Yadda, Yadda, Yoda: Learning the Art of Interpretation and a Brush with Speculative Fiction with authors Jean Hegland and Carolyn See, author and reading expert Kira Stevens and book group leader Julie Robinson.
book group expo is the first event of its kind that delivers a two day salon experience designed especially for book lovers.
Book group members and avid readers have a chance to meet some of their favorite authors, discover a literary treasure or three that they've never heard of before, and meet and connect with people in other book groups - or start a new one.
Bio
Jean Hegland
Jean Hegland was born in 1956 and raised in Pullman, Washington, just eight miles from the Washington/Idaho border. Her mother taught high school and college level English, and was the Pullman High School librarian for many years, and her father was a professor of English at Washington State University. From them she learned to love books, reading, and writing, and her father had a very profound influence on her own teaching philosophy and methods.
Jean began college at Fairhaven College in Bellingham, Washington, and received her BA in Liberal Arts from Washington State University in 1979. In 1984, after devoting several years to the kinds of jobs she is now grateful for having had because of the varied experiences they gave her - from designing and making stained glass windows to cleaning the local nursing home - she received a MA in Rhetoric and the Teaching of Composition from Eastern Washington University.
In 1984 she accepted a job in the English Department at Santa Rosa Junior College. After her first child was born in 1986, she taught part-time in that department, most frequently Creative Writing which she enjoys a great deal. She is proud of the many students she has been able to work with who have gone on to become successful writers, and equally proud of the many others who have expanded their skills and deepened their appreciation of writing on a more personal level.
Jean is a frequent speaker at writers' conferences and workshops, as well as at universities, colleges, and bookstores. In the winters of 2003 and 2004, she taught creative writing for the Mediterranean Center for Arts and Sciences in Sicily and in spring 2003, she was Writer in Residence at the College of York St. John in York, England.
Julie Robinson
Julie Robinson is a book club facilitator who leads over 20 private book club discussions. Her organization, Literary Affairs, takes book groups "beyond the book." This includes private screenings of books made into movies; reading lists; literary salons with celebrated authors; VIP excursions to cultural events; and, Literary Tours. Julie hopes to inspire a passion for great literature and to enrich her readers lives by exploring what is revealed by deeper reading.
Carolyn See
Carolyn See is the author of five novels, including The Handyman and Golden Days. She is a book reviewer for The Washington Post and is on the board of PEN Center USA West. She has a Ph.D. in American literature from UCLA, where she is an adjunct professor of English. Her awards include the prestigious Robert Kirsch Body of Work Award (1993) and a Guggenheim Fellowship in fiction.
Kira Stevens
Kira Stevens is co-author of Good Books Lately and co-founder of GoodBooksLately.com, a book group resource. After years as a bookseller and college English instructor, she now works at Crown Publishing while finishing her dissertation - on book groups.