Iowa Author’s Dinner honors McPherson, Carey, Shors & Kruidenier

Posted on October 17, 2007 in Around the metro, Events by DM

I’ve been meaning to do a write-up of an event I recently attended that simply doesn’t get enough “press”: The Iowa Authors Dinner.

The Iowa Authors Dinner is an annual event which is hosted by the Des Moines Public Library Foundation. The dinner recognizes and celebrates the talent of Iowa authors and raises funds for the programs of the Library Foundation. Although I’ll disclose up front that Foundation Executive Director Shirley Patterson is a good personal friend of mine (so I might be the teensiest bit biased), I can also objectively assure you that this event is serves an excellent cause and is a lovely must-attend for book lovers each and every year.

Recipients of the 2007 Iowa Authors Award were:

James A. McPherson, author of Hue and Cry, Elbow Room, and most recently, Crabcakes, and professor at the Iowa Writers Workshop. McPherson won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for Elbow Room in 1978, and was the first African American to win that award;
Poet Michael Carey, author of five books of poetry and other volumes, and the inaugural recipient of the Foundation’s Iowa Poetry Award;
and novelist John Shors, author of Beneath a Marble Sky and inaugural recipient of the Foundation’s Emerging Author Award.

David and Elizabeth Kruidenier were also honored as Friends of Literacy.

This year’s event was held at the Hotel Fort Des Moines and was emcee’d by Michael Gartner. The event began with a cocktail reception and silent auction, followed by an elegant dinner and introduction of the authors. Each author spoke briefly, mixing stories about their own childhood libraries with observations about their writing and past, present and future projects.

The Library Foundation uses proceeds from the event to support the Summer Reading and other programs of the library, and to supplement public funds that purchase items for the library’s holdings. The Foundation also administers a Capital Campaign for new library facilities and renovations. Funds raised by the Foundation have been critical to the planning, design and construction of the new Central Library downtown as well as remodelling projects at all branch libraries in recent years. The Foundation is a private, non-profit organization which is co-located in the Central Library downtown.

If you would like to make a contribution to the Des Moines Public Library Foundation, please know that your efforts will support library programs, encourage lifelong reading, and help the library expand its collections.

Download an informational brochure
Download a printable donation form

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