Highlights

Speakers at the 2022 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition

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ALA 2022

Meet PRHSB speakers Dani Shapiro and Celeste Ng at these Penguin Random House ALA events!

    • Sunday, June 26th at 9:00 AM
      Washington Convention Center, Ballroom ABC
      Celeste Ng will be in conversation with Nancy Pearl.
    • Monday, June 27th at 2:00 PM
      Renaissance, Anacostia Ballroom
      Dani Shapiro chats about her latest book Signal Fires.

We’re happy to welcome back the ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition! From bestselling adult and YA authors to rising literary stars and book club favorites, our speakers engage with local audiences and enrich library programming.


Brit Bennett

Novelist of National Book Award nominated, New York Times-bestselling The Vanishing Half, and National Book Foundation 2016 5 Under 35 Honoree

Brit Bennett Speaker

Speaking Topics & Expertise:

    • Reflects on the challenges and rewards of writing commentary and personal essays in the age of comment sections and immediate feedback.

Jasmine Guillory

Writer and New York Times-bestselling romance novelist

Jasmine Guillory Speaker

Speaking Topics & Expertise:

  • Discusses the way she approaches writing—from figuring out story to developing lovable and recognizable characters.

Leila Mottley

Author of Oprah’s Book Club selection Nightcrawling and former Youth Poet Laureate of Oakland

Leila Mottley Speaker

Speaking Topics & Expertise:

  • Discusses the importance of representation and the need to render the stories of young women and girls with the nuance, complexity, and joy they deserve.

Celeste Ng

Author of the New York Times bestseller Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere

Celeste Ng Speaker

Speaking Topics & Expertise:

  • Discusses her own evolving relationship with the term, as well as larger issues of “ethnic” writing and cultural identity in fiction.

Matt de la Peña

New York Times-bestselling author of books for children and young adults

MattdelaPenaSpeaker

Speaking Topics & Expertise:

  • Encourages audience to find beauty in their everyday lives and explore timeless themes of wonder, gratitude, and love.

Dani Shapiro

Bestselling author of Hourglass and Inheritance, host of the Family Secrets podcast.

Dani Shapiro Speaker

Speaking Topics & Expertise:

  • Talks about the power of the unconscious, and what we reveal to our readers, and to ourselves, as we discover the true nature of the stories we carry.

Charles Yu

National Book Award-winning author of Interior Chinatown

Charles Yu Pitch 2

Speaking Topics & Expertise:

    • Speaks to audiences of all kinds about the Asian American experience, representation and stereotypes in film and television, and the unique power of science fiction to address the human condition.
Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau