BEA Names 2011 Breakfast Speakers

Diane Keaton, Jeffrey Eugenides, and Roger Ebert will be among the headliners at this year’s BookExpo America Author Breakfasts, and masters of ceremonies include actress and children’s book author Julianne Moore, Emmy-nominated writer Mindy Kaling, and author and PBS NewsHour editor and anchor Jim Lehrer. The announcement was made by BEA on Thursday, February 10.

Here’s the full breakfast lineup:

TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2011

8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. CHILDREN’S BOOK & AUTHOR BREAKFAST (Special Events Hall)

Presented in cooperation with the Children’s Booksellers and Publishers Committee [A cooperative committee of the American Booksellers Association (ABA), the ABA ABC Children’s Group, and the Children’s Book Council] this opening-day breakfast will feature:

• Brian Selznick, author of Wonderstruck (Scholastic)
• Sarah Dessen, author of What Happened to Goodbye (Viking Children’s Books/Penguin Young Readers Group)
• Kevin Henkes, author of Little White Rabbit and Junonia (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins)

Julianne Moore, author of Freckleface Strawberry: Best Friends Forever (Bloomsbury), will be master of ceremonies.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2011

8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. BOOK & AUTHOR BREAKFAST (Special Events Hall)

Wednesday morning will feature:

• Diane Keaton, author of Then Again (Random House)
• Jefferey Eugenides, author of The Marriage Plot (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
• Charlaine Harris, author of Dead Reckoning (Ace/Penguin Group USA)

Mindy Kaling, author of Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) (Crown Archetype), will be master of ceremonies.

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. BOOK & AUTHOR BREAKFAST (Special Events Hall)

Thursday morning will feature:

• Roger Ebert, author of Life Itself: A Memoir (Grand Central)
• Anne Enright, author of The Forgotten Waltz (W.W. Norton)
• Erik Larson, author of In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin (Crown Publishers)

Jim Lehrer, author of Tension City:  Inside the Presidential Debates, From Kennedy-Nixon to McCain-Obama (Random House), will be master of ceremonies.

BEA said that an announcement about additional author programming for its newly re-named Insight Stages (formerly Author Stages) will be made in the coming weeks. The stages will feature author programming as well as discussions with both industry and non-industry trailblazers who are involved with innovation in the digital space.

BEA also noted that it is working to expand awareness and activities for New York Book Week, which is an opportunity for publishers to brand and market authors and titles at events in bookstores, libraries, schools, and other public venues throughout the city.

“There is a wealth of book and author programming still to come, and we look forward to making additional announcements in the near future,” said Steve Rosato, event director for BookExpo America. 

The 2011 BEA trade show will take place from Tuesday, May 24, through Thursday, May 26, at the Javits Convention Center in New York City.  ABA’s Day of Education and BEA’s Big Ideas Conference will be held at the convention center on Monday, May 23, with a BEA Opening Night Keynote tentatively planned for that evening at 6:00 p.m. 

For more information about BEA, visit www.bookexpoamerica.com and connect with BEA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.