BOOKEXPO AMERICA OFFERS WIDE VARIETY OF SPEAKERS: ALEC BALDWIN, NEIL GAIMAN, MAGIC JOHNSON, AND TED TURNER

Plus, Richard Engel, Jon Krakauer, Michael Moore, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga to Speak at Saturday Luncheon
BookExpo America (BEA) has announced its line up of authors who will be participating in the popular Author Breakfast and Saturday Luncheon program at this year's event in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Convention Center, May 30 - June 1, 2008. BEA’s speaker program is a convention highlight and brings attention to new books by accomplished writers from many fields of endeavor.

Other speakers who will be participating in BEA’s special events programming are Sherman Alexie, Judy Blume, Eoin Colfer, Andre Dubus, Philippa Gregory, John Hodgman, Dennis Lehane, and Azar Nafisi. In addition, special Introductory Remarks will be made at the Children’s Breakfast on Friday, May 30 by Jon Scieszka, the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. As previously announced, Thomas Friedman will be BEA’s Conference Keynote speaker and Lewis Black will perform exclusively for BEA’s annual fundraising event to benefit the American Booksellers’ Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) and the Association of American Publishers’ Get Caught Reading campaign.

Tickets for BEA’s ’08 Special Events are available for purchase through the BEA website. The line up of speakers and events includes:

FRIDAY, May 30, 2008

8:00AM – 9:30AM CHILDREN’S BOOK & AUTHOR BREAKFAST (Concourse Hall)

Presented in cooperation with the Children's Booksellers and Publishers Committee [A cooperative committee of the American Booksellers Association (ABA), Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC), and the Children's Book Council (CBC)] this opening-day breakfast will feature Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers); Judy Blume, author of Going, Going, Gone! with the Pain and the Great One (Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers); and Neil Gaiman, author of The Graveyard Book (HarperCollins). Eoin Colfer, author of Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox (Hyperion Books for Children/Disney Book Group) will be the Master of Ceremonies. Introductory Remarks by Jon Scieszka, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. General Admission: $15. Breakfast Admission: $35.

SATURDAY, May 31, 2008

8:00AM – 9:30AM SATURDAY BOOK & AUTHOR BREAKFAST (Concourse Hall)

Saturday morning will feature Magic Johnson, author of Magic Moves: 32 Lessons on How to Be an All-Star in Business (Crown Business), Philippa Gregory, author of The Other Queen (Touchstone/Simon&Schuster), and Andre Dubus III, author of The Garden of Last Days: A Novel (W.W. Norton). Alec Baldwin, author of A Promise To Ourselves: A Journey Through Divorce and Fatherhood (St. Martin’s Press) will be the Master of Ceremonies. General Admission: $15. Breakfast Admission: $35.

12PM – 2PM SATURDAY BOOK & AUTHOR LUNCHEON (Concourse Hall)

This year's lunch will, once again, focus on political and social issues and will feature Richard Engel, author of War Journal (Simon&Schuster), Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, author of Taking on the System: Rules for Radical Change in a Digital Era (Celebra), Jon Krakauer, author of The Hero (Doubleday), and Michael Moore, author of an as yet untitled work (Grand Central). Christopher Buckley, author of Supreme Courtship: A Novel (Twelve) will be the Master of Ceremonies. Admission $50.

4PM – 5PM THE HEARD WORD: BEA’S AUDIOBOOK & AUTHOR TEA (Room 403)

Come hear Robert Crais, author of an Untitled Elvis Cole Novel (Brilliance Audio), T. Jefferson Parker, author of LA Outlaws (Brilliance Audio), and Michael Connelly, author of The Brass Verdict (Hachette Audio) talk about their recent and upcoming audiobooks and the experience of hearing their works translated into audiobook format. Hosted by the Audio Publishers Association. Admission $20.

SUNDAY, June 1, 2008

8:00AM – 9:30AM SUNDAY BOOK & AUTHOR BREAKFAST (Concourse Hall)

Sunday morning will feature Ted Turner, author (with Bill Burke) of Call Me Ted (Grand Central), Azar Nafisi, author of Things I’ve Been Silent About: A Memoir of Family (Random House), and Dennis Lehane, author of The Given Day (William Morrow). John Hodgman, author of More Information Than You Require (Dutton) will be the Master of Ceremonies. General Admission: $15. Breakfast Admission: $35.