2006 Featured Speakers

See past speakers at the NULC

 

Alice Sebold

The Lovely Bones, Sebold’s novel about loss and redemption, one of the best-reviewed novels of 2002. The book quickly became an unprecedented international bestseller, with translations in 36 languages and American hardcover sales alone of nearly three million copies. Three months after the publication of The Lovely Bones, Sebold’s 1999 memoir Lucky, an account of her rape at the age of 18 and the trial that followed, was reissued in paperback. This searing account of violence and the criminal justice system also rose to number one on The New York Times Bestseller list and brought recognition from countless organizations that represent victims of violence and sexual assault. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Sebold grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and attended Syracuse University as well as the University of Houston and the University of California, Irvine. She is a firm believer in what she calls “the covert role” that education provides, feeling strongly that her own life was saved by a variety of teachers and professionals whom she met during her college years. Sebold’s work is taught in English departments and as “one-book/one-community” reads across the country. The books are frequently discussed on two levels: as literature with a strong feminist message, and as a way to broach the difficult personal topics of violence, rape, death, and grief. She is married to writer, Glen David Gold.

Glen David Gold

Glen David Gold received his MFA from the University of California, Irvine. His novel Carter Beats the Devil, an international bestseller, has been translated into 14 languages and is optioned to Cruise/Wagner Productions for Robert Towne to write and direct. His memoirs, journalism and short stories have appeared in McSweeney's, Playboy, the New York Times Sunday Magazine and the London Independent. He has written for Dark Horse Comics and his essay on artist Jack Kirby is featured in the catalogue for the current Masters of American Comics show (Yale University Press). Gold lives in southern California with his wife, novelist Alice Sebold, where he is trying to finish his second novel without dislodging the cats from his lap.

Brett Anthony Johnston

Once a student who submitted to the National Undergraduate Literature Conference, Bret Anthony Johnston’s work has been featured in The Paris Review, Tin House, and on Slate.com, as well as in many anthologies, including New Stories from the South: The Year's Best, 2003, 2004, and 2005; Best American Short Stories 2004; and Prize Stories: The O. Henry Prize Stories 2002. He holds degrees from Texas A&M University, Miami University and the Iowa Writer's Workshop. He has been a commentator for NPR's All Things Considered, and a skateboarder for over fifteen years. Currently, he teaches creative writing at California State University, and is editing an anthology of fiction writing exercises and completing his first novel, both forthcoming from Random House.

Terry Gifford

Terry Gifford is former Reader in Literature and Environment at the University of Leeds (now retired). Born in Cambridge in 1946, Terry Gifford specializes in teaching and researching literature and the environment, together with creative writing. He is Director of the annual International Festival of Mountaineering Literature at Bretton Hall Campus, University of Leeds, now approaching its 18th year.