Authors Visit Des Moines, Cedar Rapids

Iowa is swarming with great authors this spring.

Des Moines Public Library kicked off its AVID lineup in early April with Laura Lippman, award-winning mystery author, and Mildred Kalish, author of Little Heathens:  Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression. 

Thursday, April 10 brings George Guidall to the library.  He is the voice of countless audiobooks and will recall his experiences narrating and recording books. 

On April 21 at Hoyt Sherman Place Theater, Alexander McCall Smith, a kilt-wearing legend, will discuss his life and literature, such as writing his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and Sunday Philosophy Club series.  May 1, Joanne Harris is stopping by the library on her book tour for The Girl with No Shadow, the sequel to Chocolat.  Paul Shirley will share his experiences traveling around the world to play professional basketball and writing his book, Can I Keep My Jersey:  11 Teams, 5 Countries, and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond, on June 11 at the library.  Visit the Des Moines Public Library's Web site for more information.

Out Loud!  The Metro Library Network Author Series

The Metro Library Network Author Series

 
The new visiting author series, funded by the John P. and Lawrence J. Giacoletto Foundation and produced by the public libraries in Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha and Marion, will present youth author Bruce Hale on Tuesday, April 29; novelists Elizabeth McCracken and Edward Carey on Thursday, May 15; and Cedar Rapids native and thriller writer John Sandford on Thursday, June 19.

Bruce Hale is an award-winning author, illustrator, storyteller and Fulbright Fellow.  He has written or illustrated over 20 books for young readers, including the Chet Gecko mysteries.

Elizabeth McCracken, a graduate of the University of Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop, is the author of three books of fiction, Niagara Falls All Over Again, The Giant’s House, and Here’s Your Hat, What’s Your Hurry?

British novelist Edward Carey, a 2002 participant in the UI’s International Writing Program, is the author of Observatory Mansions and Alva & Irva. Five of his plays have been produced in London, Romania, and Lithuania.  McCracken and Carey, who are married, are currently visiting fiction faculty members at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

John Sandford is the pseudonym of the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Camp. Camp was raised in Cedar Rapids, graduating from Washington High School in 1962. He received a B.A. in American Studies and an M.A. in journalism from the University of Iowa. He began writing thriller novels in 1990 and has written 18 novels in his bestselling “Prey” series. For his Out Loud! appearance, he will be reading from the latest entry in the series, Phantom Prey.

Additional information about the series can found at www.metrolibrarynetwork.org.