Events Archive: 2009
Missouri Literary Festival witers cover the gamut from children’s literature to poetry, biography, mystery, sports, politics, photography, romance, business, film and more. Plan on a full slate of live performances, music, readings, workshops, panel discussions, children’s activities, poetry and fiction contests, and book signings. Be sure to visit the Vendor Village on the Grand Concourse at Hammons Field, and don’t miss our special ticketed events. These include Business by the Book featuring Bo Burlingham, Norm Brodsky and Jack Stack; Brunch with Laura Shapiro, catered by Gallery Bistro’s Chef Peter Tinson; and the Meet the Authors Gala. Buy tickets now
Participating Writers
CRAIG ALBIN is professor of English at Missouri 
State University – West Plains, where he edits Elder Mountain: A Journal of Ozarks Studies. His poems, stories and reviews have appeared in a number of journals, including Arkansas Review, The Cape Rock, Georgia Review, Harvard Review and Natural Bridge.
MOIRA BAILEY works at People Magazine in New 
York where she is News Administration Director. She joined Time Inc. in London, where she worked as a correspondent for WHO Weekly, the Australian edition of People. Prior to joining Time Inc., Moira was a staff writer and reporter for news organizations including the Associated Press, the Orlando (Florida) Sentinel and Gannett. The Lawrence County (Mo) Record gave Moira her first newspaper job, during her sophomore summer at Georgetown University. Moira, born in Springfield, now lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Billboard specials editor Thom Duffy, and their two children.
WALTER BARGEN has published 12 books of poetry and two chapbooks
of poetry. His four most recent books are The Feast (BkMk Press-UMKC, 2004), which was awarded the 2005 William Rockhill Nelson Award, Remedies for Vertigo (WordTech Communications, 2006), West of West (Timberline Press, 2007) and Theban Traffic (WordTech Communications, 2008). In 2009, BkMk Press-UMKC will publish Days Like This Are Necessary: New & Selected Poems. His poems have recently appeared in the Beloit Poetry Journal, Poetry East, Seattle Review, and New Letters. He was the winner of the Chester H. Jones Foundation prize in 1997 and a National Endowment for the Art Fellowship in 1991. In 2008, he was appointed to be the first poet laureate of Missouri . www.walterbargen.com
WILLIAM BERNHARDT is the author more than 20 novels, 
including the New York Times bestsellers Capitol Conspiracy, Primary Justice, Murder One, Criminal Intent, and Capitol Offense. His books have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. He is the only recipient of both the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award from the University of Scranton and the H. Louise Cobb Distinguished Author Award which is given “in recognition of an outstanding body of work that has profoundly influenced the way in which we understand ourselves and American society at large.” He is also one of the country’s most popular writing instructors and teaches writing workshops throughout the year. Bernhardt founded HAWK Publishing, which has published Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist N. Scott Momaday, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Janis Ian, and PBS newsman Jim Lehrer. A former trial attorney, Bernhardt has received numerous awards for his public service. He makes his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with his wife, Marcia and their children. For more information about William Bernhardt, his books, workshops and speaking engagements, please visit www.williambernhardt.com.
JULIE BLACKMON is an award-winning photographer who grew up right 
here in Springfield, MO. Julie studied art and photography at Missouri State University, where she met her future husband, W.D. Blackmon, a professor of creative writing. A stay-at-home mom for 10 years, Blackmon rediscovered photography at the age of 35, when she and her family moved into century-old house with a basement darkroom. She redid the darkroom, bought a camera and began taking photos of her three children. Influenced by the work of Dutch and Flemish artists, including 17th century painter Jan Steen, Julie developed her vision into a surreal and humorous look at family life. Honored with awards from the Santa Fe Center for Photography and Photospiva competitions, among others, Julie’s work can be found in the collections of the George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y., the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Center for Contemporary Photography in Chicago. Her book Julie Blackmon: Domestic Vacations was published in July 2008 to critical acclaim.
NORM BRODSKY is a veteran entrepreneur who has started numerous 
businesses, including a three-time Inc. 500 company. In December 1995, he began sharing his street-smart advice in a regular Inc. column co-authored with Bo Burlingham. Last year, the column was – for the second time – a finalist for a National Magazine Award. In October 2008, Portfolio/Penguin published The Knack: How Street Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Anything That Comes Up, by Brodsky and Burlingham. Brodsky sold his company in a leveraged buyout in December 2007.
JUDY BRUNNER is an author, consultant and co-founder of EDU-SAFE 
and Instructional Solutions Group. Ms. Brunner served in public and private education for 30 years as a reading and special education teacher, as well as an elementary, middle and high school principal. In addition to her duties in K-12 education, Ms. Brunner serves as clinical faculty at Missouri State University in the Department of Reading, Foundations and Technology. She is a regular presenter at national and state conferences on the topics of reading, differentiated instruction, school safety and the prevention of bullying behaviors. She is the author of the upcoming book titled, Response to Intervention Tiers One and Two: Helping All Students Understand and Remember What They Read.
BO BURLINGHAM is the author of Small Giants: Companies that Choose 
to be Great Instead of Big and an editor-at-large for Inc. magazine. Burlingham also collaborated with Jack Stack — co-founder and CEO of Springfield Remanufacturing Co. and the pioneer of open-book management – on the The Great Game of Business and A Stake in the Outcome.
MARCUS CAFAGÑA is the author of the two books of poetry, The 
Broken World, a National Poetry Series selection, and Roman Fever. His poems have also appeared in Ploughshares, Poetry, and The Southern Review. He coordinates the creative writing program at Missouri State University.
LANETTE CADLE is an Assistant Professor of English at Missouri State
University. Her academic interests are clearly reflected in her editing positions; she is Senior Editor for Computers and Composition Online and Associate Editor for Moon City Press, where her current responsibilities include the new book series, Moon City Review: An Annual of Poetry, Story, Art and Criticism. Her poetry has appeared in Arkansas Review and Crab Orchard Review, and she is also a past winner of the Merton Prize for Poetry of the Sacred. Dr. Cadle has also presented at national conferences centering on writing, including the National Council for Teachers of English Convention, the Conference for College Composition and Communication and Computers and Writing, speaking about writing and editing in digital spaces, especially in social media such as blogs, wikis and Twitter.
J. B. CHEANEY was born in Dallas, Texas, and lived all over the US before 
settling in Missouri. She is the author of Wordsmith, a popular creative writing series published by Common Sense Press, and of four novels published by Random House, the latest of which is The Middle of Somewhere. She is also a regular columnist for World Magazine.
TIELMAN CHEANEY has been a professional artist from the age of 18,
when he moved to California to learn how to draw caricatures at Knott’s Berry Farm. He’s worked at Universal Studios, Tokyo Disneyland, and our own Bass Pro Shop in Springfield. He draws caricatures, comics, portraits, and illustrations. ”I’ve been drawing comics since I was 13, and I’ve finally gotten to the point where I’m being paid to do it (though not very much)! My favorites are Steve Rude, Will Eisner, Roy Crane and Cary Nord. Using words and pictures together is just about the most labor-intense, difficult, underrated art form I know of. Drawing caricatures is a great way to keep the bills paid and stay in shape as an artist.”
BILLY COLLINS is an American phenomenon. No poet since Robert 
Frost has managed to combine high critical acclaim with such broad popular appeal. (Experience his poetry right now on YouTube: Hunger; Forgetfulness; The Country; Some Days.) Collins’ work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review and The American Scholar; he is a Guggenheim fellow and a New York Public Library “Literary Lion.” Collins has published nine collections of poetry: Questions About Angels, The Art of Drowning, Picnic, Lightning, Taking Off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes, Sailing Alone Around the Room: New & Selected Poems, Nine Horses, The Trouble With Poetry and Other Poems and his newest work, Ballistics. A collection of his haiku, titled She Was Just Seventeen, was published by Modern Haiku Press in fall 2006. He also edited two anthologies of contemporary poetry: Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry and 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Everyday, and was the guest editor of The Best American Poetry 2006. In addition to numerous fellowships and poetry awards, Collins was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate 2001-2003 and was named New York State Poet Laureate 2004-2006. He is a Distinguished Professor of English at Lehman College of the City University of New York.
DR. WILLIAM H. COOPER, an avid book collector, owned and operated the largest used bookstore in northern Alabama at Huntsville for more than 10 years. Born in Portsmouth, VA, he holds a Doctor of Divinity degree from Covenant Seminary in St. Louis and was a Presbyterian minister for 31 years.
ROBERT DALBY was born into a large, extended Southern family,
consisting of nearly two-dozen first cousins, two uncles, four aunts, two sets of grandparents and any number of ‘further-removed’ among the cousinly. Dalby grew up in Natchez, Mississippi. and obtained a B.A. at the University of the South (Sewanee). His previous novels, Waltzing At The Piggly Wiggly and Kissing Babies At The Piggly Wiggly grew out of his own fascination with the eccentricities of the small-town South he grew up with and loved. As a native and resident of a small Southern town during his formative years, Dalby learned to expect eccentricity and quirky behavior as par for the course – he often only had to look as far as his own family and friends for inspiration.Dalby now lives in Oxford, Mississippi. A Piggly Wiggly Wedding is his third novel.
RICHARD DUNLAP is a rancher, poet and songwriter from Polk County, MO. He is a founding member of The Missouri Cowboy Poetry Association.
SUZANN LEDBETTER ELLINGSWORTH is a much-published writer 
with 20-some novels (historical fiction and mystery), two humor essay collections, short story anthologies and nonfiction biographies to her credit. She was a contributor, then contributing editor to Family Circle magazine for 15 years, and didn’t faint as feared during her Today show interview with Katie Couric. Suzann and her husband, Dave Ellingsworth, and their two greyhounds are about to embark on the greatest adventure of their lives. Stay tuned.
KATIE ESTILL graduated summa cum laude from Kenyon College and received a Masters of Fine Arts degree from The University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop. Her first novel, Evening Would Find Me, published by Joyce Carol Oates’ Ontario Review Press, was set in Greece. Her second novel, Dahlia’s Gone, St. Martin’s Press, was named one of the top 100 books of 2007 by The Kansas City Star. She was a finalist for the 2008 Dashiell Hammett Prize. Her short stories have appeared in The Missouri Review, The Mid-American Review, Ontario Review, Elder Mountain and Surreal South, an anthology of Southern short stories. She makes her home in the Ozarks with her husband, the novelist Daniel Woodrell.
RICHARD PAUL EVANS wrote his No. 1 best-seller, The Christmas 
Box, as an expression of love for his (then) two daughters. In 1993, Evans reproduced 20 copies of the final story and gave them to his closest relatives and friends as Christmas presents. In the month following, those 20 copies were passed around more than 160 times, and word of mouth drove bookstores to call his home with orders for it. The Christmas Box made history when it became simultaneously the No. 1 hardcover and paperback book in the nation. Since then, more than 8 million copies of The Christmas Box have been printed. Evans has since written 12 consecutive New York Times bestsellers, and he has won three awards for his children’s books including the 1998 American Mothers book award and two first place Storytelling World awards. In spring 1997, Evans founded The Christmas Box House International, an organization devoted to building shelters and providing services for abused and neglected children. Christmas House facilities in Evans’ native state of Utah and in Lucre, Peru, have housed more than 16,000 children to date. Evans lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife, Keri, and their five children. Note: A limited number of copies of Evans’ newest book, The Christmas List, will be available for sale at the Missouri Literary Festival prior to the book’s national release.
JODY FELDMAN holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the
University of Missouri which led her to write a television special, speeches, two Night Before Christmas stocking stuffer books, CitySmart Guidebook: St. Louis (Avalon Travel Publishing, 2000), all means of advertising, and now – more fulfilling than that giant fortune cookie message she was assigned to create – The Gollywhopper Games (HarperCollins/Greenwillow, 2008), her first children’s novel. Targeted to 9-14 year olds, The Gollywhopper Games leads readers through the challenges, puzzles and stunts of a nationally televised, once-in-a-lifetime competition along with the contestant who wants to win it for more than the prize at the end. The Gollywhopper Games has received the 2008 Midwest Booksellers Choice Awards Honor Book for Children’s Literature, the 2008 Missouri Writers’ Guild Best Juvenile Book Award, and is on the 2009-2010 Master Lists of the Texas Bluebonnet Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award (Vermont), the Pennsylvania Reader’s Choice Award, and the Flicker Tale Award (North Dakota). A lifelong resident of St. Louis, Missouri, Jody likes to travel, cook, watch football, solve crossword-type puzzles and see how high books can pile up on her nightstand. Her next children’s novel, The Seventh Level (HarperCollins/Greenwillow) debuts late spring, 2010. You can find more about Jody at www.jodyfeldman.com.
art photographer. After 20 years in weekly news publishing, including five years as editor of the award-winning Springfield Business Journal, Clarissa is now communications director for Springfield’s highly successful First Friday Art Walk. In addition to her work as a freelance journalist and public relations consultant, Clarissa works with individual writers on editing and publishing projects, Her photography is on display at Fresh, a collective gallery of fine art and craft located at the southwest corner of Campbell and Walnut in Springfield’s Downtown Arts District.BRAD GOOCH is the author of the acclaimed biography City Poet: 
The Life and Times of Frank O’Hara and the new biography Flannery: A Life of Flannery O’Connor. The recipient of National Endowment for the Humanities and Guggenheim fellowships, he earned his PhD at Columbia University and is a professor of English at William Paterson University in New Jersey. Find out more about the book, Flannery, its author and the influence of Flannery O’Connor on American literature in Allen Barra’s book review at salon.com: A Southern Gothic legend is hard to find
greater pleasure creating children’s literature. His 78 books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, such as Pirates (2008), The Book of Giant Stories (1972) and Cave Detectives (2007), have sold over 15 million copies and earned dozens of honors and awards, including a Christopher Medal; several IRA/CBC Children’s Choices; Bank Street College Best Books selections; Society of School Librarians International Honor Book; New York Public Library’s Best Books to Share; and NCTE notable books of poetry. He collaborates on educational books with leading scholars in literacy and reading development. David’s work has appeared in more than one hundred anthologies, translated into12 languages, and presented on television, radio, cassette, and CD-ROM. His poetry inspired the school play, Somebody Catch My Homework, which has been produced in the United States and abroad. He has two honorary doctorates in letters and an elementary school named for him. In 2008 he was appointed Poet Laureate of Drury University. He lives in Springfield with his wife Sandy, a retired high school counselor.RICK HARRISON has spent his career exploring new design methods and
software technologies specifically for the design and construction of cities. Challenging the status quo and advocating solutions that are economical, ecological and sustainable, he has innovated the cities of the future. Based in Minneapolis, Rick Harrison Site Design Studio has designed over 650 neighborhoods in 46 States and 12 countries. The company works with land developers, builders, municipalities and educational institutions throughout the U.S. and overseas, to develop environmentally responsible, safe and attractive housing for people at all income levels. His pioneering efforts have earned him a plethora of industry awards, including the coveted Professional Builder’s Professional Achievement of the Year Award for Innovation. He has packaged innovations that lead up to environmentally sound alternatives to “Smart Growth” under the name Prefurbia. His recently released book, Prefurbia: Reinventing the Suburbs: From Disdainable to Sustainable, published by Sustainable Land Development International, has received many favorable reviews. He plans a 2010 release of his Performance Planning System design system (patent pending) which seeks to revolutionize the way planners, architects, and engineers design sustainable land developments.JOHN HESS is a scientist combining knowledge of biology with the
aesthetic of an artist. He began accumulating his knowledge base within a PhD in Zoology from Colorado State University, and he taught evolutionary biology, ornithology and other courses including photography, for more than 30 years. He is now Emeritus Professor of Biology at the University of Central Missouri. This broad background in science lies at the core of his approach to art. His artistic leanings have been satisfied through photography in which he has been active for more than 40 years. During this wide-ranging exploration he has dipped his toe into most facets of photography and along the way has developed a level of expertise in most formats, including digital. Influenced by Edward Weston, Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter, his subjects are nearly always natural, but they range in scale from broad panoramas to microscopic subjects.LOUISE A. JACKSON, winner of the 2008 WILLA award for the best 
children’s/young adult novel of the women’s west published in 2007, is the author of four books: Exiled! From Tragedy to Triumph on the Missouri Frontier; Gone To Texas: From Virginia to Adventure; Grandpa Had a Windmill, Grandma Had a Churn; and Over on the River. She has also written articles published in The Reading Teacher, Language Arts and Journal of the West. Although her two picture books were published many years ago, her writing career for children has really blossomed in the last 10 years, following her retirement from the University of Wyoming. Much in demand as a speaker, Jackson is known for her spirited presentations and for her ability to inspire and encourage writers of all ages. She lives in Springfield, MO, likes to garden, read and walk her new dog, Buddy.
public schools. He received a B. A. degree in English from Oklahoma Christian College in 1964 and a J. D. from Southern Methodist University in 1967. Pepperdine University conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws degree on him in 1980. Johnson returned to Oklahoma Christian College in 1968 to teach and serve as the College’s Staff Counsel. In 1974, at the age of 31, he was inaugurated as the College’s third president, a position he held until 1996 when he was named Chancellor of Oklahoma Christian University. He retired from the University in December 2000. He wrote a pictorial history, Jubilee, celebrating the first 50 years of Oklahoma Christian University. In 2006, his Fairways and Green Pastures: The Christian Walk through Life One Hole at a Time was published by Clarity Publications. Two books written by Johnson have recently been published by Tate Publications: Kirby and Cardinal Fever. Johnson and his wife, Marty, have two married daughters and seven grandchildren. He makes his home in Horseshoe Bay, Texas.KATE KLISE is an award-winning children’s book author. Her titles,
including Regarding the Fountain, Trial by Journal, and Deliver Us from Normal, have netted award nominations in 20 states, as well as the Friends of American Writers Award for Juvenile Fiction, an American Library Association Best Book Pick for Young Adults, and the Not Just for Kids Anymore Award from the Children’s Book Council. Kate lives and writes on a former dairy farm in Norwood, Missouri. For more about Kate Klise and her books, visit kateandsarahklise.com.KELLY KNAUER is a writer and editor for TIME Books in New
York City, the book-publishing division of TIME Magazine. He has written and edited more than 30 TIME books on such subjects as Hurricane Katrina, the Middle East, great photojournalism, natural history, global warming, architecture, U.S. history and the life of Abraham Lincoln. He collaborated with TIME’s longtime White House correspondent, Hugh Sidey, on the book Hugh Sidey’s Portraits of the Presidents. Among those who have written introductions for Mr. Knauer’s books are former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter and actor Tom Hanks. Knauer, a native of Springfield, also has extensive experience as a corporate speechwriter and as a promotion writer for magazines including Foreign Affairs, Martha Stewart Living, American Heritage, Archaeology, Harper’s, Gourmet and The New Republic.CAIT LONDON /Cait Logan/Lois Kleinsasser has placed on USA Today
and New York Times, Waldenbooks and other best-selling book lists since her career began in 1985. With several romance industry awards and using pseudonyms of Cait London and Cait Logan, she has written over 60 books and novellas, featured in DoubleDay and Rhapsody Book Clubs, and has written for Berkley, Dell, Harlequin and HarperCollins/Avon. Reissued consecutively in the U.S. and abroad, she is published in 28 countries. She’s written romance sub-genre in western historical, paranormal, contempory and romantic suspense categories. A long-time resident of the Ozarks, she grew up amid rural Washington State’s orchards, sand and sage, and attended Washington State University. A member of several professional writer organizations, she designs her own website and graphic material, writes and operates e-newsletters and blogs, and administers a defined region writers e-group, Ozark Regional Writers Loop. http://caitlondon.com.
SPEER MORGAN is the author of five novels, a book of short stories and 
editor of four collections of fiction, author interviews and war diaries. His last novel, The Freshour Cylinders, won an American Book Award. Morgan teaches at the University of Missouri has edited The Missouri Review for 30 years.
KEVIN PRUFER is an award-winning poet whose newest books are 
Fallen From A Chariot (Carnegie Mellon, 2005), National Anthem (Four Way Books, 2008), and Little Paper Sacrifice (Four Way Books, forthcoming). He’s also editor of New European Poets (Graywolf Press, 2008), Dark Horses: Essays On Overlooked Poems (University of Illinois Press, 2007) and Pleiades: A Journal of New Writing. The recipient of three Pushcart prizes, he has new work in Best American Poetry 2009, American Poetry Review, The New Republic, Kenyon Review and Virginia Quarterly Review.
ROB RAINS is an award-winning journalist who has published more than 
25 books, including Tony La Russa: Man on a Mission, which debuted in March. He started his sports writing life as a reporter for United Press International (UPI) and then covered the St. Louis Cardinals for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, eventually moving to USA Today and USA Today Baseball Weekly. He spent one year working for the now-defunct Senior Baseball League in Florida and was awarded the Freedom Forum Grant to teach Journalism for a year at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State. For the past 10 years he has been writing books, magazine articles and doing radio. He is married to author Sally Tippett Rains.
SALLY TIPPETT RAINS, author of 12 published books, got her start as a 
sports reporter at KMOX/CBS Radio in St. Louis, where she worked as a writer for Bob Costas. In 2008, her book The Making of a Classic, Margaret Mitchell and Gone With The Wind was tapped to become a television documentary with Rains serving as scriptwriter and producer. Sally holds a degree in media/journalism from Webster University, and she has served on several national committees, including the Missouri Society in Washington, D.C., where she headed the state of Missouri’sinvolvement in the National Cherry Blossom Festival and put on a reception in the U.S. Capitol with two congressmen in attendance. She is married to sports writer and author Rob Rains.
FRANCINE ROARK ROBISON writes from personal experience or from 
family stories passed down from her parents, with most of the settings in southern Oklahoma and the Arbuckle Mountains. A member of the Oklahoma Writing Project, Western Music Association, and Western Writers of America, she has been published in various journals and anthologies, including American Cowboy Magazine. Francine has been named Cowboy Poet Laureate of Oklahoma by the Oklahoma House of Representatives and Senate. She has appeared in numerous poetry gatherings as well as a couple of pig roasts.
JENNIFER ROTHSCHILD is a writer, speaker, songwriter and recording 
artist. At the age of 15, Jennifer was diagnosed with a rare degenerative eye disease that would eventually steal her sight. Her dreams of becoming a commercial artist and cartoonist faded. Words and music have replaced her canvas and palette for more than 25 years. Founder and publisher of the popular online magazine, WomensMinistry.NET, Jennifer has been featured on Dr. Phil, ABC’s Good Morning America, the Billy Graham Television Special and other national TV and radio programs. Known for her substance and a down-to-earth style, Jennifer weaves together colorful illustrations, universal principles and music to help audiences find contentment, walk with endurance and celebrate the ordinary. Jennifer’s newest book is Self Talk, Soul Talk: What to Say When You Talk to Yourself (September 2007). She is the author of six books with combined sales of a half million units, including the best-selling Lesson I Learned in the Dark. In addition to her writing and speaking, Jennifer is an accomplished songwriter and recording artist, with six albums to her credit, including Walking by Faith: The Music Captured Live. She resides in Springfield with her husband of 21 years, Dr. Philip Rothschild, and their sons Clayton and Connor.
KENNETH R. RUTHERFORD is professor of public affairs and associate 
professor of political science at Missouri State University. He also travels worldwide to promote the economic and social rights of persons with disabilities. He is co-founder of Survivor Corps, formerly the Landmine Survivors Network, and is a renowned leader in the Nobel Peace Prize-winning coalition that spearheaded the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and the 2008 Cluster Munitions Ban Treaty. He has worked for the Peace Corps (Mauritania), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (Senegal), International Rescue Committee (Kenya and Somalia) and as a Fulbright Professor (Jordan). He has testified before Congress and published articles in numerous academic and policy journals. Dr. Rutherford’s most recent book is Humanitarianism Under Fire: The US and UN Intervention in Somalia (Kumarian Press, 2008), and has co-edited two books: Reframing the Agenda: The Impact of NGO and Middle Power Cooperation in International Security Policy (Greenwood Press) and Landmines and Human Security: The International Movement to Ban Landmines (SUNY Press). After losing his legs to a landmine in Somalia in 1993, he earned his doctorate at Georgetown University. As an advocate for people with disabilities affected by landmines, he has appeared on Dateline, Nightline, and National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered. His personal story of recovering from his accident to pursue his dreams of marrying his fiancé, having children and becoming a professor have been profiled by the Oprah Winfrey show, Reader’s Digest and the BBC.
LAURA SHAPIRO was a columnist at The Real Paper (Boston) before 
beginning a 16-year run at Newsweek, where she covered food, women’s issues and the arts and won several journalism awards. Her essays, reviews and features have also appeared in The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Gourmet, Granta, The American Scholar, Gastronomica, Slate and many other publications. Her first book was Perfection Salad: Women and Cooking at the Turn of the Century (1986), which the University of California Press has recently reissued with a new Afterword. She is also the author of Something from the Oven: Revinventing Dinner in 1950s America (Viking, 2004) and Julia Child (Penguin Lives, 2007). She contributes a regular column to gourmet.com, the Gourmet magazine website.
KRISTINE SOMERVILLE works at The Missouri Review as the 
marketing coordinator and teaches creative nonfiction, fiction and literary studies at Stephens College. Her short stories, nonfiction and prose poems have appeared in various magazines, including The North American Review, Hayden’s Ferry, Passages North and Quarterly West. Her essay “Katie Suber” received notable mention in Best American Essays 2000, and her fiction has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize. Her visual and “Found Text” features appear regularly in The Missouri Review.
JOHN P. (JACK) STACK is president and CEO of SRC Holdings 
Corporation in Springfield and author of The Great Game of Business, the seminal work on open-book management. SRC, with sales of $300 million a year and 800+ employees, started out as an International Harvester plant. In 1983, plant manager Stack and the SRC employees bought the company, using open-book management to create what Inc. magazine proclaimed “one of America’s most competitive small companies.” Open-book management begins with business literacy – teaching employees to read profit-and-loss statements and understand core business concepts – and succeeds through each employee being an active and informed participant in company operations. Published in 1992, The Great Game of Business was named one of the 30 best business books of the year by Soundview Executive Book Summaries. In 2009 it was included in The 100 Best Business Books by 800-CEO-Read. Jack’s open-book management program has been recognized by CBS’s “Eye on America” and PBS’s “McNeil-Lehrer Report,” as well as being honored with the National Business Ethics Award and the Business Enterprise Trust Award. Jack’s second book, A Stake in the Outcome, was published in March 2002. Jack is a national and world judge for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Institute. Inc. magazine has called him the “smartest strategist in America” and Fortune Small Business Magazine has listed him among the “top 10 minds in small business.”
RETA STEWART-ALLEN has written hundreds of articles for serial 
publications as well as video scripts and advertising copy for television and radio. She continues to author books, regularly freelances articles for 417 Magazine and Ozarks Senior Living Newspaper, and edits and designs books for authors who elect to self-publish. As Reta Spears-Stewart, she authored the country music history book, Remembering the Ozark Jubilee, Starring Red Foley, which received the Country Music Association of America 1995 Eagle Award as “Best Country Book of the Year.” She has taught both writing and art in children’s and adult evening classes, written video scripts and advertising copy for television and radio and enjoys writing song lyrics. Reta is president of the Springfield Writers’ Guild, a chapter of the Missouri Writers’ Guild. Reta has seven grown children, 19 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
LEROY WATTS is one of the founders of The Missouri Cowboy Poets 
Association. Born in Joplin, MO, in 1923, Leroy spent many years in the western states as an engineer, precious metals refiner and silversmith. After his retirement, he moved back to the Missouri Ozarks and joined Richard Dunlap, Jeff Anslinger and Don Collop in forming The Missouri Cowboy Poets Association, where he served as chairman of the board for more than 10 years. He is now honorary chairman of the board emeritus. Leroy writes poetic stories of his life and experiences in the traditional style of rhyme and rhythm, drawing from his Ozark boyhood memories and Ozark folklore. He and his wife LaVern live in their own little world in the midst of 40 acres of Ozark hills just east of Monett, MO.
ANDREW WELLS, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, is a partner in the
Springfield architectural firm of Dake-Wells. Andrew has more than 18 years of architecture and project management experience. He holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Hammons School of Architecture at Drury University. At Dake-Wells he is the firm’s leader in all aspects of design, garnering local, regional and national awards on projects ranging from loft apartments to performing arts facilities. He is licensed in the state of Missouri and Arkansas to practice architecture, is NCARB certified, is a member of the Society for College and University Planners as well as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and he is a LEED Accredited Professional.
DANIEL WOODRELL is an award winning novelist. His five most recent 
novels were selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year, and Tomato Red won the PEN West Award for the Novel in 1999. His latest novel Winter’s Bone won the Prix de la Mystere Critique in France and was one of five finalists for the 2007 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Fiction. Woodrell’s short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies, and he has published work in Esquire, Gentleman’s Quarterly, Missouri Review, New Letters, Granta online, The Washington Post and The New York Times. Two of his novels have been adapted for film and were shot in Missouri. Woe To Live On was made into the film Ride With the Devil by director Ang Lee in 1999, and Winter’s Bone was filmed in Forsyth by director Debra Granik in winter 2009. Click here for KSMU coverage of the filming. Woodrell lives in the Missouri Ozarks with his wife, the novelist Katie Estill.
JUDY YOUNG is the award-winning author of several children’s books. R 
is for Rhyme, A Poetry Alphabet received the Overall 2008 Mom’s Choice Gold Award, as well as the Educator’s Choice Award. It also received a 2006 National Parenting Publications Honor Award, the 2006 Missouri Writers’ Guild Best Juvenile Book Award, and was choreographed by the Tanner Creative Dance Program of the University of Utah for their 58th annual performance in 2007. The Lucky Star, received a 2009 Storytelling World Honor Award and was chosen as a Top Five Book by Rutgers University, and her first book, S is for Show Me, A Missouri Alphabet was selected to represent Missouri at the 2008 National Book Festival in Washington, DC. Judy has also written Minnow and Rose, Lazy Days of Summer, H is for Hook, A Fishing Alphabet and Show Me the Number, A Missouri Number Book. Her next book The Hidden Bestiary of Marvelous, Mysterious and (maybe even) Magical Creatures releases in September, 2009, The Missouri Reader releases in April, 2010 and two other children’s books are scheduled for release in 2011 and 2012. After 20 years’ experience in the public schools as a speech and language pathologist, Judy now writes full time and has spoken at schools and educational conferences in 18 different states. Judy lives in Springfield with her husband, Ross, a professional artist who illustrated Judy’s Show Me books. In her spare time, you can find Judy reading, hiking, fishing, playing with her dogs or gallivanting around the country in “Arlo,” the Young’s traveling studio. Visit Judy at www.judyyoungpoetry.com.
JOAQUÍN ZIHUATANEJO is a poet, spoken word artist, and award-
winning teacher. Born and raised in the barrio of East Dallas, in his work Joaquín strives to capture the duality of the Chicano culture. A National Poetry Slam Finalist, Grand Slam Spoken Word Champion, and HBO Def Poet, Joaquín has performed his poetry at universities, conferences and poetry slams all over the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe. Critics have called Joaquín, “one of the most dynamic and passionate performance poets in the country, melding equal parts comedy, poetry, and dramatic monologue into a crowd-pleasing display of verbal fireworks…” Joaquín recently won the 2008-2009 Individual World Poetry Slam Championship besting 77 poets representing cities all over North America, France and Australia. Because of his victory, Joaquín received a book deal with Wordsmith Press, to be published fall 2009. Joaquín was named 2009 World Cup of Poetry Slam Champion in Paris, France, in June.
Other Event Highlights
- Live music and entertainment
- Panel discussion on how to become a published author
- Storytelling and kids’ activities
- The inaugural Missouri Literary Festival Award For Short Fiction
Special Ticketed Events
Business by the Book
In this special business luncheon program, held 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Oct. 2, iconic business authors Norm Brodsky, Bo Burlingham and Springfield’s own Jack Stack will share their insights on business, financial literacy and how to save our financial future. Tickets are $35
Business by the Book:
Brunch with Laura Shapiro
Join Laura Shapiro, author of “Perfection Salad: Women and Cooking at the Turn of the Century,” “Something from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America” and the biography “Julia Child,” for brunch and literary insights, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Oct. 3. Tickets are $25
Meet the Authors Gala
Mix and mingle with Missouri Literary Festival authors at the Meet the Authors Gala, 7-10 p.m. Oct. 3 at Hammons Field. Meet local, regional and national literary lions and discuss the state of the literary arts over drinks and hors d’oeuvre. Tickets are $75
