Our council of the International Reading Association will hold its biennial literature conference in the Roaden University Center on Saturday, April 21.

Registration begins at 7:45 a.m., with the first speaker taking the stage at 8:30 a.m.

This year’s theme is “Teachers Under Cover: Teachers as Readers and Writers,” and the keynote speaker is Marcia Thornton Jones, best-selling author of the Bailey School Kids series, Ghostville Elementary, Story Sparkers and Barkley’s School for Dogs.

A former elementary school teacher from Lexington, Ky., who now spends her time writing, Jones will conduct a writing workshop for elementary and middle school children immediately following the keynote session.

Other featured authors will include Susan Vaught and Alan Gratz.

Vaught is the author of young adult books, including Stormwitch. Her most recent novel, Trigger, is about a young man’s attempted suicide and the consequences and redemption that follow.

In addition to being a writer, Vaught is in private practice working with brain injured adolescents and adults.

Gratz is a Knoxville native whose forthcoming novel, Something Rotten (Dial 2007) is a contemporary young adult mystery based on Hamlet. His debut novel was titled Samurai Shortstop.

The authors will be available for book signings after their sessions. In addition, break-out sessions and poster sessions will offer a variety of topics for teachers and librarians about literature from pre-k to adult levels.

Donations have helped make possible the authors’ visits, as well as the purchase of books by each of them for Cookeville area schools. Donors include Prentice Hall Publishers, First National Bank, Lamar Advertising, Mama Rosa’s Italian Restaurant, Sonic and Red Lobster.

Vendors include The Learning Tree, Schoolhouse Supply, Discovery Depot, WCTE-TV, ETA/Cuisenaire, Bag Lady Books, C&D Silkscreening and Prentice Hall Publishers.

Lunch will be provided for those who pre-register by April 15.

For more information, call Jane Baker at 3079 or e-mail jbaker@tntech.edu.