ALA Cognotes May 2018 Preview - 2

COGNOTES

Journalist, Essayist Robert Fieseler To
Speak at Annual Conference June 23
Robert Fieseler
Auditorium Speaker Series

ALA President Jim Neal Welcomes
Tracy K. Smith and Jose Antonio
Vargas to ALA President's Program
Tracy K. Smith is the author of the
critically acclaimed memoir Ordinary
Light and four books of poetry. Her collection Life on Mars won the 2012 Pulitzer
Prize and was selected as a New York Times
Notable Book. Duende won the 2006
James Laughlin Award from the Academy
of American Poets and an Essence Literary
Award, and The Body's Question was the
winner of the 2002 Cave Canem Poetry
Prize. The Root has noted that Smith's
recently released poetry collection - her
fourth - Wade in the Water is sure to be

Saturday 6/23, 10:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Sponsored by W.W. Norton

Robert W. Fieseler is a journalist and essayist who graduated co-valedictorian from
the Columbia University Graduate School of
Journalism and received the Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship and the Lynton Fellowship in
Book Writing. When the editor-in-chief of
Liveright Publishing approached Fieseler to
write a book about the 1973 arson of a gay
nightclub, Fieseler enthusiastically welcomed
the challenge despite thus far only writing
short pieces. "I always had a dream to write
a book that mattered, that dealt with civil
rights, gay rights, and human rights. One
email changed my life and it was like placing a hand into a glove," Fieseler said. His
session will take place Saturday, June 23,
10:30 - 11:30 a.m. at the 2018 ALA Annual
Conference & Exhibition in New Orleans.
Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up
Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation, available in June 2018, is an essential
work of American civil rights history. It mesmerizingly reconstructs the fire that devasted
New Orleans's subterranean gay community.
The book chronicles the tragic event that
claimed the lives of 31 men and one woman
at a New Orleans bar, the largest mass murder
of gays until the Pulse tragedy in 2016. Relying on unprecedented access to survivors and

MAY PREVIEW

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Robert Fieseler (photo © Ryan Leiter)

archives, Fieseler creates an indelible portrait
of a closeted, blue-collar, gay world. The aftermath of the fire, which saw families ashamed
to claim their loved ones, the city impervious
to the survivors' needs, and almost zero media
coverage, is considered an even more woeful
part of the story.
His work has appeared in the Big Roundtable, the Brooklyn Ink, and The Week.
His appearance at the conference is
sponsored by W.W. Norton.
Get details and add to your schedule now.

Grammy-nominated Musician
Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews
to Perform
Troy "Trombone Shorty"
Andrews is an author, philanthropist, and a Grammy-nominated multi-instrumentalist
who leads the band Trombone
Shorty & Orleans Avenue. He
has performed and shared the
stage with countless musicians,
including U2, Lenny Kravitz,
Eric Clapton, and Madonna. He
performed at the White House
event "Red, White & Blues"
and recently made a cameo on
the longest-running American
sitcom, The Simpsons.
Andrews is the author of
Trombone Shorty-winner of the
Coretta Scott King Book Award
and the Caldecott Honor. His Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews
(Photo by Danny Clinch)
latest picture book is another
unforgettable love letter to his hometown of
Troy "Trombone Shorty"
New Orleans. The 5 O'Clock Band, illustrated
Andrews
by Coretta Scott King Book Award and
Annual Conference Welcome
Caldecott Honor winner Bryan Collier, is
Celebration
about a young musician who benefits from
Friday 6/22, 4:00 p.m.
NOLA-bred wisdom as he hits the streets of
Sponsored by ABRAMS
New Orleans to find answers and inspiration.
The Art of Books
Andrews is the recipient of the prestigious
Heinz Award in recognition of his community music education and mentorship to underservice with the Trombone Shorty Founda- served young musicians. His performance is
tion-committed to preserving the musical sponsored by ABRAMS The Art of Books.
heritage of New Orleans while providing
Get details and add to your schedule now.

Tracy K. Smith
Jose Antonio Vargas
ALA Awards Presentation &
President's Program
Sunday 6/24, 3:00 - 5:30 p.m.

on everyone's awards and best-of lists.
In June 2017, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden reappointed Smith
the twenty-second United States Poet
Laureate Consultant in Poetry. Smith
is the Roger S. Berlind
'52 Professor in the Humanities and director of
Princeton University's
Program in Creative
Writing. She was recently named successor
to Michael Cadden as
chair of the Lewis Center for the Arts, effective
July 2019. Her session is
sponsored by Graywolf
Press/Macmillan.

Tracy K. Smith (photo by Rachel Eliza Griffiths)

ALA President Jim Neal also welcomes
Jose Antonio Vargas, journalist, filmmaker, and CEO of Define American, a
nonprofit media and culture organization
that uses the power of story to transcend
politics and shift the conversation about
immigrants, identity, and citizenship in
a changing America. Vargas will discuss
his first book, a provocative memoir, that
is both personal and universal. Available
Fall 2018, Dear America: Notes of an
Undocumented Citizen is both an urgent
and personal letter to his country and a
window into Vargas's American experience. It is a transformative argument
about migration and citizenship and an
intimate, searing exploration of what it
means to be "home" when the country
you live in doesn't consider you one of
its own.
Vargas was born in the Philippines and
brought to the United States illegally as
a twelve-year-old. He hid in plain sight
for years, writing for some of the most
prestigious news organizations in the
country while lying about where he came
from and how he got here. After publicly
admitting his undocumented status, risking his career and personal safety, Vargas
challenged the definition of what it means
to be an American. He has advocated
for the human rights of immigrants and
migrants during the largest global movement of people in modern history.
Vargas was part of The Washington Post
team that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize
for Breaking News Reporting for their
coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting.
He revealed his undocumented immigration status in a 2011 essay in the New
York Times Magazine and later produced
and directed his autobiographical documentary, "Documented," which aired on

Jose Antonio Vargas
(photo by Gerry Salva Cruz)

CNN. He later produced and directed
"White People," which aired on MTV.
His appearance at the conference is
sponsored by HarperCollins.
Get details and add to your schedule now.

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ALA Cognotes May 2018 Preview