Audio version

2014 Annual Conference Cognotes • Page 9

Auditorium Speakers

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many awards, including the Nonfiction Book of the Year Award from Booksense, and was a finalist for the 2004 PEN/Martha Albrand Award for Memoir. Nafisi has lectured and written extensively on the political implications of literature and culture, as well as on the important role Iranian women and girls continue to play in calling for change and pluralism in Iran.

Nafisi's appearance is sponsored by Viking.

Stan Lee

Saturday, June 28 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.

Treat yourself to magical superpowers, a sinister conspiracy, and an unlikely hero with Stan Lee, known to millions as the man whose Super Heroes propelled Marvel to its preeminent position in the comic book industry and whose co-creations include “Spider-Man™”, The Avengers ™, X-Men™, Iron Man™, The Incredible Hulk™, “The Fantastic Four™”, and hundreds of others.

Lee will talk, among other things, about his forthcoming action-packed illustrated novel Zodiac, based on the Chinese Zodiac. Co-written with Stuart Moore and illustrated by Andie Tong, it follows Steven Lee, a young Chinese-American teen who is drawn into a mysterious conspiracy surrounding twelve mystical pools of energy and a power-hungry secret organization (January 2015, Disney Publishing Worldwide).

Lee remains Chairman Emeritus of Marvel, serves on the Editorial Board of Marvel Comics, and is currently Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of POW! Entertainment, a multimedia entertainment company he co-founded. POW! has debuted several titles including Solid-er Zero, Traveler, and Starborn with Boom Comics, Stan Lee and the Mighty 7 with Archie and A Squared Entertainment, and Romeo and Juliet: The War with 1821 Comics. Lee has been involved in creating feature film scripts, a live action musical, and is working on Indian and South American superhero franchises. His appearance at 2014 ALA Annual Conference is sponsored by Disney Publishing Worldwide.

Alexander McCall Smith

Saturday, June 28 3:30 - 4:30 p.m.

Attendees at 2014 ALA Annual Conference will not want to miss the chance to hear the entertaining Alexander McCall Smith, author of the internationally acclaimed No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series.

The more than 100 books he has written or contributed to also include solo novels, specialist academic titles, short story collections, and popular children's books. Books in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series have been translated into 45 languages and sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, and the Isabel Dalhousie series that followed immediately leapt onto bestseller lists.

Born in what is now Zimbabwe, McCall Smith was educated there and in Scotland, became a law professor, and returned to Africa to work in Botswana. He was Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, and has been a visiting professor at universities including in Italy and the U.S., and has served as vice-chairman of the Human Genetics Commission of the UK, the chairman of the British Medical Journal Ethics Committee, and as a member of the International Bioethics Commission of UNESCO. His numerous awards include The Crime Writers’ Association's Dagger in the Library Award, UK Author of the Year Award, Sweden's Martin Beck Award, and multiple honorary doctorates. In 2010 he was awarded the Presidential Order of Merit by the President of Botswana.

And although it hasn't won any awards, perhaps he'll also entertain attendees with stories of “The Really Terrible Orchestra” that he co-founded and in which he plays the bassoon and his wife plays the horn. You can find more about McCall Smith and his work on his website. His appearance

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Stan Lee

Alexander McCall Smith

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