Alachua County Library District Hosts 3rd Annual Author Series!
The 2017 Author Series brings a broad spectrum of writers—featuring a Pulitzer Prize winner whose latest novel is up for a national award, a University of Florida professor’s latest up for the National Book Award this year, the first full biography of Gainesville’s legendary Harry Crews—there’s something for everyone this year. Each author will speak, answer questions and be available for book signings. Copies of their books will be available for sale at the events. Library copies may be reserved by clicking on the author name links below. The series is made possible through the generosity of the Friends of the Library. All events will be at the Headquarters Branch.
Robert Olen Butler - Sunday, January 8, 2:30
Robert Olen Butler is a Pulitzer Prize winning author of sixteen novels including A Small Hotel and the Christopher Marlowe Cobb series, numerous short stories, and a book on creative writing, From Where You Dream. He was long-listed for the Carnegie Medal of Excellence for Literature for his latest title, Perfume River. He has also received the 2013 F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Outstanding Achievement in Literature and twice won a National Magazine Award in Fiction. He currently holds the distinguished Frances Eppes Professorship at Florida State University. Books-A-Million will be selling copies of his books at the event.
Victor McGlothin - Saturday, January 28, 2:30
Victor McGlothin is a national bestselling author and Essence Best Seller with 14 titles to his credit. He is a former bank vice president who almost lost his athletic scholarship due to his poor reading skills. Ultimately, he overcame that obstacle and later completed a Master’s degree in Human Relations & Business. He has written six movie scripts and recently released his first film, Texas Voodoo Zombies. His latest releases include The Secrets of Newberry and Borrow Trouble with co-author Mary Monroe. He lives in Dallas with his wife and two sons. This event is co-sponsored by the Opinionated Ladies Book Club.
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi - Sunday, February 5, 2:30
Ibram X. Kendi’s new book Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America won the 2016 National Book Award in nonfiction. Dr. Kendi’s expertise in this field can also be seen in his award winning 2012 book The Black Campus Movement: Black Students and the Racial Reconstitution of Higher Education, 1965-1972. He currently is an assistant professor of African American History at the University of Florida. Books-A-Million will be selling copies of his book at the event.
Ann Hood - Sunday, March 12, 2:30
Ann Hood is the author nineteen books spanning the genres of novels, nonfiction, young adult and a short story collection. Her latest is The Book That Matters Most. People named it in their “Best New Books” and wrote “Hood examines the push and pull between mothers and grown children and the transformative power of fiction.” She often uses her personal experiences in her books including being a TWA flight attendant, themes of grief, losing a child and her love of knitting. She is the recipient of the Paul Bowles Prize for Short Fiction, two Pushcart Prizes, and a Best American Spiritual Writing Award. Hood’s best-selling memoir Comfort: A Journey Through Grief chronicling the death of her five-year-old daughter Grace and her subsequent search for healing, was named one of the top ten non-fiction books of 2008 by Entertainment Weekly and was a New York Times Editor's Choice. She is a faculty member in the MFA in Creative Writing program at The New School in New York City. Books-A-Million will be selling copies of her books at the event.
Ted Geltner - Sunday, April 23, 2:30
Ted Geltner is an award-winning writer, editor, and a journalism educator who specializes in biography, sports writing, and the history of sports journalism. His latest book Blood, Bone & Marrow: A Biography of Harry Crews, is the first full-length biography of Gainesville’s legendary novelist and journalist. Geltner got to know Crews while working as a reporter, writing numerous articles about the cantankerous author and about his colorful escapades. Geltner earned his doctoral degree, focusing on journalism history at the University of Florida, where he was a teacher, student and researcher while working as an editor and feature writer for the Gainesville Sun. Geltner is an associate professor at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia, where he teaches courses in reporting, literary journalism, magazine journalism, and photojournalism. He and his family live in Gainesville.
Ace Atkins - Saturday, May 6, 2:30
Ace Atkins is a journalist and author. He earned a Pulitzer Prize nomination for an investigative series on a forgotten murder in the 1950s, which later was an inspiration for his novel White Shadow. He was nominated three times for the Edgar Allen Poe award presented by Mystery Writers America. He is also author to the Nick Travers and Quinn Colson series. In 2011, he took over Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series. The latest Spenser book, Little White Lies, will be out in May. Atkins lives on a farm outside Oxford, Mississippi with his family. He graduated from Auburn University in 1994 where many Gator fans may remember him as he played on the football team. Books-A-Million will be selling copies of his books at the event.
Bronwen Dickey - Sunday, May 21, 2:00
When author Bronwen Dickey brought home her new dog—a pit bull—she found it to be not only not vicious but affectionate and timid. So was hers unique or was the reputation of an entire breed unjust? She embarked on a journey of research to find out why pit bulls have been so demonized and what role humans have played in this perception. Her book, Pit Bull: The Battle over an American Icon, is the illuminating story of how this popular breed has become so controversial. Her writing has also appeared in the New York Times and she has received the Lowell Thomas Award in travel writing. Books-A-Million will be selling copies of her book at the event.
If a person with a disability needs an accommodation in order to participate in this event he or she is entitled, at no cost to him or her, to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact the Alachua County Library District at 352-334-3910 at least three (3) days prior to the event. TTY users please call 711 (Florida Relay Service).
Event Venue:
Headquarters Branch
401 East University Avenue
Gainesville, FL 32601
*information above courtesy of Alachua County Library District
