If you are a book lover, you’d be in heaven this week when authors Pearl Cleage, Zane, Kimberla Lawson Roby, Tananarive Due, Bernice McFadden, Victoria Christopher Murray, R.M. Johnson, Virginia DeBerry, Donna Grant, playwright Ntzoake Shange and others convene in Atlanta for the National Book Club Conference at the Hyatt Regency.
The NBCC has emerged as a premier annual literary event that authors covet as much as avid readers.
The literary organization was founded in 2002 by Curtis Bunn, an Essence magazine best-selling author and award-winning sports journalist. The NBCC will feature: a potpourri of book club meetings led by famous and not-so-famous authors; award ceremonies honoring accomplished authors; panel discussions that provide insight into the industry; receptions and opportunities to network.
“The NBCC truly is a spiritual occasion,” Bunn said. “There is something special about putting authors and readers in an intimate setting for 2 1/2 days that brings out so much learning, emotions and fellowship.”
“The weekend is something beyond what you would expect, and you will leave better for the experience.”
More than 100 book clubs will be represented at the eighth annual NBCC, which takes place July 30–Aug. 1, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta.
“But make no mistake — I am committed to exposing new and up-and-coming authors at the NBCC,” Bunn said. “It is a pledge that I will not compromise on. And the great thing is that the readers support them, too.”
Much more than a conference, Terrie Williams’ yearly panel discussion on The Healing Starts With Us (stemming from her best-selling book, Black Pain: It Only Looks Like We’re Not Hurting) is a soul-cleansing experience. Panelists this year will include Ntozake Shange, New York Times best-selling author Wes Moore and Sybil Wilkes of the “Tom Joyner Morning Show.”
Actress Victoria Rowell, author of the best-sellers The Women Who Raised Me and Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva, will cap a glamorous Saturday night when she receives the Walter Mosley Author of Distinction Award.
Other award presentations will be made to book clubs for outstanding community service work and essay contest winners on “Why My Book Club Is Important to Me.”
–l. martin johnson pratt
For more information, log on to www.nationalbookclubconference.com.
