www.verbivore.com

Richard Lederer is the author of more than 30 books about language, history, and humor, including his best-selling Anguished English series and his current book, Presidential Trivia. He has been profiled in magazines as diverse as The New Yorker, People, and the National Enquirer and frequently appears on radio as a commentator on language.
Dr. Lederer's syndicated column, "Looking at Language," appears in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States. He has been named International Punster of the Year and Toastmasters International's Golden Gavel winner.

For a listing of Richard Lederer's books or to purchase them online
Richard Lederer's Language Pet Peeves from NPR
Transcript of an online chat with Richard Lederer

Richard Lederer has given MCTE permission to post these articles:
Teachers Change Lives
Teacher Flicks
On Puns
Puns for Success

www.alisonmcghee.
com

Alison McGhee is an associate professor of creative writing at Metropolitan State University, where she coordinates the creative writing program. She is also on the faculty of Hamline University's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.
Her first novel, Rainlight, won the GLCA National Fiction Award and the 1999 Minnesota Book Award. Her second novel, Shadow Baby, was a 2001 Minnesota Book Award winner, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, and the August 2003 Today Show Book Club selection. Her most current book Falling Boy was a Talking Volumes pick for March 2007.

Read an interview with Alison McGhee
Alison McGhee's website
Reading group guide for Falling Boy
MPR's Talking Volumes story

www.literarymama.
com

Cheri Register is a Teaching Fellow at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, as well as an Advisor in Creative Nonfiction for the Loft's Master Track Program.
Her book, Packinghouse Daughter, a unique blend of memoir and public history was a 2001 winner of a Minnesota Book Award. In this book, Register, the daughter of a Wilson & Company millwright, recalls the 1959 meatpackers’ strike that divided her hometown of Albert Lea.
Her most recent book, Beyond Good Intentions: A Mother Reflects on Raising Internationally Adopted Children, is a collection of essays that challenge the conventional wisdom about international adoption.

Cheri Register's website
Read an interview with Cheri Register
Reading group guide for Packinghouse Daughter

thaoworra.
blogspot.com

Ka Vang is a multi-talented writing, winning awards in journalism, poetry, and fiction. Her one-act play Disconnect continues to be performed acros the country. Her reading of her poem "Extraordinary Hmong" has appeared on YouTube.
"I'm part of the first generation of Hmong writers writing creatively in any language for the first time in history. I write using the techniques of traditional Hmong storytellers, focusing on themes of identity and homeland. Torn between two cultures prompted me to write to better understand my own feelings and needs. My stories build bridges between Hmong and American communities to see the incredible wealth of stories we share."
(www.bushfoundation.org/Publications/03ArtistCatalog.pdf)

Read an interview with Ka Vang
Biographical note at Poet Spot Light
More biographical information