Fiction Programs

Jiro Adachi, author of The Island of Bicycle Dancers, was born to a Japanese father and a Hungarian mother in New York City, where he was raised. Adichi drew on his experiences as a bike messenger and teacher of English as a foreign language for his novel. 3/26 12 p.m.; 3/27 2 p.m.

Arturo Arias is co-writer of the film El Norte. The Guatemalan author of six novels in Spanish, he is the winner of the Casa de las Americas Award and the Anna Seghers Scholarship. His most recent novel is Rattlesnake. 3/25 6 p.m.

Richard Bausch, novelist and short story writer, has received the 2003 Virginia Literary Award, the Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and is the co-winner of the 2004 PEN/Malamud Award. His latest novel is Hello to the Cannibals and most recent book is The Stories of Richard Bausch. 3/25 2 p.m., 7 p.m.; 3/26 2 p.m.

Robert Bausch, author of the 2003 Virginia Literary Award finalist novel The Gypsy Man, lives in Stafford, Virginia, and teaches at Northern Virginia Community College. His novel A Hole in the Earth was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and a Washington Post Book World Favorite Book of the Year. 3/25 2 p.m.; 3/26 2 p.m.

Louis Bayard is the author of Mr. Timothy and Endangered Species. His reviews have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Nerve.com and Salon.com. He has also worked as a Congressional press secretary, a communications director and a speechwriter. 3/26 12 p.m., 2 p.m.

Madison Smartt Bell, author of Anything Goes, has written several novels and short story collections. His book All Souls’ Rising was a 1995 National Book Award Finalist and winner of the Pen/Faulkner Award. Bell is the director of the Cratz Center for Creative Writing at Goucher College. 3/25 7 p.m.; 3/26 2 p.m.

Antonio Benítez-Rojo, author of The Magic Dog and Other Stories, Sea of Lentils, The Repeating Island: The Caribbean and the Postmodern Perspective, and A View from the Mangrove, is the Thomas B. Walton, Jr. Memorial Professor at Amherst College. 3/26 8 p.m.

Carrie Brown, author of Confinement, has also written The House on Belle Isle, The Hatbox Baby, and Lamb in Love. A winner of a Barnes & Noble Discover Award and a Library of Virginia Literary Award, she teaches at Sweet Briar College, where she lives with her husband and three children. 3/27 2 p.m., 6 p.m.

John Gregory Brown is the author of Audubon's Watch, Decorations in a Ruined Cemetery and The Wrecked, Blessed Body of Shelton Lafleu. He has won the Lillian Smith Award and the Steinbeck Award. He teaches at Sweet Briar College, where he lives with his wife and three children. 3/26 6 p.m.; 3/27 6 p.m.

Liam Callanan is the author of The Cloud Atlas, which he began in the M.F.A. program at George Mason University, where he has also taught. A frequent public radio essayist, Liam lives with his wife and daughters in Alexandria.3/26 10 a.m.

Michael Chabon, author of Mysteries of Pittsburgh and Wonder Boys, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2001 for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Winner of an O. Henry Prize and a National Magazine Award, he recently wrote a draft of the script for Spiderman 2. 3/27 8 p.m.

Griffith Chaussee teaches Hindi and Urdu at UVa. His translation of 22 Urdu poems "Karachi and Other Poems: A Selection" by Zeeshan Sahil appeared in the Annual Journal of Urdu Studies. 3/26 2 p.m.

Billy C. Clark is the author of Miss America Kissed Caleb, and 12 other books and a host of short stories and poems. His stories have appeared in Best American Short Stories and numerous other anthologies. He lives in Farmville, Virginia. 3/26 2 p.m.

Douglas Clegg is the award-winning author of more than a dozen novels, including The Hour Before Dark, Neverland, and The Infinite. Under his pseudonym, Andrew Harper, he writes crime thrillers, most recently Red Angel. His novel, The Hour Before Dark, was picked up for film. 3/26 8 p.m.; 3/27 12 p.m., 2 p.m.

Alev Croutier, author of Harem: The World Behind the Veil and Seven Houses, is a novelist of Turkish origin who has been published worldwide. Croutier lectures frequently on orientalism, Middle Eastern women's studies, and Turkey. She lives in San Francisco. 3/27 2 p.m.

Dennis Danvers is author of The Watch, a New York Times Notable Book for 2002. Other novels are Wilderness, Time and Time Again, Circuit of Heaven (a 1998 New York Times Notable Book), End of Days, and The Fourth World. 3/26 6 p.m.

Denise DeVries, author of The Disappearance of Bobo Blando, is a translator and community developer. Raised in Colorado, she learned Spanish in Central American before settling in Virginia. She studies language, cultures, human nature, and the power of metaphor. 3/25 4 p.m.

Ellen Douglas, author of the novels A Family's Affairs, Where the Dreams Cross, and Can't Quit You, Baby, has received two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Fellowship of Southern Writers presented her with the first Hillsdale Prize for fiction in 1989. 3/26 6.p.m.

Clyde Edgerton, author of Lunch at the Piccadilly, wrote seven previous novels, including Raney and Walking Across Egypt. Five of his novels have been New York Times Notable Books. An accomplished musician, he performs around the country with his band, Rank Strangers, and teaches at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. 3/25 11:45 a.m., 2 p.m., 7 p.m.

Mehr Farooqi has a Ph.D. in history from Allahabad University and teaches South Asian Literature at UVa. She has published many translations of Urdu poetry and fiction and is actively associated with translation projects in India and Pakistan. 3/26 2 p.m.

Richard Galli, author of remfs, a novel of the Vietnam War. Galli is also the author of Rescuing Jeffrey, a memoir of the progression of a young boy's paralysis. Galli currently teaches history and government at Bridger Alternative High School. 3/25 4 p.m.

Kaye Gibbons, author of Divining Women, was born and bred in North Carolina. She is also the best-selling author of other novels including Ellen Foster, A Virtuous Woman and Charms for the Easy Life. She is the recipient of the PEN/Revson Award, the Susan Kaufman Prize, and the Critic’s Choice Award from The Los Angeles Times. 3/25 7 p.m.

Tony Grooms, author of Bombingham, has also written a book of short stories and a collection of poems. Grooms's honors include the Sokolov Scholarship from the Breadloaf Writing Conference and an Arts Administration Fellowship from the NEA. He currently teaches at Kennesaw State University. 3/26 10 a.m.; 3/27 12 p.m.

Barry Hannah, author of 12 books including Airships, Ray, Geronimo Rex, and his latest, Yonder Stands Your Orphan, is writer-in-residence at the University of Mississippi. 3/26 6 p.m.

James Heffernan, former UVa English instructor and current professor of English at Dartmouth, has taught many seminars on Joyce's Ulysses and has also recorded--on videotape and audiotape--24 lectures on Joyce for The Teaching Company. 3/24 2 p.m.

Robert Hueckstedt is a professor of Hindi and Sanskrit at UVa. He has translated into English from the Hindi Mudra Rakshasa's novel The Hunted and two short story collections by Uday Prakash, Rage, Revelry and Romance and Short Shorts Long Shots. 3/26 2 p.m.

William Hoffman, author of Tidewater Blood, 13 other novels, and four short story collections, lives in Southside, Virginia. He attended Hampden-Sydney College and Washington and Lee University, worked for a Washington newspaper and a New York bank, and taught at Hampden-Sydney College. 3/26 6 p.m.

Josephine Humphreys, is the author of four novels and, most recently, Nowhere Else on Earth, based on the true story of the Lumbee Indian outlaw, Henry Lowrie. A former Guggenheim fellow and winner of the Lyndhurst Prize, she lives in Charleston, South Carolina, where she was born. 3/26 2 p.m., 6 p.m.

Madison Jones has published ten novels in addition to his latest, Herod's Wife. Jones has received fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Sewanee Review, and the Guggenheim Foundation. His honors include the T.S. Elliot Award from the Ingersoll Foundation and the Harper Lee Award. 3/26 2 p.m., 6 p.m.

Edward P. Jones, author of The Known World, is the recipient of the PEN/Hemingway Award, a Lannan Foundation grant, and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. His first book, Lost in the City, was shortlisted for the National Book Award. Jones currently lives in Arlington. 3/26 2 p.m., 4 p.m.

Robert Kaplow, author of Me and Orson Welles, for more than 15 years has written satirical songs and sketches for NPR's "Morning Edition." His young adult novels include Alessandra in Love and Alex Icicle: A Romance in Ten Torrid Chapters. 3/26 10 a.m.

Garrison Keillor, author of Love Me, writes and hosts "A Prairie Home Companion," a live radio variety show heard nationally on public radio stations on Saturday nights. His other books include Lake Wobegon Days, The Book of Guys, and The Old Man Who Loved Cheese. 3/24 8 p.m.

N. M. Kelby is the winner of a Bush Artist Fellowship in Literature and the Heekin Group Foundation’s James Fellowship for the Novel. Her poems and short stories have appeared in numerous journals, including the Mississippi Review. Her newest novel is Theater of the Stars. 3/26 12 p.m.

Mindy L. Klasky, author of The Glasswrights' Test, is the library director for a Washington, D.C. law firm. When she is not working and writing, she quilts, cooks, and spends time with family. 3/26 6 p.m.

Michael Knight is the author of a novel, Divining Rod, and two collections of short fiction, Dogfight & Other Stories and Goodnight, Nobody. He teaches writing at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. 3/26 2 p.m., 6 p.m.; 3/28 1:30 p.m.

Robin Phillips Knop has lived and performed in London, Monte Carlo, Nice, Munich and Sydney. A singer, actor, producer, journalist and playwright, she performs one-woman shows about Colette, Musfinguiliett, Edith Piaf, Marlene Dietrich and Agatha Christie. 3/20 5 p.m.

Gretchen Moran Laskas, author of A Midwife's Tale, currently lives in Virginia with her husband and son. Laskas studied philosophy and English literature at the University of Pittsburgh. She recently received the short story award from the Appalachian Writers Association. 3/26 2 p.m., 6 p.m.; 3/27 2 p.m.

Joan Leegant is the author of An Hour in Paradise, which won the 2003 Wallant Award for Jewish fiction. It was also a selection for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers program. She teaches writing at Harvard University. 3/25 8 p.m.

Aimee Liu, author of Flash House, has written several novels and co-authored seven non-fiction books. Liu currently teaches creative writing at UCLA Extension in Los Angeles and serves as Executive Vice-President of of PEN USA. 3/26 10 a.m.; 3/27 12 p.m.

Frank Lovelock, author of Lenore, The Last Narrative of Edgar Allen Poe, has a Ph.D. in English and teaches at Piedmont Virginia Community College. He lives in Scottsville. 3/24 2 p.m.

Michael Lowenthal, author of the novels Avoidance and The Same Embrace, has published stories in Tin House, The Southern Review, The Kenyon Review, and numerous anthologies. He teaches writing at Boston College. 3/26 10 a.m.

Thomas Mallon, author of the novels Bandbox, Henry and Clara, and Two Moons, has also written the nonfiction works Stolen Words, A Book of One's Own, and Mrs. Paine's Garage. A frequent contributor to The Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker, he lives in Washington, D.C. 3/25 4 p.m.; 3/26 10 a.m.

Alexander McCall Smith is professor of medical and criminal law in the School of Law, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and vice-chair of the United Kingdom's Human Genetics Commission. His newest fiction, five volumes about the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency and detective Precious Ramotswe, recalls Botswana, where he grew up. 3/25 4 p.m.

Stephen McCauley is the author of four novels, including The Object of My Affection and True Enough. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Harper's, Vanity Fair, and other publications. A Columbia University writing program graduate, he has taught at Harvard and Brandeis, Wellesley College, and the University of Massachusetts. 3/28 3 p.m.

Krista McGruder, author of the short story collection Beulah Land, has had her fiction appear in The North American Review and The Best of Carve Magazine. She lives in New York City and is completing an M.F.A. in fiction at The New School University. 3/26 2 p.m.

Tee Morris is co-author of MOREVI: The Chronicles of Rafe & Askanaand a contributing author to The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy. 3/26 6 p.m.

Elizabeth Nunez, author of Grace, has written several novels, including Bruised Hibiscus, for which she won the 2001 American Book Award. Nunez is currently a City University of New York Distinguished Professor at Medgar Evers College. 3/26 12 p.m.

Dan O'Brien, is the author of five works of fiction including The Contract Surgeon, and three works of nonfiction including his latest, Buffalo for the Broken Heart: Restoring Life to a Black Hills Ranch. He divides his time between working as an endangered-species biologist, running a ranch and writing. He lives near Sturgis in the Black Hills of western South Dakota. 3/26 10 a.m.,8 p.m.

Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient and Anil’s Ghost, has also written works of poetry and memoir. He was born in Sri Lanka, was raised in London, and lives in Canada. In 1992, he won the British Commonwealth’s highest literary honor—the Booker Prize—for The English Patient. 3/27 4 p.m.

Denise Gosliner Orenstein is the author of two novels, Unseen Companion and When the Wind Blows Hard. She teaches writing at American University in Washington, D.C. 3/26 4 p.m.

Edith Pearlman's second story collection, Love Among the Greats, won the Spokane Prize, and her first collection, Vaquita, won the Drue Heinz Prize. . Her latest, How To Fall, won the Mary McCarthy Prize and will be published in 2005 by Sarabande Press. 3/25 8 p.m.

Leslie Pietrzyk, author of A Year and a Day, grew up in Iowa and now lives in Alexandria. Her first novel, Pears on a Willow Tree was published in l998. Her stories have appeared in TriQuarterly, Shenandoah, and other journals. 3/26 4 p.m.

David Poyer is the author of several books of American naval fiction, including his latest A Country of Our Own: A Novel of the Civil War at Sea. An engineer, sailor, and retired captain, he lives on Virginia's Eastern Shore with novelist and poet Lenore Hart and their daughter. 3/25 4 p.m.

David L. Robbins, author of Last Citadel, has published four other novels including War of the Rats, with Liberation Road coming in summer 2004. He teaches novel writing in the M.F.A. program at Virginia Commonwealth University. 3/25 4 p.m.; 3/26 10 a.m.

Roxana Robinson’s six books include, most recently, the novel Sweetwater. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, Harper’s, The New Yorker, and Best American Short Stories. She has received fellowships from the NEA, MacDowell and the Guggenheim Foundation. 3/26 12 p.m., 3/27 12 p.m., 2 p.m.

M. J. Rose is a journalist and the author of four novels including Lip Service and Sheet Music. Her third novel Flesh Tones was shortlisted for the Connecticut Book Award. Rose is also the co-author of Buzz Your Book. 3/26 4 p.m.; 3/27 12 p.m., 2 p.m.

Tony Ruggiero, author of Team of Darkness, is a retired Naval Officer currently pursuing his graduate degree in English at Old Dominion University, with a specialty in teaching writing and literature. He writes science fiction, fantasy, horror and mysteries. 3/26 6 p.m.

Peter Skinner, author of White Buffalo, was born in Seattle in 1952. He attended the Williston Academy and the Julliard School of Drama before becoming a professional actor, sculptor, painter, and writer. Skinner lives with his wife and family in Virginia. 3/25 4 p.m.

Kristine Smith, the author of Contact Imminent (in the Jani Kilian series), Code of Conduct, and Rules of Conflict, lives and works in northern Illinois. In 200 she was awarded the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer at the 59th World Science Fiction Convention in Philadelphia. 3/26 6 p.m.

Kyle Smith, author of Love Monkey, is a Yale graduate and a Gulf War veteran. He is the book and music review editor at People magazine and lives in New York City. This is his first novel. 3/26 12 p.m., 2 p.m.

Elizabeth Spencer, author of a dozen works of fiction including The Light in the Piazza, The Night Travellers, and Jack of Diamonds, received the 2001 Brooks Medal from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Winner of five O. Henry Awards, her fiction has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The Southern Review. 3/26 2 p.m.

Walter Sullivan, author of Sojourn of a Stranger, is a founding member and the current Chancellor of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. The author of short stories, essays, three novels and three volumes of literary criticism, he is a professor of English emeritus at Vanderbilt University. 3/26 6 p.m.

Nick Taylor, contributor to the anthology Poltically Inspired, is a fellow in the M.F.A. program for creative writing at UVa. He lives in Charlottesville with his wife and daughter. 3/26 10 a.m.

Trisha R. Thomas is the author of Would I Lie to You?, Roadrunner, and of Nappily Ever After, a finalist for the NAACP Image Award for Literature in 2001. A former marketing executive and fashion designer, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and children. 3/27 10 a.m., 12 p.m.

Christopher Tilghman is the author of two collections of stories, The Way People Run and In a Father's Place, and one novel, Mason's Retreat. He has received fellowships from the Guggenheim and Whiting Foundations, among other awards, and teaches at UVa. 3/28 1:30 p.m.

Katharine Weber’s latest book is The Little Women. Her previous novels are The Music Lesson and Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear. She teaches fiction writing at Yale and served on the board of the National Book Critics Circle for the last three years. 3/26 12 p.m., 2 p.m.

Billy Edd Wheeler, author of Star of Appalachia, is the author of seven Appalachian humor books. Born and raised in West Virginia, Billy Edd now lives with his family in western North Carolina. 3/25 4 p.m.; 3/26 2 p.m.

Allen Wier has recently completed Cloud of Witnesses and Skin for Skin. He has written three other novels as well as a short story collection. Wier is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers and teaches at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. 3/26 6 p.m.

Crystal Wilkinson, author of Water Street and Blackberries, Blackberries, grew up in rural Kentucky and was a director of the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. A member of the Affrilachian Poets, she is chair of creative writing at the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts. 3/26 2 p.m.; 3/27 12 p.m.

Greg Williams, author of Boomtown, was born in Kingsport, Tennessee and raised in Columbia, South Carolina. He attended the University of Virginia and the Johns Hopkins University. His first novel was Younger than Springtime. He lives in New York City. 3/26 12 p.m.

L. Marie Wood, author of Crescendo, is a member of the Horror Writers Association and the Black Writers Alliance. She is a native of Monsey, New York and a graduate of Howard University. She lives in Virginia with her husband. 3/26 8 p.m.

Join our email list to stay informed about developments and events

top of page