Virginia Festival of the Book

Publishing & Exhibitors

Virginia Barber opened her literary agency in 1974. She represented such authors as Rosellen Brown, Sue Monk Kidd, Peter Mayle, Alice Munro, Anne Rivers Siddons and Anita Shreve. In 2001, she sold her agency to the William Morris Agency, and in January 2004 she left full-time employment to become a literary consultant to William Morris. 3/27 4 p.m.

Ed Barber, Senior Editor at W.W. Norton & Company since 1994, has acquired and edited books by Richard Feynman, Stephen Jay Gould, Jane Brody and hundreds of others. A frequent speaker at writers' conferences, he currently serves on the Board of Directors for UVa Press. 3/27 12 p.m.

Katherine Brandenburg is the Author Marketing Manager at iUniverse, a premier print-on-demand publishing provider. She is charged with creating programs to help over 8,000 iUniverse authors market and promote their books. Her extensive background in book publicity has led to a significant increase in book sales for iUniverse authors. 3/27 4 p.m.

Barbara Brownell Grogan, Executive Editor for the National Geographic Book Division, guides the development of history, nature, science, and reference books for adults. She is currently developing Return to Titanic with explorer Robert Ballard and author Michael Sweeney. She has written four books for children. 3/26 4 p.m.

Wendy Carlton began her publishing career at Random House, and was a founding editor of Riverhead Books in 1994. She is now a Senior Editor at Riverhead, where she has published seven New York Times bestsellers. 3/27 12 p.m.

Peter Cashwell, author of The Verb 'To Bird', graduated from the University of North Carolina. He has been a radio announcer, rock musician, comic-book critic, and improv comedy accompanist, and now teaches English and speech at Woodberry Forest School. 3/27 2 p.m.

Janet Davidson, Ph.D., co-author of On the Move, is project historian and co-curator of the “America on the Move” exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. She lives in Washington, D.C. 3/26 4 p.m.

Jacqueline Deval is the author of Publicize Your Book: An Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book the Attention It Deserves. Now the publisher of Hearst Books, she was director of publicity for William Morrow, Villard, and Doubleday, and director of marketing for Morrow. 3/27 10 a.m., 12 p.m.

Laurie Duxbury is a local hand weaver with work in Monticello's permanent collection. She has shown her works in regional art shows and has studied design at Piedmont Virginia Community College. 3/26 12 p.m.

Carol Fitzgerald is co-Founder and President of TheBookReportNetwork.com --seven Internet sites about books that has become the gathering places for a large community of booklovers. Prior to founding the network and Bookreporter.com, she spent 17 years at Conde Nast. 3/27 2 p.m., 4 p.m.

John F. Harnish is Special Projects Director / Author's Advocate for Infinity Publishing. With four decades of publishing experience he's recently authored three POD books, including Everything … About Print-On-Demand.… He helps authors understand POD and he's responsible for Infinity's annual author's conference. 3/27 4 p.m.

Sam Horn is the author of Tongue Fu!, ConZentrate, What's Holding You Back?, and Take The Bully By The Horns. She is the eleven-time M.C. of the Maui Writers Conference. As principal of Action Seminars/Consulting, she helps writers become "Authorpreneurs." 3/27 10 a.m.

Ross Howell, Jr., is publisher with Howell Press, Inc., which he founded in 1985. The company publishes and distributes fine illustrated books on regional subjects, gourmet & gift, quilts, aviation, history, and transportation. 3/27 12 p.m.

Marc Leepson, author of Saving Monticello and three other books, is a former staff writer for Congressional Quarterly in Washington, D.C. He has written for many newspapers and magazines, including Preservation, Smithsonian, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and USA Today. 3/27 2 p.m.

Simon Lipskar is an agent at Writers House, a literary agency in New York. He represents a wide range of writers, including major authors in literary and commercial fiction, narrative nonfiction and young adult fiction. 3/27 4 p.m.

Katherine McNamara, author of The Narrow Road to the Deep North, is the editor of the online literary journal, Archipelago. 3/26 6 p.m.

Rob Merritt, founding editor of The Nantahala Review, received his M.A. from the University of North Carolina and his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky. He has published poetry and essays in various journals and a book about Ezra Pound and music. He teaches at Bluefield College. 3/26 2p.m., 6 p.m.

The Moseley Writers, in existence since 1997, are a group of nine people dedicated to helping each other get into print. Members have published articles, essays, short stories, non-fiction books, children's literature and history, and novels. Six participating members at VABook! include: Jennifer Elvgren, Lynn Hamilton, Deborah Prum, Anne Raustol, Lucy Russell, and Andy Straka. 3/24 4 p.m.

Boomie Pedersen, who earned her degree in English, theater and dance from Princeton University, teaches drama at the Renaissance School and has been an actress and director at Live Arts, where she is currently directing "The Play about the Baby." 3/28 1:30 p.m.

Connie Pippin is a full-time art student at Piedmont Virginia Community College. She has participated in PVCC's student art show and other regional art shows. She loves both art and books. 3/26 12 p.m.

Celeste Policastro is Director of Marketing for 1stBooks, the leading North American publisher utilizing print-on-demand technology. A business writer and newspaper editor, she has spoken all over the country on self-publishing. She is a graduate of Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and received her M.B.A. from St. Francis University. 3/27 4 p.m.

Darcie Rowan is a co-founder of McAllister Communications, a public relations firm with offices in New York and Toronto. She has more than 15 years of experience promoting authors such as Robert Atkins and Suze Orman, and enjoys building recognition for lesser-known ones as well. 3/27 10 a.m.

David Lee Rubin is publisher of Rookwood Press and chairs the Virginia Quarterly Review poetry board. A UVa Professor Emeritus of French and former Guggenheim Fellow, he teaches humanities and argumentation in the USEM program and Great Books for Jefferson Institute for Lifelong Learning. 3/27 12 p.m.

Clea Simon, author of The Feline Mystique: On the Mysterious Connection Between Women and Cats, is a Massachusetts-based writer. A frequent contributor to the New York Times, Boston Globe, and other periodicals, she's the author of three nonfiction books and is currently working on a mystery. CANCELLED

Mariflo Stephens has received grants for her fiction from the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Her work has appeared in many publications including The Washington Post and the Virginia Quarterly Review. She has read from her works on Oprah and Oxygen. 3/27 4 p.m.; 3/28 1:30 p.m.

Michael Sweeney, Ph.D., co-author of On the Move, also wrote Secrets of Victory, a history of World War II American censorship, and From the Front: The Story of War Featuring Correspondents’ Chronicles. He teaches journalism at Utah State. 3/26 4 p.m.

David Vander Meulen is professor of English at UVa, where he teaches about books as physical objects. His own books include Pope's Dunciad of 1728: A History and Facsimile, for which Warren Chappell won a design award. 3/26 4 p.m.

Lissa Warren is the author of The Savvy Author's Guide to Book Publicity. She is senior director of publicity at Da Capo Press/Perseus Books Group, and holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from Bennington College. 3/27 10 a.m., 4 p.m.

John Watkins has been involved in theater as a producer, director, actor, and writer. In New York City he produced, wrote, and directed for film and television. He is a published poet and former newspaper editor. 3/28 1:30 p.m.

Nura Yingling has published her poetry most recently in Wild Heart Journal and Iris. A former art, literature, and writing teacher at Tandem Friends School, she currently works as an editor and grantwriter. 3/27 4 p.m.

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