Contact: Mary Davis Fournier
Project Director
312-280-5056
mfournier@ala.org
For Immediate Release
May 9, 2007
PPO and YALSA co-present LIVE! @ your library Reading Stage
Sherman Alexie, Donna Leon, Lois Lowry, Nick Hornby, Dinaw Mengestu and other award winning authors read from their works at the 2007 ALA Annual Conference
CHICAGO - The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, in cooperation with the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of ALA, will present the 13th annual LIVE! @ your library Reading Stage during the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., June 21-27.
Twenty-four award winning authors and poets from across the country will read from their works at the Washington Convention Center on Saturday, June 23, Sunday, June 24 and Monday June 25, from noon to 4 p.m. Monday’s stage will feature new and favorite young adult authors, in celebration of YALSA’s 50th anniversary. The LIVE! Stage will be located in aisle 2600 of the exhibition hall.
On Saturday, June 23, award winning author Sherman Alexie will kick off the LIVE! Stage at noon with a reading from his first young adult novel, the forthcoming “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” (Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2007). On Sunday, June 24, the LIVE! Stage will open at noon with a reading by Lois Lowry, two-time Newbery Medal winner, YALSA’s 2007 Margaret A. Edwards Award winner, and author of 34 young adult books. On Monday, June 25, the LIVE! Stage will begin an afternoon of readings by young adult authors, starting at noon with Carolyn Mackler, winner of a 2004 Michael L. Printz Honor for “The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things” and author of several young adult novels including the forthcoming “Guyaholic: A Story of Finding, Flirting, Forgetting… and the Boy Who Changes Everything” (Candlewick, 2007).
Other authors appearing on the LIVE! Stage on Saturday, June 23, are Dave Isay, founder of StoryCorps and author of four books including “Listening is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Lives from the StoryCorps Project” (Penguin Group USA, 2007), co-presented with American Libraries magazine, at 12:30 p.m.; Donna Leon, author of the best-selling mystery series featuring Guido Brunetti, including the recent “Suffer the Little Children: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery” (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2007) at 1:00 p.m.; Anosh Irani, playwright and author of the recent “The Song of Kahunsha” (Milkweed, 2007) at 1:30 p.m.; Laura Morarity, who will read from her second novel “The Rest of Her Life” (Hyperion, 2007) at 2:00 p.m.; Tim Farrington, author of four critically acclaimed novels and the recent “The Monk Upstairs” (HarperSanFrancisco, 2007) at 2:30 p.m.; Kelly Link, editor and author of many short stories, including two recent collections, “Stranger Things Happen” and “Magic for Beginners” (Small Beer Press, 2006) at 3:00 p.m.; and poet Naomi Ayala, whose work has appeared in numerous journals, anthologies of contemporary Latino writing, and in the of poetry “Wild Animals on the Moon” (Curbstone Press, 2007) at 3:30 p.m.
On Sunday, June 24, other authors and poets will read from their works, including Nina Lindsey, librarian in the Children’s Room at the Oakland Public Library and author of the book of poetry “Today’s Special Dish” (Sixteen Rivers Press, 2007) at 12:30 p.m.; Steve Almond, author of several works of fiction including “(Not That You Asked) Rants, Exploits, and Obsessions” (Random House, 2007) at 1:00 p.m.; John Shors, author of the debut novel “Beneath a Marble Sky” (NAL, 2006) at 1:30 p.m.; Claire Cook, author of “Must Love Dogs” (Viking Adult, 2002), which was the basis for the film of the same name, and the forthcoming “Life’s a Beach” (Hyperion, 2007) at 2:00 p.m.; Dinaw Mengestu, author of the debut novel “The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears” (Riverhead Books, 2007) at 2:30 p.m.; John Clinch, author of the debut novel “Finn” (Random House, 2007) at 3:00 p.m.; and Keir Graff, senior editor of Booklist Online and author of “My Fellow Americans” (Severn House, 2007) at 3:30 p.m.
On Monday, June 25, young adult authors will read from their recent works, including Nick Hornby, New York Times best-selling author of such internationally acclaimed books as “High Fidelity” and “About a Boy,” as well as “Slam” (Penguin Young Readers Group, 2007), his first novel for young adults, at 12:30 p.m.; Cecil Castellucci, author of four young adult novels including “The PLAIN Janes” (DC Comics, 2007), a nominee for YALSA’s 2008 Great Graphic Novels for Teens list, at 1:00 p.m.; Tiffany Trent, author of “In the Serpent’s Coils” (Mirrorstone, 2007) at 1:30 p.m.; Barry Lyga, author of “The Astonishing Adventures of Fan Boy and Goth Girl (Houghton Mifflin, 2006) at 2:00 p.m.; Catherine Gilbert Murdock, author of “Dairy Queen,” a YALSA 2007 Best Books for Young Adults and “The Off Season” (Houghton Mifflin, 2007) at 2:30 p.m.; Gene Luen Yang, winner of the 2007 Michael L. Printz Award for his graphic novel “American Born Chinese” (First Second, 2006) at 3:00p.m.; and Patrick Jones, former librarian and author of three young adult novels including “Chasing Tail Lights” (Walker Books for Young Readers, 2007) at 3:30 p.m.
Admission to readings on the LIVE! @ your library Reading Stage is free for all conference attendees. Authors will autograph copies of their books following each reading. For additional information about conference programs sponsored by the Public Programs Office, please visit www.ala.org/publicprograms/.
The ALA Public Programs Office was established in 1992 to provide the expertise, training, funding and resources that America’s libraries need to develop diverse, high-quality cultural programming for public audiences. To date, PPO has raised over $15 million in project funds to support 10,000 libraries as they conduct exemplary programs in the humanities that have reached more than 10 million people. PPO also administers the ALA Cultural Communities Fund, an endowment created to help all types of libraries across the country bring communities together through cultural programming (www.ala.org/ccf). For more information, visit www.ala.org/publicprograms.
The mission of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is to advocate, promote and strengthen service to young adults as part of the continuum of total library service, and to support those who provide service to this population. For 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, videos, and audiobooks for teens. For more information, visit www.ala.org/yalsa.
