91´«Ã½

CHICAGO – The 91´«Ã½ today announces that emergency physician and CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen, attorney and author Savala Nolan Trepczynski, and classical ballet dancer and author Judy Tyrus and pianist, playwright, and author Paul Novosel will be among the featured speakers at the virtual . Additional speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

for the conference is now open and discounted rates are available through April 30, 2021.

Dr. Wen will discuss her memoir, “Lifelines: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Health,” available Summer 2021. The book explores the role of public health in approaching social ills and the unfolding of her own uniquely American story as an immigrant who came to the United States at age seven and at times experienced homelessness, despite her parents working multiple jobs. She attended college at the age of 13, became a Rhodes scholar, and turned to public health as a way to make a difference in a country that would come to offer her vast possibilities.

Attorney and author Savala Nolan Trepcynski will present her book “Don’t Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body,” available Summer 2021. It offers a powerful and provocative collection of 12 essays containing poignant reflections on living between society’s most charged, politicized, and intractably polar spaces—between black and white, rich and poor, and thin and fat.

Also featured will be classical ballet dancer Judy Tyrus and pianist and playwright Paul Novosel, co-authors of “Dance Theatre of Harlem: A History, A Celebration, A Movement”, the definitive history of the first African-American classical ballet company. With hundreds of sensational photographs, first-hand accounts, archival images, and a well-researched narrative, this stunning visual book traces the Company from its origins in a Harlem basement at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in 1969 to its activism and innovations in virtual performances throughout 2020.

The Annual Conference & Exhibition will include educational programming, the News You Can Use series, memorable featured authors and celebrity speakers, special author events, interactive discussion groups, live-chat presentations, and networking opportunities.

The Annual Conference & Exhibition will launch on Wednesday, June 23 with the Library Marketplace, showcasing more than 250 exhibitors, 11 presentation stages that will highlight notable and genre-specific keynotes, sessions on new book titles, knowledgeable library experts, innovative resources, networking opportunities, giveaways, and more.

Stay in touch and get updates through the 2021 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference & Exhibition (Virtual) website and follow the hashtag #alaac21 and social media: , r, and .