PEN USA Literature Seminar with Swedish and American Authors

4-6 pm, followed by a cocktail buffet.
By Invitation Only

Featuring Swedish author, Liza Marklund and American authors, Kate Gale, Stephen Cooper, Marcos Villatoro, and journalists David Kipen (San Francisco Chronicle), Scott Timberg (The New Times Los Angeles).  Moderator:  Eric Lax, author and past president of Pen USA.

The Consulate General of Sweden and Pen USA will present a panel discussion on the popularity and importance of Scandinavian suspense fiction.  What is the inspiration for thriller novels.  What is the market in Sweden and abroad?  Does the climate and geography affect the kind of suspence fiction that is popular in Sweden?  How does science fiction come to define Los Angeles and Hollywood?  How do Scandinavian thrillers differ and compare to their warm weather counterparts – specifically San Francisco and Los Angeles noir writers Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler.  What are the unifying theories and/or elements of detective fiction?

Biographical:

Liza Marklund is one of the world's best-selling novelists today, according to American net magazine Publishing Trends. Her books, mostly crime and thriller novels- many based on real characters and themes- are among the most sold fiction novels in the world in both 2002 and 2003.  They have been translated into 25 languages, and the rights have been sold to 115 countries. Worldwide, her books have sold over five million copies.  She has written six novels that have been honored with several literary awards and have been listed at the top of the bestseller list. Two of her novels have been filmed by Oscar-nominee Colin Nutley. Her most recent novel is Asylum Granted, a sequel to On The Run, one of the most widely read an beloved books in the history of Swedish literature (according to a Swedish poll taken in May 2002).  Marklund lives in Stockholm with her husband and three children.  Recently, she was appointed as Sweden's new UNICEF ambassador.

Stephen Cooper is Professor of English at California State University, Long Beach. In addition to scholarly articles in literary magazines and film journals, he has published short stories in such periodicals as Southwest Review, The Threepenny Review, American Fiction, and Hot Type. He is the editor of Perspectives on John Huston and the author of Full of Life: A Biography of John Fante. He discovered and edited the manuscript of John Fante's last book, The Big Hunger: Stories 1932-1959, and is also a co-editor of John Fante: A Critical Gathering. His biography of Fante and his edition of The John Fante Reader were named among the Los Angeles Times Best Books of the Year.

Kate Gale is the author of seven books and the editor of four anthologies.  Her five collections of poetry include:  Blue Air, Where Crows and Men Collide, Selling the Hammock, Fishers of Men and Mating Season. Her novel is Lake of Fire, and she also has written a bilingual children's book, African Sleeping Beauty. Gale is the Managing Editor of Red Hen Press, Editor of Los Angeles Review, President of PEN USA and a reviewer of the American Library association's academic literary review journal Choice.  She was the first place winner of the 1998 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award.  Current projects include Rio de Sangre, a libretto for an opera by Don Davis.

Marcos M. Villatoro is the author of two previous novels, and the host of "Shelf Life," a weekly interview program on Pacifica radio. He lives in Van Nuys, California. He teaches writing at Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles.

David Kipen is the book reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle, a member of the board of directors of the National Book Critics and the California Studies Association. His writing has appeared in World Policy Journal, Salon, The Los Angeles Times Book Review, and weekly in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Scott Timberg has worked for 5 years as the editor and a writer for The New Times Los Angeles. He co-edited Misread City, an anthology that focuses on the LA writing and publishing scene, with NEA Chairman, Dana Gioia. He currently covers the arts and culture for the Los Angeles Times.

Eric Lax is a well-know writer of novels and biographies.  He is the biographer of some of Hollywood's top actors, such as Humphrey Bogart, Paul Newman and Woody Allen.