Planning Ahead for the 2005 MLA Annual Conference

There are over forty programs to look forward to during our upcoming conference, May 9-11, 2005 at the Seacrest Hotel in Falmouth. Among the most popular programs each year are author-related presentations.  Major author programs this year include a guest dinner speaker and an "Afternoon with the Authors."

Our 2005 guest dinner speaker will be David Rakoff, author, humorist, essayist,  & contributor to Public Radio's “This American Life”.  If you enjoyed Sarah Vowell at the MLA's 2003 Annual Conference, you're going to love David Rakoff. David Rakoff's first book, Fraud, can best be described as hilarious, often bittersweet essays on contemporary culture.  His second collection of essays, entitled Don't Get Too Comfortable, will be published in the spring of 2006.

This year's popular “Afternoon with the Authors” series will spotlight authors who work in different styles and genres, including mystery, memoir, science fiction and romance, The panel includes Peter Abrahams, Steve Almond, Karin Lowachee and Nancy Thayer.

q     Peter Abrahams is the author of fifteen novels, including The Tutor, A Perfect Crime, and his latest, Their Wildest Dreams.  His novel Lights Out was an Edgar finalist for best novel in 1994 and The Fan was made into a movie.  His next book, Oblivion, will be published in April 2005 by William Morrow.  He is also writing a series of young adult mysteries.

q     Steve Almond is the author of the acclaimed story collection My Life in Heavy Metal.  In his latest work, Candyfreak, Almond travels across the country in search of the greatest remaining regional candy manufacturers.  He is a regular commentator on the NPR affiliate WBUR in Boston, teaches creative writing at Boston College, and has eaten at least one piece of candy every single day of his entire life.

q     Karen Lowachee's was born in South America, grew up in Ontario, Canada, and lived for 9 months in the tundra community of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. Her debut science fiction novel, Warchild, won the Warner Aspect First Novel Contest in 2001.  Lowachee followed up with a sequel, Burndive and her third novel, Cagebird will be published in April 2005.

q     Nancy Thayer is the author of thirteen novels, including Custody, Between Husbands and Friends, Belonging, An Act of Love, Three Women at the Water's Edge, and Everlasting. Her work has been translated into nearly a dozen languages.  Her first novel, Stepping, was made into a 13-part series for BBC Radio and her ghost novel Spirit Lost has been optioned and produced as a movie by United Image Entertainment.  She is the recent author of The Hot Flash Club for Random House/Ballantine and the upcoming December title, The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again.

Look for more conference highlights in the Conference @ A Glance brochure coming soon.