Non-Fiction: Meredith Hall + Joanne Chen + Amanda Marcotte

Joanne Chen (The Taste of Sweet: Our Complicated Love Affair with Sugar) + Meredith Hall (Without a Map: A Memoir) + Amanda Marcotte (It’s a Jungle Out There: The Feminist Survival Guide to Politically Inhospitable Environments) read from their work.

JOANNE CHEN is a writer and editor in New York City. She has covered health, nutrition, and food as an editor at Life and Vogue, and her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Food & Wine, Health, and other publications. She keeps chocolate at her desk at all times. She will be reading from her book The Taste of Sweet Visit her website at www.thetasteofsweet.com.

At the age of forty-four, MEREDITH HALL graduated from Bowdoin College. She wrote her first essay, "Killing Chickens," in 2002. Two years later, she won the $50,000 Gift of Freedom Award from A Room of Her Own Foundation, which gave her the financial freedom to devote time to Without a Map, her first book. Her other honors include a Pushcart Prize and notable essay recognition in Best American Essays; she was also a finalist for the Rona Jaffe Award. Hall's work has appeared in the New York Times, Creative Nonfiction, The Southern Review, Five Points, Prairie Schooner, and several anthologies. She teaches writing at the University of New Hampshire and lives in Maine. More info can be found here: www.meredithhall.org

Raised in Texas, AMANDA MARCOTTE first entered the world of blogging when she founded Mouse Words, a blog consisting mostly of musings on music and feminism. In 2004, Mouse Words won the Koufax award for Best New Blog. Shortly after, she went to work as the Executive Editor on another popular blog, Pandagon. In 2007, she was hired by the John Edwards campaign as the head campaign blogger. Her time working with the Edwards camp was short-lived as she resigned after she found herself at the center of controversy due to comments she made on Pandagon. Marcotte has written for AlterNet and the Washington Post's Post Global forum. She currently lives in Austin, TX.  She’ll be reading from her book It’s a Jungle Out There: The Feminist Survival Guide to Politically Inhospitable Environments.

The KGB Nonfiction Reading Series is the city's premier outlet for the most talented contemporary nonfiction writers working today. Hosted by Kelly McMasters (www.kellymcmasters.com), books are provided by Mobile Libris.