Leonard Kniffel among featured authors at ALTAFF Gala Author Tea, sponsored by ReferenceUSA at ALA Midwinter Meeting

PHILADELPHIA - The Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations (ALTAFF), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), will host the Gala Author Tea, featuring former American Libraries Editor-in-Chief Leonard Kniffel, from 2 to 4 p.m. CST on Monday, Jan. 23 at the 2012 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Dallas.

The Gala Author Tea will also feature Kim Edwards, Erin Duffy, Pam Houston and Taylor Stevens. Attendees will enjoy tea, finger sandwiches and a variety of sweet treats. Some books will be given away, while others will be available for purchase at a generous discount. The National Friends of Libraries Week Awards will be presented during the tea. This event is sponsored by ReferenceUSA. Tickets will remain at the discounted rate ($49, $45 ALTAFF division members) through Jan. 13.

Leonard Kniffel ("Reading with the Stars: A Celebration of Books and Libraries," Skyhorse, 2011) was editor-in-chief of American Libraries magazine from 1996 to 2011. He is also creator and publisher of the "@ your library" public awareness website and the author of "A Polish Son in the Motherland: An American’s Journey Home," a travel memoir.

Kim Edwards ("The Lake of Dreams," Penguin, 2011) is the author of "The Memory Keeper’s Daughter" and a collection of short stories, "The Secrets of a Fire King," which was an alternate for the 1998 PEN/Hemingway Award. She has won numerous awards, including a Whiting Award, a British Book Award and the Nelson Algren Award. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she currently teaches writing at the University of Kentucky. She lives in Lexington, Ky., with her husband and daughters.

Erin Duffy ("Bond Girl," William Morrow/HarperCollins, 2012) graduated from Georgetown University in 2000 with a B.A. in English and went on to spend more than a decade working in fixed income sales on Wall Street. "Bond Girl" is her first novel.

Pam Houston ("Contents May Have Shifted," W.W. Norton, 2012), is the author of two collections of linked short stories, "Cowboys Are My Weakness" and "Waltzing the Cat," the novel "Sight Hound" and a collection of essays called "A Little More About Me," all published by W.W. Norton. She is the director of creative writing at University of California, Davis.

Taylor Stevens ("The Innocent," Crown/Random House, 2011) is The New York Times best-selling author of "The Informationist." The first novel featuring Vanessa Michael Munroe, "The Informantionist" received critical acclaim and has sold in 17 foreign territories. Raised in communes across the globe and denied an education beyond the sixth grade, Taylor Stevens broke free of the Children of God and now lives in Texas. She's at work on a third Munroe novel.

Advance tickets to the Gala Author Tea, which will be available though Jan. 13, cost $49 ($45 ALTAFF division members); the event code is CFL2. On-site tickets will cost $55, if seats are available.

For more information about the Gala Author Tea and other ALTAFF events at the ALA Midwinter Meeting, visit http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/altaff/events_conferences/midwinter.

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ALTAFF is a division of the American Library Association that supports citizens who govern, promote, advocate, and fundraise for libraries. ALTAFF brings together library Trustees, advocates, Friends, and Foundations into a partnership that creates a powerful force for libraries in the 21st century. For more information, visit www.ala.org/altaff, or contact Jillian Kalonick at (312) 280-2161 or jkalonick@ala.org.