[Libs-Or] OLA Conference 2004 Keynote Speaker

[Ruth Kratochvil]

Abu-Jaber Named Keynote Speaker for Upcoming OLA Conference 2004
Author and educator Dr. Diana Abu-Jaber is the keynote speaker for the annual Oregon Library Association (OLA) Conference to be held April 14, 15, and 16 at the Hilton Eugene and Convention Center in downtown Eugene.

Abu-Jaber's latest novel, Crescent, was published in the spring of 2003 to rave reviews.  Her writings portray Arab Americans as ordinary human beings rather than people to be feared.  The Utne (Reader) Book Club '04, wrote of her conveyance of this theme in Crescent:  "Far from being didactic, however, Abu-Jaber's novel is charming and romantic, with themes of food, love, and longing entwined in a sensuous narrative."

In 1994, she was the Fiction winner of the Oregon Book Award for her first novel, Arabian Jazz.  The novel was also named a finalist for the national PEN/Hemingway Award.

Abu-Jaber is currently on the faculty of Miami University but before that was a writer-in-residence at Portland Sate University.  She has taught literature and creative writing at the University of Oregon, University of Michigan, and UCLA.  A native New Yorker, she is the daughter of an American mother and a Jordanian father.  She grew up living in both the States and Amman, Jordan.

A reaction/discussion panel composed of Arab Americans working and living in the Eugene area will follow Abu-Jaber's keynote address.

The keynote address opens the 2004 Conference at the first General Session, 8:30 a.m., on Thursday, April 15.

To learn more about this year's keynote speaker including excerpts from her writings, turn to www.BookBrowse.com and/or http://webdelsol.com/LITARTS/abujaber/


And Coming January 15  - Preliminary program and registrations forms 
OLA members will receive an announcement in the mail.  If you're not an OLA member, let us know so we can send you the announcement.  Contact jolynn.o'hearn at oregonstate.edu or 548-737=8226.

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