Fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay will speak at Literary Tastes Breakfast

CHICAGO—Fantasy book lovers won’t want to miss out on hearing Guy Gavriel Kay, author of 2011 Reading List Fantasy winner “Under Heaven,” speak at the 2011 Literary Tastes Breakfast—a book lover’s dream event that is a part of the Reference and User Services Association’s activities at the 2011 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans.

“Under Heaven” was named the 2011 Reading List’s top Fantasy title. The list is selected by a committee of members of Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES), a special interest section of RUSA that serves collection development and readers’ advisory librarians within ALA. “Under Heaven” follows the story of Shen Tai who, haunted by the ghosts of fallen warriors, is forced into the political machinations of the Emperor’s court when he receives a rare and valuable gift. Lyrical language and complex characterization draw readers into this elaborately unfolding epic set in a fantasy world that richly re-imagines 8th century Tang Dynasty China.

The breakfast, which will be held from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Sunday, June 26, features authors from RUSA’s 2011 literary book award selections, including the Notable Books List for outstanding fiction, non-fiction and poetry; The Reading List for the best genre fiction of the year and the Sophie Brody Medal for achievement in Jewish literature. Authors read from their work and discuss their creative process while attendees enjoy a scrumptious breakfast. A book sale and signing follows the event. In addition to Kay, other authors participating in this year’s event will be announced throughout the spring at the RUSA website, RUSA blog and literarytastes.com. Registration for the breakfast and conference is now available at the 2011 Annual Conference website.

The breakfast is a ticketed event sponsored by RUSA CODES and is one of many CODES events at the Annual Conference. Conference participants can add the breakfast to their registration by locating it on the list of ticketed events in the online registration form (event code RUS2) located at www.ala.org/annual. Those not attending the conference are invited to purchase tickets for the breakfast only by selecting “Preconferences and Ticketed Events Only” as their registration type, then selecting the Literary Tastes Breakfast from the event list.

Breakfast tickets start at $50 for RUSA members, who receive the best price on this and other RUSA events throughout the conference. Join ALA and RUSA or add ALA and RUSA to your membership by calling the ALA membership team at 1-(800)-545-2433, option 5.

The Reference and User Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more at www.ala.org/rusa.