2008 Authors, Poets & Presenters
JUMP TO A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
 Robert K. Ackerman Wade Hampton III PRESENTING:Saturday 12:40 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/2007/3667.htmlRobert K. Ackerman, author of Wade Hampton III, is a retired professor of history who has served as dean of GENRE(S): Nonfiction History Biography South Carolina History |
 Paco Ahlgren Discipline PRESENTING:Saturday 11:20 Congaree Meeting Room A&B; Saturday 4:30 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B www.pacoahlgren.comPaco Ahlgren is an author, musician, and has worked as a financial analyst for sixteen years. He has spent the last two decades examining the connections between quantum physics and its implications on modern scientific, economic, financial, and psychological theories, as well as its incontrovertible similarities to Eastern philosophies and religions--most notably, Taoism. Discipline, his first novel, is a confluence of these passions. READ MORE GENRE(S): Fiction Mystery Literary First Novel |
 Tasha AlexanderA Poisoned Season PRESENTING:Saturday 2:00 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B; Saturday 4:00 p.m. The Hilton Columbia Center; Sunday 12:45 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C www.tashaalexander.comTasha Alexander attended the University of Notre Dame, where she signed on as an English major in order to have a legitimate excuse for spending all her time reading. Following graduation, she played nomad for several years, eventually settling with her family in GENRE(S): Fiction Mystery |
 Will Allison What You Have Left PRESENTING:Saturday 12:40 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C; Saturday 3:20 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B www.willallison.comWill Allison’s first novel, What You Have Left, was published last year by Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Audio and paperback editions are due out this year. The book is set in GENRE(S): Fiction Literary First Novel Southern Fiction |
 Tina McElroy Ansa Taking After Mudear PRESENTING:Saturday 3:20 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B http://www.tinamcelroyansa.com/Tina McElroy Ansa is a novelist, publisher, filmmaker, teacher and journalist. But above all, she is a storyteller. She calls herself “part of a long and honored writing tradition, one of those little Southern girls who always knew she wanted to be a writer.” She grew up in Middle Georgia in the 1950s hearing her grandfather’s stories on the porch of her family home and strangers’ stories downtown in her father’s juke joint, which inspired Mulberry, Georgia, the mythical world of her four novels, Baby of the Family, Ugly Ways, The Hand I Fan With and You Know Better. Her newest novel is Taking After Mudear. READ MORE GENRE(S): Fiction African American Southern Fiction |
B
 Joy W. Barnes Knowing Who I Am: A Black Entrepreneur's Struggle and Success in the American South PRESENTING:Saturday 12:40 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B; Saturday 3:30 p.m. The Hilton Columbia Center http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/2008/3715.htmlA native of GENRE(S): Nonfiction Biography South Carolina History |
 Jack Bass The Orangeburg Massacre PRESENTING:Saturday 3:20 p.m. Carolina Meeting Room www.jackbass.comJack Bass is author or co-author of seven nonfiction books about the American South. His works have focused on Southern politics, race relations, and the role of law in shaping the civil rights era. He is a professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at the College of Charleston. Bass will be leading a panel to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Orangeburg Massacre. READ MORE GENRE(S): Nonfiction History South Carolina History |
 Andrew Billingsley Yearning to Breathe Free: Robert Smalls of South Carolina and His Families PRESENTING:Sunday 2:00 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/2007/3686.htmlThe author of Yearning to Breathe Free: Robert Smalls of South Carolina and His Families, Andrew Billingsley is a professor of sociology and African American studies and senior scholar in residence at the Institute for Families in Society at the His previous books are Mighty like a River: The Black Church and Social Reform and Climbing Jacob’s Ladder: The Enduring Legacy of African-American Families. Billingsley is the recipient of the DuBois-Johnson-Frazier Award from the American Sociological Association and the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Association of Black Sociologists. He was also featured in the PBS documentary Blacks in the Civil War, narrated by Morgan Freeman. READ MOREGENRE(S): Nonfiction Biography African American South Carolina History |
 Cara Black Murder on the Rue de Paradis PRESENTING:Saturday 11:20 Congaree Meeting Room A&B; Saturday 4:00 p.m. The Hilton Columbia Center; Sunday 3:00 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B www.carablack.comCara Black lives in GENRE(S): Fiction Mystery |
 Elise Blackwell Grub PRESENTING:Saturday 2:00 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 12:45 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 3:00 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B http://www.tobypress.com/books/grub.htmElise Blackwell is the author of three novels: Hunger, The Unnatural History of GENRE(S): Fiction Literary |
 James O. Born Burn Zone PRESENTING:Saturday 10:00 a.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B; Saturday 12:40 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 2:00 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room www.jamesoborn.comJames O. Born is a former U.S. Drug agent and State Law Enforcement agent. Each of his novels is based on some aspect of his career. His third novel, Escape Clause, won the inaugural Florida Book Award for Best Novel. Born’s fifth novel, Burn Zone, features ATF agent Alex Duarte. All the novels are published by Putnam. READ MOREGENRE(S): Fiction Thriller Crime |
 Virginia Boyd One Fell Swoop PRESENTING:Saturday 11:20 Richland Meeting Room A&B; Saturday 4:30 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room A&B www.virginiaboyd.infoVirginia Boyd is a graduate of Duke University and has a Master's in English and Creative Writing from NC State. She teaches creative nonfiction for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Duke University and has taught workshops on fiction and creative nonfiction. A native North Carolinian, she lives in Durham with her husband Alan. READ MORE GENRE(S): Fiction Contemporary First Novel Southern Fiction |
 Sonny Brewer Cormac: The Tale of a Dog Gone Missing PRESENTING:Saturday 2:00 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B; Saturday 4:00 p.m. The Hilton Columbia Center; Sunday 2:00 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C www.sonnybrewer.comSonny Brewer is the author of the novels The Poet of Tolstoy Park and A Sound Like Thunder, and editor of the anthology Stories from the Blue Moon Cafe. Sonny founded Over the Transom Bookstore in Fairhope, Alabama, and serves as board chairman of The Fairhope Center for Writing Arts. His latest book, Cormac, The Tale of a Dog Gone Missing chronicles the true story of how Sonny lost his good dog Cormac and found him a month later more than a thousand miles from home, neutered and up for adoption on the internet. Film rights have been optioned and Sonny wrote the screenplay. READ MORE GENRE(S): Nonfiction Memoir |
 Joyce BrinkmanPRESENTING:Sunday 2:00 p.m. Carolina Meeting Room; Sunday 4:10 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B http://in1.org/word/bio.htmlFormer Indiana State Treasurer Joyce Brinkman grew up in GENRE(S): Poetry |
 John W. Brinsfield, Jr. The Spirit Divided: Memoirs of Civil War Chaplains PRESENTING:Saturday 12:00 p.m. The Hilton Columbia Center; Saturday 2:00 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 2:00 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B http://www.mupress.org/webpages/books/brinsfield.htmlChaplain (Colonel) John Wesley Brinsfield, USA Retired, is the Chaplain Corps historian at the U.S. Army Chaplain School, Ft. Jackson, SC. Chaplain Brinsfield is a United Methodist from Atlanta, Georgia. He has a B.A. from Vanderbilt University, an M. Div.from Yale Divinity School, a Ph.D. from Emory University, and a D. Min. from Drew Theological Seminary. He served for 28 years on active duty including deployment for Operation Desert Storm. He is the author or co-author of seven books, the most recent being The Spirit Divided: Memoirs of Civil War Chaplains. He and his wife, Patricia, live in Columbia, SC. READ MORE GENRE(S): Nonfiction History Faith |
 Matthew J. BruccoliMatthew J. Bruccoli, the Emily Brown Jefferies Emeritus Professor of English at USC, is the author or editor of nearly seventy books. He is the editorial director of the Dictionary of Literary Biography (300+ volumes) and editor for the USC Press series Understanding Contemporary American Literature and Understanding Contemporary British Literature (approaching 100 volumes). He is the foremost F. Scott Fitzgerald scholar and also has published important biographical, bibliographical, and textual studies of Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, John O'Hara, and James Gould Cozzens. Bruccoli has produced distinguished work on detective/crime/espionage writers, including Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald, George V. Higgins, and John le Carre. READ MOREGENRE(S): Nonfiction Biography Literary Magazine or Review Editor |
 Orville Vernon Burton The Age of Lincoln PRESENTING:Saturday 4:30 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 2:00 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B www.TheAgeofLincoln.comOrville Vernon Burton was born in Royston, Georgia, reared in Ninety Six, South Carolina, graduated from Furman University, and received his Ph.D. in American History from Princeton University in 1976. He is Professor of History and Sociology at the GENRE(S): Nonfiction History |
C
 Harlan Coben The Woods PRESENTING:Sunday 3:00 p.m. Ballroom http://www.harlancoben.com/Winner of the Edgar Award, Shamus Award and Anthony Award - the first author to win all three – international bestselling author Harlan Coben’s critically-acclaimed novels have been called “ingenious” (New York Times), “poignant and insightful” (Los Angeles Times), “consistently entertaining” (Houston Chronicle), “superb” (Chicago Tribune) and “must reading” (Philadelphia Inquirer). His most recent novels, The Woods, Promise Me, The Innocent, Just One Look, No Second Chance, Tell No One and Gone for Good have appeared on the top of all the major bestseller lists including the New York Times, London Times, Le Monde, Publishers Weekly, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and USA TODAY -- and many others throughout the world. His books are published in thirty-seven languages around the globe and have been number one bestsellers in in nearly a dozen countries. READ MORE GENRE(S): Fiction Mystery Thriller Crime |
 Jackie K. Cooper The Bookbinder PRESENTING:Saturday 12:40 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C; Saturday 2:00 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B; Saturday 4:00 p.m. The Hilton Columbia Center; Sunday 12:45 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room www.jackiekcooper.comJackie K Cooper is the author of four books of memoirs/short stories, the latest being The Bookbinder. His next book, The Sunshine Remembers will be published by Mercer University Press in November 2008. Cooper is also a film critic for the NBC affiliate in Macon, Georgia, as well as a book reviewer and after dinner speaker. He and his wife Terry live in Perry, Georgia. READ MORE GENRE(S): Memoir Short Story |
D
 Ronald Daise Gullah Branches, West African Roots PRESENTING:Saturday 2:00 p.m. The Hilton Columbia Center; Sunday 12:45 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room www.gullahgullah.comRonald Daise grew up on St. Helena Island, South Carolina. His parents both graduated from Penn Normal Industrial and Agricultural School, one of the country's first schools for freed blacks. Like the mission of the Penn Center, which stands on the site of the school, Ron has worked to promote and preserve the history of the sea islands through books, recordings, and performances. In Gullah Branches, West African Roots, Ron tells about his travels to Ghana and Sierra Leone and weaves poetry, personal experience, spirituals, and stunning visuals to connect Gullah heritage to West African values and traditions and the African Diaspora of three hundred years ago. It is a tribute to the fascinating and colorful Gullah culture. READ MOREGENRE(S): Nonfiction History African American Memoir |
 Phebe Davidson Fat Moon Rising PRESENTING:Saturday 2:00 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C; Sunday 12:45 p.m. Carolina Meeting Room http://www.mainstreetrag.com/store/ComingSoon.phpPhebe Davidson is the author of several published collections of poems (most recently Twelve Leagues In from Spire Press). A new book, Fat Moon Rising is forthcoming from Main Street Rag in 2008. She is the founding editor of Palanquin Press, a staff writer for The Asheville Poetry Review and regular book reviewer for Tar River Poetry and The Journal of New Jersey. She received the Erica F. Wiest poetry award from Cream City Review in 2007. Self-described as a recovering academic, she lives in Westminster, SC, with her husband Steve and their cat Fripp. READ MOREGENRE(S): Poetry |
 Carol Ann Davis Psalm PRESENTING:Saturday 4:30 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 12:45 p.m. Carolina Meeting Room http://www.cofc.edu/~english/people/davis.htmlCarol Ann Davis holds an M.F.A. in Poetry Writing from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She taught at Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Stonehill College, and Endicott College before moving to Charleston in 2000 to begin teaching at The College of Charleston. She teaches courses in poetry writing at all levels and in literary publishing, with occasional forays into the teaching of contemporary poetry. She edits the literary journal Crazyhorse and directs the creative writing concentration within the English major. Her first book of poetry, Psalm, was released in the Fall of 2007 by Tupelo Press. READ MORE GENRE(S): Poetry Literary Magazine or Review Editor |
 Kwame Dawes Gomer's Song, She's Gone PRESENTING:Saturday 2:00 p.m. Carolina Meeting Room; Saturday 4:30 p.m. Carolina Meeting Room www.kwamedawes.comKwame Dawes is Distinguished Poet in Residence, Louis Frye Scudder Professor of Liberal Arts and Founder and executive Director of the South Carolina Poetry Initiative. He is the director of the University of South Carolina Arts Institute and the programming director of the Calabash International Literary Festival, which takes place in Jamaica in May of each year. READ MORE GENRE(S): Poetry Fiction Literary Short Story |
 Sean Thomas Dougherty Broken Hallelujahs PRESENTING:Saturday 12:40 p.m. Carolina Meeting Room; Sunday 2:00 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B www.boaeditions.org/authors/dougherty.htmSean Thomas Dougherty was born in 1965. His most recent book, Broken Hallelujahs, was published by BOA Editions in 2007. He is the author of eight other books including Nightshift Belonging to Lorca , a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize and Except by Falling winner of the 2000 Pinyon Press Poetry Prize from Mesa State College. His awards include two Pennsylvania Council for the Arts Fellowships in Poetry. Known for his electrifying performances, he has toured extensively across North America and Europe. He received an MFA in poetry from Syracuse University and lives in Erie, PA, where he teaches writing workshops. READ MORE GENRE(S): Poetry |
 Pamela Duncan The Big Beautiful PRESENTING:Saturday 11:20 Richland Meeting Room A&B; Saturday 4:30 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room A&B www.pameladuncan.comPamela Duncan was born in GENRE(S): Fiction Contemporary Southern Fiction |
 Nathalie Dupree Nathalie Dupree's Shrimp and Grits Cookbook PRESENTING:Saturday 10:00 a.m. Lexington Meeting Room A; Saturday 3:20 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C www.nathalie.comNathalie Dupree is the author of ten cookbooks, eight of which are hard backs, selling more than half a million copies, and host of three hundred television shows, which have aired on PBS, The Learning Channel and The Food Network for over fifteen years. Nathalie, as she is known to her fans, has won innumerable awards for her work, including two James Beard Awards. She is most famous for her approachability and understanding of Southern cooking, having started the New Southern Cooking movement now found in many restaurants throughout the South. READ MORE GENRE(S): Nonfiction Cooking |
E
 Lynnell Edwards The Highwayman’s Wife PRESENTING:Saturday 12:40 p.m. Carolina Meeting Room; Saturday 4:30 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room A&B www.lynnelledwards.comLynnell Major Edwards is the author of two full-length collections of poetry, The Farmer's Daughter, and The Highwayman’s Wife (Red Hen Press, 2003, 2007). Her work has appeared on Verse Daily and in numerous literary journals including: Poems & Plays, Southern Poetry Review, The Los Angeles Review, Poetry East, and Dos Passos Review. She is a regular reviewer for The Georgia Review, Pleiades, and Rain Taxi. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where she teaches writing and literature courses at the University of Louisville. She received her doctorate in English at the University of Louisville, her undergraduate degree at Centre College in Kentucky, and is the recipient of a 2007 Al Smith Fellowship from the Kentucky Arts Council. She is also associate director of InKY, inc. a non-profit literary arts organization which sponsors the monthly InKY reading series in Louisville, KY. READ MORE GENRE(S): Poetry |
 JT Ellison All the Pretty Girls PRESENTING:Saturday 4:00 p.m. The Hilton Columbia Center; Sunday 2:00 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room; Sunday 4:10 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C www.jtellison.comJT Ellison is a thriller writer based in Nashville, Tennessee. Her short stories have appeared in Demolition Magazine, Flashing in the Gutters, Mouth Full of Bullets, Spinetingler Magazine and the forthcoming Killer Year anthology. She is the Friday columnist at Murderati.com and is a founding member of Killer Year. All the Pretty Girls is her first novel in the Taylor Jackson series. GENRE(S): Fiction Mystery Thriller |
F
 Linda Annas Ferguson Bird Missing from One Shoulder PRESENTING:Saturday 2:00 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C; Sunday 12:45 p.m. Carolina Meeting Room www.lindaannasferguson.comLinda Annas Ferguson is the author of four collections of poetry: Bird Missing from One Shoulder (WordTech Editions); Stepping on Cracks in the Sidewalk (Finishing Line Press); Last Chance to Be Lost (Kentucky Writers’ Coalition); and It’s Hard to Hate a Broken Thing (Palanquin Press, University of S.C. Aiken). She was the 2005 Poetry Fellow for the South Carolina Arts Commission and served as the 2003-04 Poet-in-Residence for the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, S.C. A recipient of the Poetry Fellowship of the South Carolina Academy of Authors, she was recently appointed to the Academy’s Board of Governors. GENRE(S): Poetry |
 Bob Fulton My Career My Life PRESENTING:Sunday 3:00 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/2008/2746.htmlFor forty-three years sportscaster Bob Fulton was the "voice" of the University of South Carolina Gamecocks and a figure as central to the athletics program as any coach or star player. His memoir serves as a unique opportunity to revisit decades of Carolina sports from the broadcaster's vantage point as he surveys defining moments and larger-than-life personalities from football, basketball, and baseball. Bob Fulton is an eight-time recipient of the South Carolina Outstanding Sportscaster Award. In 1990 he was inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame and in 2007 into the South Carolina Hall of Fame. Now retired, he lives with his wife Carol in Columbia. READ MORE GENRE(S): Nonfiction Memoir South Carolina History Sports |
G
 Ann H. Gabhart Summer of Joy PRESENTING:Saturday 10:00 a.m. Richland Meeting Room C; Sunday 3:00 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B www.annhgabhart.comAnn H. Gabhart has published more than a dozen novels for adults and children. The Scent of Lilacs, her first Hollyhill book, was named one of Booklist’s Top Ten Books in Christian Fiction for 2006. Ann lives on a farm in Central Kentucky with her husband, Darrell, a bass singer in the Patriot Quartet. They have three children and six grandchildren. Her current book, Summer of Joy, is the third book in her Hollyhill series. READ MORE GENRE(S): Fiction Faith |
 Alan Gratz Something Rotten PRESENTING:Saturday 10:00 a.m. Lexington Meeting Room B; Saturday 2:00 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B www.alangratz.comGENRE(S): Fiction YA - Young Adult |
 Lauren Groff Monsters of Templeton PRESENTING:Saturday 12:40 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C; Saturday 3:20 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 4:10 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C www.laurengroff.comLauren Groff was born in 1978 in Cooperstown, N.Y., and grew up one block from the Baseball Hall of Fame. She graduated from Amherst College and has an MFA in fiction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her short stories have appeared or are forthcoming in a number of journals, including The Atlantic Monthly, Ploughshares and Five Points, and will apear this fall in the anthologies Best American Short Stories 2007, Pushcart Prize XXXII, and Best New American Voices 2008. She was awarded the Axton Fellowship in Fiction at the University of Louisville and has had residencies and fellowships at Yaddo and the Vermont Studio Center. READ MORE GENRE(S): Fiction Literary First Novel |
H
 Beth Webb Hart The Wedding Machine PRESENTING:Saturday 10:00 a.m. Richland Meeting Room C www.bethwebbhart.comBeth Webb Hart, a South Carolina native, holds a B.A. in English Literature from Hollins College and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Her first novel, Grace at Low Tide, was one of three finalists for the 2006 Christy Awards in the general/contemporary fiction category. She lectures on a variety of topics and has taught creative writing on the college and high school level where she received two national awards from Scholastic, Inc. Beth Webb lives with her husband, composer Edward Hart, and their daughter in Charleston, South Carolina, where she serves as a writer-in-residence at Ashley Hall. READ MOREGENRE(S): Fiction Contemporary Faith Southern Fiction |
 AJ Hartley On the Fifth Day PRESENTING:Saturday 11:20 Congaree Meeting Room A&B; Saturday 2:00 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C http://www.ajhartley.net/A.J. Hartley was born and raised in England, has worked as an archaeological student in Jerusalem and an English teacher in Japan, and is now the Distinguished Professor of Shakespeare at the university of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is the author of The Shakespearean Dramaturg, the editor of the performance journal Shakespeare Bulletin, and the director of the Shakespeare in Action Centre at UNC Charlotte. He is also the USA Today and New York Times best selling author of the historically grounded mystery/thrillers The Mask of Atreus and On the Fifth Day. His next thriller will be called What Time Devours, and he has a new fantasy series coming out early 2009 with Tor. GENRE(S): Fiction Mystery Thriller Crime |
 Lola Haskins Not Feathers Yet: A Beginner's Guide to the Poetic Life PRESENTING:Saturday 10:00 a.m. Carolina Meeting Room; Saturday 4:30 p.m. Carolina Meeting Room www.lolahaskins.comLola Haskins teaches poetry in Pacific Lutheran University's low residency MFA program. She is available for readings, workshops, and consulting. 2007 brings two new books: an advice book for people interested in poetry-- Not Feathers Yet: A Beginner's Guide to the Poetic Life (Backwaters Press), and Solutions Beginning with A, a collection of orginal fables about women, with images by Maggie Taylor, a well-known artist who has twice been featured in Georgia Review (Modernbook). READ MOREGENRE(S): Poetry |
 Marti Healy The God-Dog Connection PRESENTING:Sunday 3:00 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room www.thegoddogconnection.comMarti Healy has been a professional copywriter for more than 35 years, primarily for The Design Group, Inc. She is also a contributing columnist for The Aiken Standard daily newspaper and various other publications. Although The God-Dog Connection is her first published book, she now has produced two companion books for it, and has numerous others -- on diverse subjects -- under development. She pioneered The God-Dog Connection Pet Ministry and is a popular speaker on this and other topics. Marti lives in Aiken, South Carolina, with dogs Sophie and Teddy, and cats Katie and Sparkey. READ MOREGENRE(S): Nonfiction Memoir Faith |
 Miriam Herin Absolution PRESENTING:Saturday 12:40 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C; Sunday 2:00 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B www.miriamherin.comMiriam Herin was born in Miami, Florida. She holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of South Carolina and has taught English at South Carolina, Essex County College in New Jersey, South Carolina's Limestone College, Appalachain State University and Greensboro College. She has been on the editorial staffs of Good Housekeeping Magazine in New York City and the Winston-Salem Journal. Before turning full-time to fiction, she free-lanced as a writer, editor, producer and public relations consultant, focusing on film and video. She lives with her husband in Greensboro, NC. Her novel, Absolution, won the 2007 Novello Literary Award. READ MORE GENRE(S): Fiction Contemporary First Novel Southern Fiction |
 Janette Turner Hospital Orpheus Lost PRESENTING:Sunday 2:00 p.m. Ballroom http://www.janetteturnerhospital.com/photo credit: Jason Ayer and Phil SawyerREAD MOREGENRE(S): Fiction Literary |
 Josephine Humphreys Nowhere Else on Earth PRESENTING:Saturday 12:40 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room A&B http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/nowhere_else_on_earth.htmlJosephine Humphreys is the recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature. She is the author of Dreams of Sleep (winner of the 1985 Ernest Hemingway Award for first fiction), Rich in Love (made into a major motion picture), and The Fireman's Fair. Her most recent novel is Nowhere Else on Earth, which is set on the banks of the Lumbee River and drawn from the true history of North Carolina's Lumbee Indians. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina. READ MORE GENRE(S): Fiction Literary Southern Fiction |
 Gwen Hunter Sleep Softly PRESENTING:Saturday 11:20 Lexington Meeting Room B; Saturday 2:00 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B www.gwenhunter.comGwen Hunter has authored 16 books, sold in 22 countries, under three pennames, including the acclaimed Rhea Lynch, MD series, the Delande saga novels, Shadow Valley (finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award for best mystery), Blackwater Secrets (2007), and Sleep Softly (2008). Writing fantasy under the name Faith Hunter (www.faithhunter.net) she has penned the Enclave series: BloodRing, Seraphs, and Host about the Rogue Mage, Thorn St. Croix. Gwen works full-time in a rural hospital, studies ancient scripture, travels RV-style with her husband and two Pomeranians, makes jewelry, and is learning to swift-water-kayak. GENRE(S): Fiction Mystery Paranormal Southern Fiction |
 Suzanne Cameron Linder Hurley Dearest Hugh: The Courtship Letters of Gabrielle Drake and Hugh McColl, 1900-1901 PRESENTING:Saturday 12:40 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 4:10 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/2008/3714.htmlEditor of Dearest Hugh: The Courtship Letters of Gabrielle Drake and Hugh McColl, 1900–1901, Suzanne Cameron Linder Hurley is a native of GENRE(S): Nonfiction History South Carolina History |
J
 Dinah Johnson Hair Dance! PRESENTING:Children's Field Trip Day; Sunday 12:45 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B www.dinahjohnson.comAs “Dianne,” Johnson is an English professor at the University of South Carolina. Her primary research interest is African American children’s literature; her project has been to recover this literature and its history. As “Dinah,” Johnson is a writer of children’s literature. She enjoy doing schools visits to share her books All Around Town: The Photographs of Richard Samuel Roberts, Sunday Week, Quinnie Blue, Sitting Pretty: A Celebration of Black Dolls, and Hair Dance!. Forthcoming books include: Tom Feelings, My Daddy (Third World Press) and Black Magic (Henry Holt). Dinah Johnson will participate in a special field trip day for pre-selected area 3rd graders on Friday, February 22nd. READ MOREGENRE(S): Children's Literature African American |
 Varian Johnson My Life as a Rhombus PRESENTING:Saturday 10:00 a.m. Lexington Meeting Room B; Saturday 2:00 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B www.varianjohnson.comGrowing up, Varian Johnson couldn't decide whether he wanted to be an engineer or a writer, so he decided to do both. My Life as a Rhombus was inspired by a friend who had an abortion because she was barely making ends meet and another child would have been unfair to the daughter she already had. Varian was born and raised in Florence, South Carolina, and attended the University of Oklahoma, where he received a BS in Civil Engineering. He is currently enrolled in the Vermont College MFA Program for Writing for Children and Young Adults. His first novel, A Red Polka Dot in a World Full of Plaid, made the Essence Magazine bestseller list in March 2006. My Life as a Rhombus is his first young adult novel. He lives in Austin, TX with his wife and two cocker spaniels. READ MOREGENRE(S): Fiction YA - Young Adult African American |
 Sheri Joseph Stray PRESENTING:Saturday 4:30 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 12:45 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B www.sherijoseph.comSheri Joseph’s novel Stray (MacAdam/Cage, 2007), which has just been reprinted in paperback, was awarded the Grub Street National Book Prize. Her cycle of stories, Bear Me Safely Over (Grove/Atlantic Press, 2002), was a Book Sense 76 selection in both hardcover and paperback. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals including The Georgia Review, Kenyon Review, Shenandoah, and Virginia Quarterly Review, and she has received summer fellowships to Yaddo, MacDowell, and other artist retreats. She teaches in the creative writing program at Georgia State University, where she also serves as fiction editor of Five Points literary magazine. GENRE(S): Fiction Literary Literary Magazine or Review Editor |
K
 Tom Kimmel The Sweetest and the Meanest PRESENTING:Saturday 12:40 p.m. Carolina Meeting Room; Sunday 2:00 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 4:10 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B www.tomkimmel.comTom Kimmel jokes that he's the only singer-songwriter to have written songs for Captain Kangaroo, Miami Vice and Touched By An Angel. But it's true! Tom's songs have appeared on albums by dozens of artists from Linda Ronstadt to Johnny Cash, in feature films (Twins, Runaway Bride, Serendipity), and television shows (As The World Turns, Dawson's Creek, Party of Five). An outstanding performer and recording artist in his own right, he has captivated audiences from Mountain Home, Arkansas, to Stockholm, Sweden, and released seven albums, including his latest, Light of Day, and a newly published book of poetry, The Sweetest and the Meanest. READ MORE GENRE(S): Poetry |
 Cassandra King Queen of Broken Hearts PRESENTING:Sunday 12:45 p.m. Ballroom www.cassandrakingconroy.comCassandra King, author of four novels, numerous short stories, articles, and essays, was raised on a peanut farm in L.A. (Lower Alabama). Her best-selling novel, The Sunday Wife, was a People magazine Page-Turner, a South Carolina’s Readers Circle choice, named as one of Book Sense’s top reading group selections, and was chosen by the Nestle Corporation for a national campaign to promote reading. The Same Sweet Girls, also a national best-seller, was the number one Book Sense selection when released in February ‘05. Both novels were nominated for SIBA’s Book of the Year award. A fourth novel, Queen of Broken Hearts, a Literary Guild and Book-of-the-Month Club selection, was released in March ‘07. She and her husband, the novelist Pat Conroy, reside in the Low Country of South Carolina. READ MORE GENRE(S): Fiction Contemporary Southern Fiction |
 Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda River Country PRESENTING:Sunday 2:00 p.m. Carolina Meeting Room; Sunday 4:10 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B www.carolynforonda.comCarolyn Kreiter-Foronda is Virginia's current Poet Laureate. She is also a painter, sculptor and educator. In 1969, she graduated from Mary Washington College (now the University of Mary Washington) with a BA in English. She holds two master's degrees and a Ph.D. from George Mason University, where she received the first doctorate presented by the school. Her latest collection of poetry is River Country. READ MOREGENRE(S): Poetry |
L
 Jay Lake Mainspring PRESENTING:Saturday 12:40 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B; Saturday 4:30 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B www.jlake.comJay Lake lives in Portland, Oregon, where he works on numerous writing and editing projects. His 2008 novels are Escapement from Tor Books and Madness of Flowers from Night Shade Books, while his short fiction appears regularly in literary and genre markets worldwide. Jay is a winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and a multiple nominee for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards. Jay can be reached through his blog at jaylake.livejournal.com or his Web site at www.jlake.com. READ MORE GENRE(S): Fiction SF - Science Fiction |
 John Lane Circling Home PRESENTING:Saturday 10:00 a.m. Congaree Meeting Room A John Lane’s writing has been published in Orion, American Whitewater, Southern Review, Terra Nova, and Fourth Genre. His books include Waist Deep in Black Water, The Woods Stretched for Miles, and Chattooga (all published by University of Georgia Press), several volumes of poetry, and Weed Time, a gathering of his essays. Lane is an associate professor of English at Wofford College. READ MOREGENRE(S): Nonfiction Memoir |
 John Lee Novice Wild Turkey Hunting in South Carolina PRESENTING:Saturday 10:00 a.m. Congaree Meeting Room B; Sunday 3:00 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room www.noviceturkeyhunting.comJohn C. Lee is a bookseller and co-owner of Lee’s Book Attic, in Columbia, South Carolina. He retired from the South Carolina Department of Mental Health, where he served as the Director of Community Rehabilitation and Support in the Division of Clinical Services, and he closed his private practice in marriage and family therapy several years ago. Lee became interested in hunting wild turkeys in the 1980s. Having grown up in rural South Carolina, he brought to the sport a love of the outdoors and limited experiences in other types of hunting. He has enjoyed annual turkey hunts for nearly two decades. Although never an expert marksman, he has found his experiences as an amateur turkey hunter rewarding. The involvement of family and friends in wild turkey adventures is a key part of his enjoyment. Joining John Lee on the Turkey Hunting panel anchored by his book are his son, John C. (Johnny) Lee, III, Howard S. Waddell and Rafe Ellisor. Pat Robertson of The State newspaper will moderate the panel. READ MOREGENRE(S): Nonfiction Sports |
 Con Lehane Death at the Old Hotel PRESENTING:Saturday 10:00 a.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 2:00 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B www.conlehane.comCon Lehane’s New York City-based mystery novels, featuring bartender Brian McNulty, have been praised by Ken Bruen, Kinky Friedman, S.J. Rozan, and others. His latest offering, Death at the Old Hotel, published in June, received plaudits from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. The first book in the series, Beware the Solitary Drinker, was a 2002 Publishers Weekly Best Mystery Novel and Forward Magazine Best Novel Silver Award winner. The second, What Goes Around Comes Around, was likened to Lawrence Block’s early Matt Scudder mysteries by George Pelecanos and others. A former bartender, union organizer, and college professor, Lehane holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in fiction from GENRE(S): Fiction Mystery Crime |
 Caroline Lord Short Story www.shortstoryreview.orgCaroline Lord is the editor of Short Story, a semiannual literary review. Short Story includes short stories, interviews and visual arts. Caroline is a native of GENRE(S): Literary Magazine or Review Editor |
M
 Man Martin Days of the Endless Corvette PRESENTING:Saturday 12:40 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C; Saturday 4:30 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B http://www.manmartin.netMan Martin spent his formative childhood years in Sandersville, Georgia, a town so small that the phonebook for the entire county – white and yellow pages included – was the size and thickness of a large comic book. His experiences there helped shape his debut novel, Days of the Endless Corvette. His work has appeared in The Alaska Quarterly Review, The Kenyon Review, and McSweeny's Online. For seven years he wrote and drew the comic strip “Sibling Revelry” for Universal Press Syndicate. His second novel, currently titled Paradise Dogs, is under representation by the Fairbank Literary Agency. He lives in Atlanta with his wife Nancy where he teaches high school English and coaches debate. READ MORE GENRE(S): Fiction Contemporary Southern Fiction |
 Janna McMahan Calling Home PRESENTING:Saturday 11:20 Richland Meeting Room A&B; Saturday 2:00 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C; Sunday 3:00 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B www.jannamcmahan.comJanna McMahan sets many of her stories in the lush hills and farmland of her native Bluegrass state and in the Lowcountry swamps, beaches and marshlands of her adopted state of South Carolina. Her short fiction has won numerous awards including the Imaginative Writing Award from the Kentucky Women Writer’s Conference, the Harriette Arnow Award from the Appalachian Writers Association, the South Carolina Fiction Project and the Piccolo Spoleto Fiction Open. Her short stories have been selected for literary journals such as Wind, Limestone, Yamassee, StorySouth, Alimentum and The Nantahala Review. READ MORE GENRE(S): Fiction Southern Fiction |
Ray McManus Driving through the Country before You Are Born PRESENTING:Saturday 4:30 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 12:45 p.m. Carolina Meeting Room http://www.raymcmanuspoetry.com/http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/2007/3702.html Ray McManus was named the second annual winner of the South Carolina Poetry Book Prize for his collection Driving through the Country before You Are Born. McManus received his M.F.A. in poetry and his Ph.D. in composition and rhetoric from the GENRE(S): Poetry |
 Earl Middleton Knowing Who I Am: A Black Entrepreneur's Struggle and Success in the American South http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/2008/3715.html(1919-2007) Earl M. Middleton was the founder and owner of Coldwell Banker Middleton and Associates, one of the largest real-estate brokerages in GENRE(S): History Biography African American South Carolina History |
 Mary Alice Monroe Swimming Lessons, Turtle Summer: A Journal for My Daughter PRESENTING:Children's Field Trip Day; Saturday 2:00 p.m.Lexington Meeting Room A&B; Saturday 4:30 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C www.maryalicemonroe.com Mary Alice Monroe is the New York Times bestselling author known for richly textured books that explore the compelling parallels between nature and human nature. Monroe is an active volunteer in local conservation groups and serves on the board of the SC Aquarium. Her dedication to conservation and wildlife inspired her lowcountry novels, Swimming Lessons, The Beach House, Skyward, Sweetgrass and her first children’s book, Turtle Summer: A Journal for My Daughter. In May 2008, her new novel, Time is a River, will be released in hardcover from Pocket Books. Her books are sold worldwide. Mary Alice lives with her husband on Isle of Palms, South Carolina.Mary Alice Monroe will be participating in a special field trip day for pre-selected area 3rd graders on Friday, February 22nd. READ MORE GENRE(S): Fiction Children's Literature Contemporary Southern Fiction |
 John Hammond Moore The Voice of Small-Town America: The Selected Writings of Robert Quillen, 1920-1948 PRESENTING:Saturday 12:40 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/2008/3710.htmlJohn Hammond Moore is a veteran journalist and historian with more than twenty books to his credit, most recently The Voice of Small-Town GENRE(S): Nonfiction History South Carolina History |
 Sheila Morris Deep in the Heart PRESENTING:Saturday 4:30 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 12:45 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room www.writersheilamorris.comSheila Morris was born and raised in rural Grimes County, Texas, and is a first-year Baby Boomer. She is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin and has spent four decades working with numbers as a CPA, college instructor, stockbroker and financial advisor. As she enters the third act of her life, she wants to spend time with words. Her passion as an activist for equal rights for women, African Americans and gays and lesbians has placed her at odds with her Southern Baptist upbringing and brief calling as a minister of music. She has overcome, and moved on. She lives with her partner, Teresa Williams, and their four dogs in Columbia, South Carolina, where she has been for over thirty years. READ MORE GENRE(S): Nonfiction Memoir |
O
 Kevin O'Keefe The Average American PRESENTING:Friday Opening Night Reception - Keynote Speaker; Saturday 11:20 a.m. Richland Meeting Room C www.theaverageamerican.comKevin O'Keefe turned to writing while continuing an accomplished career in business management and marketing. His internationally-acclaimed first book, The Average American: The Extraordinary Search for the Nation's Most Ordinary Citizen, became a national top-25 hardcover nonfiction Amazon bestseller and is in multiple printings. As an independent journalist, Kevin has written for a variety of newspapers and national magazines, most recently The New York Times, ESPN The Magazine and Tennis. READ MORE GENRE(S): Nonfiction |
 Jason Ockert Rabbit Punches PRESENTING:Saturday 3:20 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 2:00 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B http://www.lofipress.com/rpunches.phpJason Ockert has won several national fiction awards and is the author of the short story collection Rabbit Punches. His stories have appeared in many journals, including The Oxford American, Black Warrior Review, Indiana Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Mid-American Review, and McSweeney’s. His work is included in the 2007 anthologies New Stories from the South and Best American Mystery Stories. He teaches in the English Department at Coastal Carolina University. GENRE(S): Fiction Short Story |
P
 Kate Salley Palmer Growing Up Cartoonist in the Baby-boom South: A Memoir and Cartoon Retrospective PRESENTING:Sunday 12:45 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room http://www.warbranchpress.com/cartoon.htmlA native of Orangeburg, Kate started doing cartoons while at USC for The Gamecock. After graduation and a short stint as a school teacher and free-lance cartoonist, she became the state’s first full-time editorial cartoonist for The Greenville News. In the early 80’s Kate was one of only two women nationally syndicated in over 200 newspapers. In 1981, she won the Freedom Foundation’s Award for Editorial Cartooning. Even though Kate is now doing children’s picture books (www.warbranchpress.com), she retains a keen interest in politics and annually does a Christmas t-shirt with a political theme. Her new book, Growing Up Cartoonist, chronicles Kate’s cartooning life and serves as a collection of her most popular cartoons. GENRE(S): Nonfiction Memoir |
 Tito Perdue Fields of Asphodel PRESENTING:Saturday 2:00 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C; Sunday 12:45 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B www.titoperdue.com/Tito Perdue was born in 1938 in Chile, South America, where his father, an Alabama native, was employed as an electrical engineer with the Braden Copper Company. Returning to the United States in 1941, his family settled in Anniston, Alabama, remaining there until his father’s employer relocated to St. Louis in 1955. In 1956 Tito graduated from Indian Springs School, a private academy located south of Birmingham, and was admitted to Antioch College in Ohio, an institution from which he was expelled in 1957 for having cohabited off-campus with the former Judy Clark, also an Antioch student. They were married later that year, both at age 18, and are together still. His latest novel is Fields of Asphodel. READ MORE GENRE(S): Fiction Literary |
 Cathy Pickens Hush My Mouth PRESENTING:Saturday 11:20 Lexington Meeting Room B www.cathypickens.comCathy Pickens’ family has called GENRE(S): Fiction Mystery Southern Fiction |
R
 JD Rhoades Safe and Sound PRESENTING:Sunday 2:00 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room; Sunday 4:10 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C www.jdrhoades.comJ.D. Rhoades was born and raised in North Carolina. He has worked as a radio news reporter, club DJ, television cameraman, ad salesman, waiter, practicing attorney, and newspaper columnist. His weekly column in the Southern Pines, North Carolina Pilot was named best column of the year in its division for 2005. His first novel, The Devil’s Right Hand, was released in 2005; Good Day in Hell, his second novel featuring North Carolina bail bondsman Jack Keller, was released in March 2006. Safe and Sound, July 2007, also features Jack Keller. He lives, writes, and practices law in Carthage, North Carolina. READ MORE GENRE(S): Fiction Thriller |
 David L. Robbins The Betrayal Game www.davidlrobbins.comCancelled READ MOREGENRE(S): Fiction |
 Sallie Ann Robinson Cooking the Gullah Way, Morning, Noon and Night PRESENTING:Saturday 3:20 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C http://uncpress.unc.edu/books/t-7982.htmlSallie Ann Robinson is author of Gullah Home Cooking the Daufuskie Way. She now makes her home in Savannah, Georgia. READ MORE GENRE(S): Nonfiction African American Cooking |
 LD Russell Godspeed: Racing is My Religion PRESENTING:Sunday 3:00 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room http://www.continuumbooks.comLD Russell was born in 1955 in Manassas, Virginia, grew up in Union, South Carolina, and has lived in North Carolina since 1979. He is a Lecturer in Religious Studies at Elon UniversityElon, North Carolina. Russell has been a student of religion since the early seventies, as well as a NASCAR fan since attending his first race, the Rebel 400 at Darlington Raceway, in 1965. His book, Godspeed: Racing Is My Religion, has just been published by Continuum Books. READ MORE GENRE(S): Nonfiction Memoir Faith Sports |
S
 Marcus Sakey At the City's Edge PRESENTING:Saturday 2:00 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C; Saturday 4:00 p.m. The Hilton Columbia Center; Sunday 2:00 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room www.marcussakey.comTen years in advertising gave Marcus Sakey the perfect background to write about criminals and killers. His debut, The Blade Itself, was a New York Times Editor's Pick, featured on CBS Sunday Morning, and named one of Esquire Magazine's 5 Best Reads of 2007. It has been translated into numerous languages, and Ben Affleck has purchased the film rights for Miramax. To research his novels, Marcus has shadowed homicide detectives, toured the morgue, interviewed Special Forces officers, ridden with L.A. gang cops, and learned to pick a deadbolt in sixty seconds. His latest novel is At the City's Edge. READ MOREGENRE(S): Fiction Thriller |
 Nicole Seitz Trouble the Water PRESENTING:Saturday 10:00 a.m. Richland Meeting Room C www.nicoleseitz.comNicole Seitz grew up on Hilton Head Island, a small town off the coast of South Carolina, where she was surrounded by palmetto trees, marsh grass, sandy beaches and unique Southern characters. As an author and artist, Nicole's work is deeply influenced by the mystique and charm of the Lowcountry. A graduate of UNC at Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism, Nicole also holds a degree in illustration from Savannah College of Art & Design. She is the owner of a web design firm in the Charleston, SC area where she lives with her husband and their two children. Also a freelance writer/illustrator for newspapers and magazines, Nicole's work has been in The Island Packet, The Bluffton Packet, South Carolina Magazine, House Calls and Charleston Magazine, and her Lowcountry paintings have been exhibited in Charleston-area galleries. Both of her novels, The Spirit of Sweetgrass and Trouble the Water, feature her original paintings on the cover.Nicole began writing fiction when she was 30-years-old and expecting her first child. Her love for novel-writing has only intensified since then. Today, Nicole is working hard on her next book. GENRE(S): Fiction Contemporary Faith Southern Fiction |
 James Sheehan The Law of Second Chances PRESENTING:Saturday 2:00 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 3:00 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B www.yorkvillepress.comJames Sheehan was born and raised in New York City and grew up in a four-room railroad apartment with his five brothers and sisters and his mom and dad. His dad was a bus driver for the City of New York and had numerous second and third jobs, working as a bartender, private chauffeur, and even ushering at Yankee Stadium. His mom worked as well, most often as a medical secretary. He started working himself at age twelve, shining shoes at a local shoe repair shop. At fourteen, he had a newspaper route. After that, he worked at a local delicatessen after school, an antique store stripping and delivering furniture, did construction in the summer, as a short-order cook through his college years, and as a roofer's assistant while attending grad school in Florida. The author is presently a trial attorney in St. Petersburg, Florida. He has practiced law in the Tampa Bay are for twenty-nine years. The Law of Second Chances is his second novel following on the heels of the critically acclaimed The Mayor of Lexington Avenue. READ MOREGENRE(S): Fiction Thriller Crime |
 George Singleton Work Shirts for Madmen PRESENTING:Saturday 11:20 Lexington Meeting Room A www.georgesingleton.comGeorge Singleton has published the collections These People Are Us, The Half-Mammals of GENRE(S): Fiction Southern Fiction |
 Julia Spencer-Fleming All Mortal Flesh PRESENTING:Saturday 10:00 a.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B www.juliaspencerfleming.comA military brat, Julia Spencer-Fleming grew up in places as diverse as Montgomery, Rome, Stuttgart and Syracuse. Her debut novel, In the Bleak Midwinter, won the St. Martin’s/Malice Domestic, Dilys, Agatha, Anthony, Macavity and Barry Awards. Out of the Deep I Cry was an Edgar and Anthony Award finalist. Her latest, All Mortal Flesh, is an Anthony, Agatha, Nero, Macavity, Gumshoe and RT finalist. Julia lives in the Maine countryside with three kids, two dogs and one husband. She was once officially forgiven all sins committed at a con by an enthusiastic reader. Her upcoming book is entitled I Shall Not Want. READ MOREGENRE(S): Fiction Mystery Thriller Crime |
 Lisa StarrThis Place Here PRESENTING:Saturday 4:30 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 2:00 p.m. Carolina Meeting Room; Sunday 4:10 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B www.bipoetryproject.comLisa Silverberg Starr moved to Block Island in 1986 as a college Sophomore and never wanted to leave. So she didn't. An inn-keeper (the Hygeia House), a mother, a basketball coach and a champion of fun, Starr divides her time among a variety of interests, her family, and her passion for poetry. A two-time recipient of the Rhode Island fellowship for poetry, a former college instructor, waitress and freelance writer and publicist, Starr was recently named Poet Laureate for the state of Rhode Island. She has published two full-length collections of poetry : Days of Dogs and Driftwood (1993) and This Place Here (2001), and her individual works appear in journals and publications around the country. Starr is the founder of the Block Island Poetry Project. With her husband, Champlin, their two children, Orrin (age 10) and Millie (age 9), and their dog, Brother, Starr owns and operates the Hygeia House. When time permits, she writes her heart out. READ MORE GENRE(S): Poetry |
 Sue Stauffacher Nothing But Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson PRESENTING:Saturday 11:00 The Hilton Columbia Center; Sunday 12:45 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 4:10 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C www.suestauffacher.comSue Stauffacher is a long-time children’s book author, journalist and book reviewer. The publication of her most recent book, Nothing But Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson (Knopf, 2007), coincided with the 50th anniversary of South Carolina native, Althea Gibson’s, historic win at Wimbledon, and was featured on NPR. Her other award-winning books include Donutheart (Knopf, 2006), Bessie Smith and the Night Riders (Putnam, 2006), Harry Sue (Knopf, 2005), and Donuthead (Knopf, 2003). She is currently working on a picture book about the champion bicycle racer, Tillie Anderson. Sue lives in Sue Stauffacher's book, Nothing But Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson, was just award an NAACP Image Award. Congratulations! Click here for more information. READ MOREGENRE(S): Children's Literature |
 Kim Sunee Trail of Crumbs PRESENTING:Saturday 3:20 p.m. Richland Meeting Room C; Sunday 3:00 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B www.kimsunee.comKim Sunée is the founding food editor of Cottage Living. She was born in South Korea and adopted and raised in New Orleans and lived in Europe for ten years. She now resides in Birmingham, Alabama. READ MORE GENRE(S): Nonfiction Memoir Cooking |
T
 Joni Tevis The Wet Collection PRESENTING:Saturday 10:00 a.m. Congaree Meeting Room A www.jonitevis.comJoni Tevis is from Easley, South Carolina, and earned her PhD in literature and creative writing from the University of Houston’s Creative Writing Program. Her work has been published in Isotope, Shenandoah, Conjunctions, North Dakota Quarterly, Plenty, and elsewhere. The Wet Collection, her book of lyric essays, was published in August 2007 by Milkweed Editions. She teaches creative writing at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. GENRE(S): Literary Essay |
U
V
 Ann VanderMeer The New Weird PRESENTING:Saturday 12:40 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B www.weirdtalesmagazine.comGENRE(S): SF - Science Fiction Editor |
 Jeff VanderMeer Shriek: An Afterword PRESENTING:Saturday 12:40 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B; Saturday 3:20 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room A&B http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/Jeff VanderMeer is the author of the best-selling City of Saints and Madmen, in addition to Veniss Underground and Shriek: An Afterword (www.shriekthenovel.com). He has won two World Fantasy Awards, an NEA-funded Florida Individual Writers’ Fellowship, and, most recently, the Le Cafard cosmique award in France and the Tähtifantasia Award in Finland, in addition to being a finalist for the Hugo Award, Bram Stoker Award, IHG Award, and Philip K. Dick Award. His books have made the year’s best lists of Amazon.com, The Austin Chronicle, The San Francisco Chronicle, and Publishers Weekly, among others. VanderMeer is also an award-winning editor and publisher whose nonfiction appears in The Washington Post Book World, among others. He is a regular columnist for the Amazon book-culture blog and has taught creative writing masterclasses all over the world. GENRE(S): Fiction SF - Science Fiction |
W
 Logan Ward See You in a Hundred Years PRESENTING:Saturday 11:20 Richland Meeting Room C; Sunday 3:00 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B; Sunday 2:00 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B www.loganward.comFreelance writer Logan Ward has written travel stories for National Geographic Adventure, the New York Times, Men’s Journal, Popular Science, House Beautiful and other publications. He also writes about science and architecture and is a contributing editor for Popular Mechanics, Cottage Living, New Old House and Southern Accents. In 2000, he and his family moved from Brooklyn to Swoope, Virginia, to recreate the life of 1900-era dirt farmers, the subject of his memoir See You in a Hundred Years: Four Seasons in Forgotten America. He lives with his wife, Heather, and their children, Luther and Eliot, in Staunton, Virginia. READ MORE GENRE(S): Nonfiction Memoir |
 Marjory Wentworth Despite Gravity PRESENTING:Saturday 12:40 p.m. Carolina Meeting Room; Sunday 2:00 p.m. Carolina Meeting Room; Sunday 4:10 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B www.governor.sc.gov/about/wentworthMarjory Wentworth’s poems have appeared in numerous books and magazines, and she has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize three times. Noticing Eden was published in 2003. Despite Gravity, was published in September 2007. She is the Poet Laureate of South Carolina. Ms. Wentworth teaches poetry to cancer patients at Roper Hospital in Charleston, S.C. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Lowcountry Initiative for the Literary Arts (LILA), The Poetry Society of SC, and the University of SC Poetry Initiative. She writes a poetry column for the Charleston Post and Courier . Ms. Wentworth works as a publicist. READ MOREGENRE(S): Poetry |
 Lynn Floyd Wright Flick on Trial PRESENTING:Children's Field Trip Day; Sunday 12:45 p.m. Congaree Meeting Room A&B www.LynnFloydWright.comLynn Floyd Wright is the author of eight books for children. Her first picture book, The Prison Bird won several noteworthy honors, including placement on the SC Children's Book Award list. Her dog series--Flick, Flick the Hero! and Flick on Trial--received rave national reviews, including Booklist and School Library Journal who said Flick "will have young dog lovers cheering." Her picture books Momma Tell Me a Story, Daddy Tell Me a Story and Grandma Tell Me a Story are favorites with readers of all ages the world over. She resides in Columbia, SC, with her husband and twins and is an often-requested speaker at schools and conferences. Lynn Floyd Wright will participate in a special field trip day for pre-selected area 3rd graders on Friday, February 22nd. READ MOREGENRE(S): Children's Literature |
Y
 Lynn York The Sweet Life PRESENTING:Saturday 11:20 Richland Meeting Room A&B; Saturday 4:30 p.m. Lexington Meeting Room A&B www.lynnyork.comLynn York is the author of two novels: The Piano Teacher (2004) and The Sweet Life (2007), a Booksense Notable Book. Educated at GENRE(S): Fiction Contemporary Southern Fiction |
Z
 Peter Zheutlin Around the World on Two Wheels: Annie Londonderry's Extraordinary Ride PRESENTING:Saturday 11:20 Richland Meeting Room C; Saturday 4:30 p.m. Richland Meeting Room A&B http://www.annielondonderry.com/index.htmlPeter Zheutlin is a freelance journalist and author whose work appears regularly in the Boston Globe and the Christian Science Monitor. Mr. Zheutlin has also written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, AARP Magazine and numerous other publications. He is the author of Around the World on Two Wheels: Annie Londonderry’s Extraordinary Ride (Citadel Press, 2007), and the co-author, with Thomas B. Graboys, M.D., of Life in the Balance: A Physician’s Memoir of Life, Love and Loss with Parkinson’s Disease and Dementia (forthcoming from Sterling Publishers, April 2008). He resides in Needham, Massachusetts, with his wife, author Judith Gelman, and his two sons. GENRE(S): Nonfiction Biography |