WHEN: Sunday, January 24, 2:00-5:00 pm

SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER: STEVE ALMOND.

Steve is the author of the non-fiction book Candyfreak; two story collections, My Life in Heavy Metal and The Evil B.B. Chow; and the novel Which Brings Me to You, co-written with Julianna Baggott. His essays and commentary appear often in The Boston Globe.

OUR OWN SPECIAL SPEAKERS: Mid-party, we'll have a reading at which six of the 2009 authors will give us a 5-minute tease of the flavor of their books.

Li Mo, Spirit Bridges: Coming of Age in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Madrid and New York City in the 1960s (Streetfeet Press). The memoirfollows her as she gains knowledge, joy, and optimism through extraordinary challenges.

Randy Susan Meyers, The Murderer's Daughters (St. Martin's). The novel, which follows thirty years of two sisters' lives after their father murders their mother, has been praised as "mesmerizing" and "empathic."

Judah Leblang, Finding My Place: One Man's Journey from Cleveland to Boston and Beyond (Lake Effect Press). Memoir in episodes, from a boyhood in 1960s Cleveland to the present-day gay Mecca of Provincetown, to life as a hard of hearing man with a funny name, navigating middle age in Boston.

J. Kates, translator/co-editor, Contemporary Russian Poetry (Dalkey). Bilingual collection of poems by 44 living Russian poets, many previously unpublished in the West.

Carol Wintle, Empowering Children to Help Stop Bullying at School (Character Development Group). This guide helps educators, children in grades 3 and up, and families to reverse the current pattern of schoolkids supporting those who bully, not those being bullied. Includes true stories of how children have stood up for others.

Steve Early, Embedded with Organized Labor: Journalistic Reflections on the Class War at Home (Monthly Review Press). A labor journalist tackles hot issues facing unions today from immigrant worker organizing to schisms over internal democracy and to obstacles to labor law reform.

Please bring some party food, since refreshments are potluck. We'll bring juice and soda to go with the food. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES ARE NOT ALLOWED UNDER THE TERMS OF OUR RENTAL CONTRACT. Bring your writer friends, as well.

Authors will be selling their books so bring cash or checks − or, if you're an author, some books. (Some authors may be able to take credit cards.)

In fact, everyone is welcome to use our display tables to put out (and potentially sell) your books, articles, copies of poems, brochures, leaflets and business cards.

We'll be needing volunteers to set up and clean up. Contact your Webmaster to volunteer.