Coben, author of the best-sellers "Tell No One" and "Gone For Good," and Young Adult novelist, Nancy Farmer, whose books "The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm" and "A Girl Named Disaster" were named Newbery Award Honor Books. Tickets are $35.

Seattle Supper

This year PLA will host a "Seattle Supper" on Thursday evening, February 26, at 6:00 p.m. The speakers for this informal dinner will be novelists Jayne Ann Krentz, J.A. Jance, and narrator Dick Hill. Preregistration is required for the Seattle Supper; tickets are $45.

For more information, please contact the PLA office at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 5752, or www.pla.org

PLA is a division of the American Library Association. Copyright Statement.