VaBook!

Participants - VABook! 2005

• fiction
• mystery & suspense
• nonfiction
• poetry & songwriting
• publishing & exhibitors
• youth & family

Fiction

Pearl Abraham, author of The Seventh Beggar, has written two other novels, The Romance Reader, and Giving Up America, and is the editor of the Dutch anthology of Jewish heroines in literature, Een sterke vrouw. 3/18 4 p.m.;3/19 2 p.m.

Stacy Hawkins Adams, author of Speak to My Heart, is a reporter and columnist with the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Richmond, Virginia. 3/19 noon

Dean Bakopoulos, author of Please Don't come Back from the Moon and a former bookseller, has been named one of American's best new fiction writers by Virginia Quarterly Review. He is the Director of the Wisconsin Humanities Council. 3/19 4 p.m.

Brad Barkley, author of Another Perfect Catastrophe and Other Stories, also has another story collection, Circle View, and two novels, Money, Love and Alison's Automotive Repair Manual. He teaches at Frostburg State University. 3/18 4 p.m.

Ann Beattie, author of seven novels --including The Doctor's House--is perhaps best known for her short stories, which appear regularly in The New Yorker, and which have been published in seven collections; her Follies and New Stories is forthcoming. 3/18 10 a.m.

John Bensko is the author of a short story collection, Sea Dogs and three volumes of poetry. He won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Prize for his first book of poetry, Green Soldiers. He teaches at the University of Memphis. 3/17 2 p.m.

Geraldine Brooks is the author of two novels, March and Year of Wonders, and two books of nonfiction, Nine Parts of Desire and Foreign Correspondence. She lives in Virginia with her husband, the writer Tony Horwitz and their son. 3/19 6 p.m.; 3/20 1:30 p.m.

Melvin Jules Bukiet is the author of seven books, most recently the novel Strange Fire and the collection A Faker's Dozen. He is the editor of two books, most recently Nothing Makes You Free. His awards include a Pushcart Prize and the Edward Lewis Wallant Award. 3/17 8 p.m.

Griffith Chaussee teaches Hindi and Urdu language 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. 3/18 noon

Edward Cline is the author of the Sparrowhawk series, First Prize, a detective novel, and Whisper the Guns, a suspense novel. His latest book is Sparrowhawk IV: Empire. He lives in Yorktown, Virgina. 3/17 6 p.m.

Quinn Dalton, is the author of a story collection, Bulletproof Girl, and the novel High Strung. She is the recipient of a North Carolina Arts Festival fellowship. She lives in Greensboro, NC with her husband and daughter. 3/18 4 p.m.

David Anthony Durham is the author of the novels Pride of Carthage: A Novel of Hannibal, Walk Through Darkness and Gabriel’s Story. After several years in rural Scotland, he now lives with his wife and two children in Western Massachusetts. 3/17 6 p.m.; 3/19 noon

Mehr Farooqi translates poetry and prose from Persian, Urdu, Hindi, and Avadhi. She is currently editing an anthology of Urdu literature in English translation. Mehr Farooqi has a PhD in History from Allahabad University and teaches South Asian Literature at UVa. 3/18 12 noon

Jonathan Safran Foer, is the author of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. His debut, Everything is Illuminated, was translated into 26 languages and is being filmed. He is working on several environmental art projects. 3/19 2 p.m., 8 p.m.

William Forstchen is the author of the Lost Regiment series and collaborated with Newt Gingrich to write Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War and Grant Comes East. He is an associate professor of history at Montreat College in North Carolina. 3/18 6 p.m.

Judy Goldman is the author of the novel Early Leaving, as well as The Slow Way Back, and two books of poetry. Her work has been published in many literary reviews and numerous anthologies. She is a commentator on public radio, and she teaches fiction-writing. 3/19 10 a.m.

Masha Hamilton, author of The Distance Between Us, worked as a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, and Afghanistan. Her first novel Staircase of a Thousand Steps was a Book Sense 76 Pick. 3/18 10 a.m.

Kim Harrison, author of The Good, The Bad, and the Undead, enjoys searching graveyards for character names. Currently working on future Rachel Morgan stories, she will, upon occasion, collapse upon the couch and remain unmoving for long periods of time. 3/18 6 p.m.

Tommy Hays's most recent novel is The Pleasure Was Mine. He is also the author of Sam's Crossing and In the Family Way, winner of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award and a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club. 3/18 noon

James Heffernan, emeritus professor of English at Dartmouth, is the author of several books on literature and visual art, including Museum of Words. As an avocation, he organizes and acts in staged readings of contemporary plays. 3/17 noon

Cary Holladay, a native of Virginia, is the author of a novel, Mercury, and two collections of short stories. Her awards include an O. Henry Prize and a Tennessee Arts Commission fellowship. 3/17 2 p.m.

Rupert Holmes's novels are Where the Truth Lies and Swing. He received several Tony Awards for his musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and two Edgars for his Broadway thrillers.. He created and wrote the Emmy Award-winning series "Remember WENN," and the play Say Goodnight Gracie. 3/19 2 p.m., 4 p.m.

Robert A. Hueckstedt is Professor of Hindi and Sanskrit at UVa. He has done translations of The Hunted, a novel by Mudra Rakshasa, and two collections of short stories by Uday Prakash, Rage, Revelry, and Romance and Short Shorts Long Shots. 3/18 noon

Hans Koning, author of Zeeland, or Elective Concurrences and I Know What I'm Doing, has written a dozen other novels and six nonfiction books. He has been a reporter for the New Yorker and a critic for the New York Times. 3/18 10 a.m.

Karyn Langhorne, author of A Personal Matter, graduated from Harvard Law and was law professor for several years before giving it up to pursue her dream of becoming a writer. Her second novel, Street Level: An Urban Fairy Tale is forthcoming. 3/16 4 p.m.

Elinor Lipman is the author of seven novels, including The Pursuit of Alice Thrift, The Inn at Lake Devine, Isabel's Bed, and The Ladies' Man. She is also a columnist for the Boston Globe. 3/17 8 p.m.

Vyvyane Loh's first novel is Breaking the Tongue. Born in Malaysia and raised in Singapore, Loh is a physician, dancer and choreographer. She holds undergraduate and medical degrees from Boston University and an MFA in creative writing from Warren Wilson College. 3/18 4 p.m.

K.A. Longstreet is the author of a collection of short stories, Night Blooming Cereus. Her work appears in New Orleans Review, The Sewanee Review, Georgia Review, and the 2004 New Stories from the South. 3/18 2 p.m.

Lorraine López is the author of Soy la Avon Lady and Other Stories. She is an assistant professor of English at Vanderbilt University and is the co-founder and educational programs coordinator for the Institute for Violence Prevention. 3/18 4 p.m.

Elizabeth Massie is a Bram Stoker Award-winning author of horror fiction and young adult historical fiction. Her titles include Sineater, The Fear Report, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Power of Persuasion, the Young Founders series, and many more. 3/19 Young VA Writers conf.

Cathy Maxwell, author of Temptation of a Proper Governess is the award-winning author of over fourteen romance novels. Her books routinely appear among the USA Today and the New York Times bestseller lists. 3/16 4 p.m.

Julian Mazor is the author two story collections, Friend of Mankind and Washington and Baltimore. He has had work appear in The New Yorker, Shenandoah, and the O. Henry Prize series. 3/17 4 p.m.

Alexander McCall Smith, author of The Sunday Philosophy Club, is best known for the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. He is the author of over fifty books on a wide range of subjects, including the Portugese Irregular Verbs series. 3/17 11:45 a.m., 4 p.m., 6 p.m.

Clint McCown's most recent novel is The Weatherman, winner of the S. Mariella Gable Prize. His other books include Sidetracks, Wind Over Water,The Member-Guest, and War Memorials. He teaches in the creative writing program at Virginia Commonwealth University. 3/17 4 p.m.

Judi McCoy is the author of One Perfect Man. Her first novel I Dream of You won Waldenbooks Best-Selling Debut Romance of 2001. She lives on Virginia's Eastern Shore. 3/16 4 p.m.

Sharyn McCrumb, author of St. Dale, has written numerous Appalachian-based novels ranked on the New York Times bestseller list. In November 2003, she was presented with the Wilma Dykeman Award for Regional Historical Literature by the East Tennessee Historical Society. 3/17 8 p.m.

Jeanne McDonald is the author of a novel, Water Dreams, and co-author of Growing Up Southern and The Serpent Handlers, written with her husband, Fred Brown. She is a book reviewer and has published widely in journals, magazines and anthologies. 3/17 2 p.m.

Dennis McFarland, author of Prince Edward, has published four other novels. His fiction has appeared in Best American Short Stories and The New Yorker. Though he grew up in Alabama, he now lives with his family in Massachusetts. 3/18 6 p.m.

Jane Mendle, author of Kissing in Technicolor, a "metro chic" novel, is a graduate student in psychology at the University of Virginia. 3/16 4 p.m.

Sarah Micklem spent almost 20 years as a graphic designer before publishing her first novel, Firethorn, last year. She is now working on the second book in the fantasy trilogy. 3/18 6 p.m.

Tova Mirvis is the author of The Outside World. Her first novel, The Ladies Auxiliary, was a national bestseller, a two-time selection of BookSense 76, and a B&N Discover Great New Writers Selection. 3/17 8 p.m.

Elizabeth Seydel Morgan is a poet and writer. Her story "Saturday Afternoon in the Holocaust Museum" appears in the 2004 New Stories from the South. Her third poetry book is On Long Mountain. 3/18 2 p.m.

Tee Morris's writing career began with MOREVI, a finalist for EPIC's Best Fantasy of 2003. Tee also appeared in The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy. His most recent title is Billibub Baddings and the Case of the Singing Sword. 3/18 6 p.m.

Jessica Myers, who lives in Charlottesville, is the author of The Jar-Born Sage, and production manager of STREETLIGHT. 3/17 2 p.m.

Han Ong is the author of The Disinherited and Fixer Chao. A MacArthur Fellow, he has written several critically acclaimed plays. Ong lives in New York City. 3/18 4 p.m.

Michael Pearson's most recent book is a novel, Shohola Falls. He is the director of Creative Writing at Old Dominion University and is the author of five books. 3/18 noon

Laura Pedersen is the author of Heart's Desire, the sequel to Beginner's Luck. She is a contributor to the New York Times and teaches at Booker T. Washington Learning Center in East Harlem. 3/17 7 p.m.; 3/18 10 a.m.

Tom Perrotta, author of Little Children, also wrote The Wishbones and Joe College. He is best known for his novel Election, a satirical story which became a movie. 3/17 8 p.m.

Nani Power, author of The Sea of Tears, worked as a caterer, a nanny, a nursing home aide, a chef in a Japanese restaurant, and as a sandwich seller in Rio. Both of her previous novels were New York Times Notable Books of the Year. 3/18 noon

Ron Rash is the author of three books of poetry, two story collections, and two novels, the most recent being Saints at the River. Rash is the winner of a 2005 O. Henry Prize. He teaches at Western Carolina University. 3/20 1:30 p.m.

Anne Raustol recently won second place in Glimmer Train's short short fiction contest and holds an MFA from Bennington College writing seminars. 3/16 4 p.m.

Jeanne Ray is the author of Step-Ball-Change, as well as her breakout book Julie And Romeo, and Eat Cake. She began her writing career at age 60, and is a nurse living in Nashville, TN. 3/18 10 a.m.

Brewster Milton Robertson is the author of A Posturing of Fools. He has worked as a farmer, a laborer, a pharmaceutical saleman, a commercial artist, an Army medical service officer, and a ghost writer. 3/17 4 p.m.

Kenneth Robbins, author of The City of Churches, has published four novels as well as twenty plays and short fiction. He is a past recipient of the Toni Morrison Prize for Fiction and the Associated Writing Programs Novel Award. 3/18 6 p.m.

Rod Schecter is a writer, editor, and entrepeneur. His first novel, The Plagiarist, is now under consideration by a New York agent. 3/17 2 p.m.

Mary Sharratt is the author of The Real Minerva and Summit Avenue. Her third novel, The Vanishing Point, is set in the Chesapeake. She is editing the anthology Bitch-Lit for Crocus Books UK.. 3/18 noon

Porter Shreve, author of Drives like a Dream, teaches creative writing at Purdue. His first novel, The Obituary Writer, was a New York Times Notable Book and a Book Sense 76 Pick. 3/19 4 p.m.

Karen Siplin was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She has a degree in film production from City University of New York's Hunter College. Such a Girl is her second novel. 3/18 noon, 3/19 noon

Eliezer Sobel is the author of Minyan: Ten Jewish Men in a World that is Heartbroken (2003 Peter Taylor Prize for the Novel) and Wild Heart Dancing. He is the former publisher and editor of Wild Heart Journal. 3/17 4 p.m.

Jen Sorensen is a nationally-published political cartoonist whose strip "Slowpoke" appears in the C-Ville Weekly as well as Ms. Magazine, Funny Times, WorkingForChange.com, and several alternative newspapers. Her new book is called Slowpoke: America Gone Bonkers. 3/16 4 p.m.

June Spence is the author of the short story collection Missing Women and Others, and most recently, Change Baby, a novel. Her fiction has appeared in Best American Short Stories and Seventeen. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. 3/18 noon

Tammar Laufer Stein, a Charlottesville High School and UVa graduate, is the author of Light Years, her first novel for young adults. 3/18 10 a.m., School visits.

René Steinke, author Holy Skirts and The Fires, is editor-in-chief of The Literary Review and teaches creative writing at Fairleigh Dickinson University. 3/18 2 p.m.

Steve Stern, author of The Angel of Forgetfulness, has written several works of fiction, including Lazar Malkin Enters Heaven, which won the Edward Lewis Wallant Award for Jewish American fiction, and The Wedding Jester, which won the National Jewish Book Award. 3/19 2 p.m.

Aryeh Lev Stollman is the author of a story collection, The Dialogues of Time and Entropy, and two award-winning novels, The Far Euphrates and The Illuminated Soul. Dr. Stollman is a neuroradiologist at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan. 3/17 8 p.m.

Rosalyn Story, author of the novel More Than You Know, lives in Dallas. Her first book, And So I Sing: African American Divas of Opera and Concert (Warner), inspired the PBS documentary Aida's Brothers and Sisters: A History of Blacks in Opera. 3/18 noon

Alix Strauss, author of The Joy of Funerals, a novel in stories, has written for the New York Times, the New York Post, Men’s Health, Marie Claire, and Self. She lives in Manhattan. 3/18 4 p.m.

Christopher Tilghman is the author of two story collections, In A Father's Place and The Way People Run, and two novels, Mason's Retreat and Roads of the Heart. He teaches at UVa. 3/19 10 a.m.

Betsy Rudelich Tucker, acting in The Unexpected Man, teaches acting and directing at UVa. Her production of Caryl Churchill's Far Away opens March 17 in the Upstage at Live Arts at 8 p.m. She has performed professionally with Stage/West and Heritage Repertory. 3/17 noon.

Kate Walbert is the author of Our Kind, a novel in stories. She also wrote Where She Went and The Gardens of Kyoto. She teaches writing at Yale University. 3/19 4 p.m.

Ayelet Waldman, author of Daughter's Keeper, also wrote the Mommy-Track Mysteries series. She is adjunct professor at the Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley. 3/19 10 a.m.

Ashley Warlick, author of Seek the Living, teaches creative writing at Queen's College in Charlotte, North Carolina. Warlick is also the author of The Summer after June and The Distance from the Heart of Things, which received of a Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship Award. 3/19 4 p.m.

Katharine Weber wrote The Little Women and two other novels. She frequently teaches fiction writing at Yale, writes a column for PAGES magazine, and has served on the board of the National Book Critics Circle for the last three years. 3/18 noon, 2 p.m.; 3/20 Workshop

Meg Wolitzer’s seventh novel is The Position. Other fiction includes The Wife, Surrender, Dorothy and This is Your Life, which was adapted for the screen and directed by Nora Ephron, under the title This is My Life. 3/19 noon, 2 p.m.