BEA to Hold Religion & Spirituality Day

BookExpo America (BEA) has announced that this year's trade show, to be held from June 2 - 6 at Chicago's McCormick Place Convention Center, will feature a Religion & Spirituality Day, a focused educational program and special author event, on Friday, June 4.

The special author program will provide attendees with the opportunity to meet and greet some of today's leading authors, and a series of panels will include discussions on such far reaching topics as how books can play a critical role in understanding Islam by promoting interfaith dialogue, as well as how to better direct children and teens as they look for books about their own faith.

BEA's special Religion & Spirituality Day author programming will include Andrew Greeley (The Catholic Revolution: New Wine, Old Wineskins, and the Second Vatican Council, University of California Press), Oriah Mountain Dreamer (Opening the Invitation, HarperSanFrancisco), Jonathan Kirsch (God Against the Gods, Viking Compass), Naomi H. Rosenblatt (After the Apple: Women in the Bible -- Timeless Stories of Love, Lust, and Longing, Miramax Books), and Jerry Jenkins (Glorious Appearing and Silenced, Tyndale House Publishers).

Industry panels include "Understanding Islam: How Books Can Foster Dialogue in a Faith-Fractured World," "Religion Books for Children and Teens: Trends and Attitudes," "Don't Be Left Behind! Buying, Shelving, and Selling Christian Fiction," "Sacred Texts and Classic Titles: The Torah, the Qur'an, the Christian Bible, and Beyond," and "Serving the Niches: Stocking and Selling Non-Western and Alternative Religions."

For full details on BEA's Religion & Spirituality Day, visit www.bookexpoamerica.com.