Best-selling authors Jess Walter (Beautiful Ruins), Andre Dubus III (Dirty Love), Jacquelyn Mitchard (What we Lost in the Dark) and John Searles (Help for the Haunted) are just a few of the award winning authors appearing for free public evening readings on Jan. 17-24 as part of the 11th Annual Eckerd College Writers\u2019 Conference: Writers in Paradise.<\/p>\n
Each reading begins at 8 p.m. and preceded by wine and cheese receptions at 7:30 p.m. where books will be for sale. Author signings will be held after each reading. Speakers are subject to change.<\/span><\/p>\n The Writers in Paradise Conference is an intensive, eight-day experience of intimate workshop classes, roundtables, panel discussions, readings, book signings and cocktail receptions designed for people who are passionate about writing.<\/span><\/p>\n Award-winning faculty and guest speakers will include Lisa Gallagher (Literary Agent with DeFiore and Company); Ann Hood (<\/span>An Italian Wife<\/span>); Laura Lippman (<\/span>Hush, Hush<\/span>); Meg Kearney (<\/span>The Girl in the Mirror<\/span>, Director, Solstice Low-Residency MFA Program); Peter Meinke (<\/span>Lucky Bones<\/span>); Lori Roy (<\/span>Until She Comes Home<\/span>); Les Standiford (<\/span>Bringing Adam Home<\/span>); Johnny Temple (Editor and Publisher, Akashic Books); David Yoo (<\/span>Detention Club<\/span>); Bill Contardi (Literary Agent with Brandt & Hochman Inc.); Sterling Watson (<\/span>Suitcase City<\/span>); and more.<\/span><\/p>\n 2015 Eckerd College Writers’ Conference Evening Reading Series<\/span><\/p>\n Saturday, Jan. 17<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n Jess Walter <\/span>is the author of eight books, including six novels, most recently the No. 1 <\/span>New York Times <\/em><\/i>bestselling <\/span>Beautiful Ruins<\/span>. He has been a finalist for the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize in journalism, the PEN\/USA Literary Prize in both fiction and nonfiction and won the 2005 Edgar Allan Poe Award. His short fiction has appeared in Best American Short Stories, Best American Nonrequired Reading, <\/span>Harpers, Esquire,<\/span>McSweeney’s<\/span>, <\/span>Playboy<\/span>, <\/span>ESPN the Magazine<\/span> and many others. His work has been translated into 28 languages. He lives with his wife and three children in Spokane, Washington.<\/span><\/p>\n Sunday, Jan. 18<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n Les Standiford <\/strong><\/b>is the author of15 books, including the novels <\/span>Bone Key<\/span> and<\/span>Havana Run<\/span> and the critically acclaimed works of non-fiction, <\/span>Last Train to Paradise<\/span>, <\/span>Meet You in Hell<\/span>, <\/span>Washington Burning<\/span>, and <\/span>The Man Who Invented Christmas<\/span>. <\/span>Last Train to Paradise<\/span> was one of the History Channel’s Top Ten picks. <\/span>Meet You in Hell<\/span> was the publisher’s nominee for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize in 2005. <\/span>Washington Burning<\/span> was the publisher’s nominee for the Pulitzer Prize in 2008. <\/span>The Man Who Invented Christmas<\/span> was a New York Times Editors’ Choice in 2008. He has received the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award, the Frank O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, and Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is Director of the Creative Writing Program at Florida International University in Miami. In March 2011, Ecco Press published <\/span>Bringing Adam Home<\/span>, an account of Det. Sgt. Joe Matthews’ twenty-seven-year quest to solve the 1981 kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh. The book became a <\/span>New York Times <\/span>bestseller and was for three weeks the No. 1 True Crime book on the <\/span>Wall Street Journal<\/span> list.<\/span><\/p>\n David Yoo <\/strong><\/b>is the author of the young adult novels <\/span>Girls for Breakfast<\/span>(Delacorte), an NYPL Best Book for Teens and a Booksense Pick, and <\/span>Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before <\/span>(Hyperion), a Chicago Best of the Best selection, along with a middle grade novel, <\/span>The Detention Club<\/span>, (Balzer and Bray). His first collection of essays, <\/span>The Choke Artist<\/span> (Grand Central) was a finalist for the Massachusetts Book Award. He holds a B.A. from Skidmore College and an M.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Colorado, Boulder. David has a regular column in <\/span>Koream Journal<\/span>, and teaches at the Solstice MFA Program at Pine Manor College, as well as at the Gotham Writers\u2019 Workshop. He lives in Framingham, Massachusetts with his wife and two children.<\/span><\/p>\n Monday, Jan. 19<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n K.C. Wolfe<\/span> is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Eckerd College and Faculty Advisor for the award winning Eckerd College student newspaper, <\/span>The Current.<\/span><\/p>\n Patricia Engel<\/span> is the author of the novel <\/span>It’s Not Love, It’s Just Paris<\/span>, and the story collection <\/span>Vida<\/span>, which was a <\/span>New York Times <\/span>Notable Book of the Year, a finalist for the PEN\/Hemingway and Young Lions Fiction Awards, winner of a Florida Book Award and International Latino Book Award, and named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, Barnes & Noble, and LA Weekly. Her stories have appeared in T<\/span>he Atlantic,<\/span>A Public Space,<\/span>Boston Review<\/span>, <\/span>Guernica<\/span>, and <\/span>Harvard Review<\/span>, among other publications, and have received numerous awards including, most recently, a 2014 fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She lives in Miami.<\/span><\/p>\n Tuesday, Jan. 20<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n Lori Roy<\/strong><\/b>\u2019s debut novel, <\/span>Bent Road<\/span>, won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best First Novel by an American Author, and was named a 2011 <\/span>New York Times<\/span>Notable Crime Book, and a 2012 notable book by the state of Kansas. <\/span>Bent Road<\/span> has been optioned for film by Cross Creek, with Mark Mallouk to adapt and Benderspink to produce. Her second novel, <\/span>Until She Comes Home<\/span>, was recently named a New York Times Editors Choice. Lori lives with her family in west central Florida.<\/span><\/p>\n Peter Meinke<\/strong><\/b> is Poet Laureate of St. Petersburg, Florida. His most recent book is <\/span>Lucky Bones<\/span> (2014), his eighth in the prestigious Pitt Poetry Series. His work has appeared in <\/span>The New Republic, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Poetry, <\/span>and dozens of other magazines. He has published over twenty books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. <\/span>Truth and Affection<\/span>, published by the University of Tampa Press (2013), is a collection of his Poet\u2019s Notebook columns with his wife Jeanne\u2019s drawings, from Tampa Bay\u2019s alternative newspaper, <\/span>Creative Loafing<\/span>. His poetry has received many awards, including two NEA Fellowships and three prizes from the Poetry Society of America. His book of short fiction<\/span>, The Piano Tuner,<\/span> won the 1986 Flannery O\u2019Connor Award. Mr. Meinke directed the Writing Workshop at Eckerd College for many years and has often been writer-in-residence at other colleges and universities.<\/span><\/p>\n Wednesday, Jan. 21<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n No readings<\/span><\/p>\n Thursday<\/strong><\/b>, Jan. 22<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n John Searles<\/strong><\/b> is the author of the best-selling novels <\/span>Help for the Haunted<\/span>,<\/span>Strange But True<\/span>, and <\/span>Boy Still Missing<\/span>. For more than ten years, John has appeared frequently on NBC’s Today Show to discuss his favorite book selections. His essays have been published in <\/span>The New York Times, Washington Post<\/span> and other national publications. John’s latest novel, <\/span>Help for the Haunted<\/span>, won the American Library Association Alex Award and was named a Best Crime Novel of 2013 by <\/span>The Boston Globe<\/span>, a Top 10 Suspense Novel of 2013 by Amazon, and a Top 10 Must Read by <\/span>Entertainment Weekly<\/span>. He lives in New York City.<\/span><\/p>\n Sterling Watson<\/strong><\/b> is the author of six novels, including <\/span>The Calling<\/span>, <\/span>Deadly Sweet<\/span>, <\/span>Blind Tongues<\/span>, <\/span>Sweet Dream Baby<\/span>, and <\/span>Weep No More My Brother<\/span>. His most recent novel, <\/span>Fighting in the Shade<\/span>, was published in 2011 by Akashic Books and was described by Dennis Lehane as, “A brilliant, fearless look at the savage rites of passage that exist in the fraternity of American sports. A book as gripping and unforgettable as any in recent memory.” Mr. Watson’s short fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Prairie Schooner, <\/span>The Georgia Review, The Los Angeles Times Book Review, The Michigan Quarterly Review,<\/span> and <\/span>The Southern Review.<\/span> He was director of the Creative Writing Program at Eckerd College for twenty years and is the College’s Peter Meinke Professor Emeritus of Literature and Creative Writing. He teaches in the MFA program at Pine Manor College. His seventh novel, <\/span>Suitcase City<\/span>, will be published by Akashic Books in March.<\/span><\/p>\n Friday, Jan. 23<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n Andre Dubus <\/strong><\/b>III<\/strong><\/b> is the author of six books, including the <\/span>New York Times<\/span>bestsellers <\/span>House of Sand and Fog<\/span>, <\/span>The Garden of Last Days<\/span>, and his memoir,<\/span>Townie<\/span>. His most recent book, <\/span>Dirty Love<\/span>, published in the fall of 2013, was a New York Times \u201cNotable Book\u201d selection, a <\/span>New York Times<\/span> \u201cEditors\u2019 Choice,\u201d a 2013 \u201cNotable Fiction\u201d choice from <\/span>The Washington Post<\/span>, and a Kirkus \u201cStarred Best Book of 2013.\u201d Mr. Dubus has been a finalist for the National Book Award, and has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, The National Magazine Award for Fiction, two Pushcart Prizes, and is a 2012 recipient of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature. His books are published in over twenty-five languages, and he teaches at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Fontaine, a modern dancer, and their three children.<\/span><\/p>\n Ann Hood<\/strong><\/b> is the author of ten novels, including the bestsellers <\/span>Somewhere off the Coast of Maine<\/span>, <\/span>The Knitting Circle, The Red Thread<\/span>, and <\/span>The Obituary Writer<\/span>. She has also written two memoirs, <\/span>Do Not Go Gentle: My Search for Miracles<\/span> and <\/span>Comfort: A Journey Through Grief<\/span>, which was a <\/span>New York Times<\/span>Editors’ Choice and one of <\/span>Entertainment Weekly’<\/span>s Top Ten Nonfiction Books of 2008, a collection of short stories, <\/span>An Ornithologist’s Guide to Life<\/span>, and <\/span>The Treasure Chest<\/span>, a ten book series for middle readers. She is a regular contributor to <\/span>The New York Times<\/span> and NPR’s The Story, and her essays and short stories have appeared in <\/span>The Wall Street Journal, The Paris Review, The Washington Post, O, Glimmertrain, Tin House <\/span>and many other publications. \u00a0The winner of two Pushcart Prizes, the Paul Bowles Prize for Short Fiction, and Best American Spiritual, Travel, and Food Writing Awards, she lives in Providence, Rhode Island. <\/span>The Knitting Circle<\/span> will soon be an HBO movie starring Katherine Heigl. Her new novel, <\/span>An Italian Wife<\/span>, was published in September 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n Saturday, Jan. 24<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n Laura Lippman <\/strong><\/b>is the author of eleven novels featuring Baltimore private detective Tess Monaghan, seven stand-alone novels, and a short story collection. Her six most recent books have all been \n