Featured Speakers

Naomi Shihab Nye
Thursday, March 6 - 7:30pm (Marriott Salon 5-6)

Palestinian-American writer Naomi Shihab Nye has authored and/or edited over 20 works, earning four Pushcart Prizes, finalist honors for the National Book Award,
numerous poetry prizes and awards, and honors for her children’s literature. Nye grew up in St. Louis, Jerusalem, and San Antonio and “is a champion of the literature of encouragement and heart,” according to William Stafford. Her work You & Yours was the best-selling poetry book of 2006. Naomi Shihab Nye is a Sigma Tau Delta alumna.

Workshop: Friday, March 7 - 9:30am (Salon 4)

Suzan-Lori Parks
Friday, March 7 - 8:00pm (Marriott Salon 5-6)

Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Topdog/Underdog, has won OBIE Awards and a MacArthur “Genius” Award for her works. Parks, who has written screenplays for such Hollywood heavyweights as Spike Lee, Denzel Washington, and Brad Pitt, is currently working on her second novel and on the musical Ray Charles Live! Her writing mentor James Baldwin noted that she “may become one of the most valuable artists of our time.”

Interview: Saturday, March 8 - 8:00am (Salon 4)

Kim Edwards
Saturday, March 8 - 11:00am (Marriott Salon 5-6)

Before her first novel, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, was on the New York Times Bestseller list, Kentucky author Kim Edwards was an alternate for the PEN/Hemingway Award for her short story collection The Secrets of a Fire King (the 2007-2008 common reader). Edwards has also received a National Magazine award for excellence in fiction and a Pushcart Prize. Her works have appeared in such journals as Ploughshares, Story, and The Paris Review.

Workshop: Saturday, March 8 - 2:00pm (Salon 4)