Meet an Author Day

Name: Meet an Author Day
Start: 2026-01-24T13:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-01-24T16:00:00-05:00
Location: Central Library, 219 N. Church St., Greensboro

Schedule

Sat Jan 24 2026 at 01:00 pm to 04:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Central Library, 219 N. Church St., Greensboro | Greensboro, NC

We are excited to offer our biannual Meet an Author Day. Twenty years ago, on a cold and icy winter evening, area book clubs gathered to celebrate Book Lover’s Month at Central Library. Over the next two decades, we have hosted authors like Sharyn McCrumb, Jason Mott, Jill McCorkle, Jodie Picoult, and talked about all things books at our annual celebration of reading. This year, we have combined the celebration with the popular Meet An Author Day to add to our annual celebration of books and reading. Meet some of our finest North Carolina authors and poets. Books will be available for sale and signed.
1:30 pm – Beginning Writing Workshop
3:30 pm - Round Robin Author Presentation - authors discuss their latest books
Contact Ronald Headen (336-412-6199 or [email protected]) for more information.
Authors scheduled to attend:
Suzanne Bell is an author, educator, and Trauma-Informed Care Advocate whose work centers on healing, safety, and empowerment for individuals and families. She is the founder of Bell’s Academy and the author of three books. "Beyond the Exam Room" is a guide helping medical professionals provide trauma-informed, compassionate care. "Loving Through the Hurt" is a supportive for spouses and partners of survivors. Her children’s book, "Lila & Bunny: Trauma Informed - Read Aloud", helps children understand boundaries and find their voice in a safe and gentle way. Suzanne lives in Greensboro, NC, with her husband and two children, who inspire her work daily.
Willa Brigham - Storyteller and writer Willa Brigham is a two-time Emmy Award Winning Host of the television show, "Smart Start Kids". Her Latest book is "The Swatting of the Fly". With a passion for entertaining and bringing laughter to audiences of all ages, Brigham has entertained audiences as an acclaimed storyteller across the United States. She has six CDs and a book to her credit, and her honors include being chosen as a Zora Neale Hurston Award winner; a “Woman of Achievement” by the North Carolina Federation of Women; and an Indiana University Alumni of the Year. She is a North Carolina Touring Artist.
J Celano - Celano was born and raised in Delaware. He published his first fictional work, "Grant Avenue", about a boy growing up in a working class neighborhood during the 60s and early 70s. Along the way, young Nick Castagno has to navigate the stern discipline of his parents and the hallowed linoleum halls of Catholic school while nurturing the dream of becoming a great artist. He is currently working on a novel, Venus Rising, about the same boy as a young man. He has been a practicing artist all his life and, with his wife, ran a successful design business for many years. After living seventeen years in Philadelphia, he and his wife, Diane, along with their son, Tom, moved to Greensboro, NC.
Edward Di Gangi was placed for adoption in 1948, early in what is known as “The Baby Scoop Era.” Having had a positive adoption experience, he made no effort to explore his heredity until a visit to a cemetery where members of his adoptive mother's family were buried stirred his interest at age 69. Shortly after that visit, Ed embarked upon a search to learn the identity of his birth mother. His journey ultimately led to reunion with numerous biological relatives, both maternal and paternal. Sadly, he discovered that Genevieve, his birth mother, had passed three years prior to his beginning to search. Ed's meticulous research has yielded two books. "The Gift Best Given: A Memoir", the story of his search, published in 2020, and "Gliding Through Goodbye", a recreation of his birth mother’s diary in the years after placing him for adoption, published in June of 2025. Ed and his wife, Linda, live in Hillsborough, North Carolina.
Ruben Gonzales - Although he had several different jobs, including owning a restaurant, Ruben Gonzales always wrote. While serving in the Peace Corps in Liberia, West Africa, he wrote a children's tale about two boy and their unlikely though necessary friendship. The story was bought by the BBC and broadcast world-wide. Gozales has covered business development in a column for a local magazine in his adopted home town of Winston-Salem, NC, where he was Dir. of Development for the city. He teaches with the community college system, mentors small business owners and write business plans for aspiring entrepreneurs. His first novel, "The Cottage on the Bay", takes place on a fictional stretch of North Carolina coast after the Civil War. "Murder on Black Mountain" is the first book in his Black Mountain Mystery Series. The second book in the series, "The Lake Nebo Murder", is out now.
Eddie Huffman - Huffman has written about music legends, muscle cars, obscenity trials, moonshiners, Civil War reenactors, and murderous ventriloquist dummies. His latest book, "Doc Watson: A Life in Music", published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2025, is a comprehensive biography of musician Arthel "Doc" Watson that includes new insights and facts about the legendary blind folk and bluegrass musician and his family. Huffman’s first book was "John Prine: In Spite of Himself". He has also contributed to "Rolling Stone", "The New York Times", "Utne Reader", "All Music Guide", "Goldmine", "The Virgin Islands Source", and many other publications. Eddie lives in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Curtis Neal – is the author of "In Life Is a Wonderful Thing". Neal shares his inspiring journey from humble beginnings to remarkable achievements. This memoir offers a glimpse into his childhood, growing up during the Jim Crow era, where he learned hard work on his father's tobacco farm and earned money helping neighbors. Curtis reflects on his education, emphasizing the importance of role models and the lessons he learned from teachers and peers. He details his early experiences in sales, starting at just five years old, and how this passion evolved into a successful career, including winning the Erie Award and traveling to various places. Curtis shares valuable insights on people management and the significance of never giving up, even in the face of discrimination. With a powerful message that life is not meant to be hard.
Lakisha Tucker is woman is on a mission to make sure kids of color see themselves represented in children's books. Lakisha Tucker published her first children's book, "I Just Want to be ME!", in 2017 after her daughter came home from school one day saying kids at school said her natural hair was too big. "Once we established that her natural hair is absolutely beautiful, then I began to pray about how do I not only teach my child but how do I teach other children that have natural hair to I embrace who they are.” Tucker said in a 2022 TV interview. "At least they can look down at the book and say, 'You know what, someone in this book looks like me.' " She is the author of three books.
Ginny Williamson - Greensboro author Virginia “Ginny” Williamson has recently published her memoir, "Untying the Knots: A Quest for Success". Ginny Williamson recently turned 95 years old and has lived a rewarding and inspiring life. When Ms. Williamson was born, Greensboro’s 17-story Jefferson Standard Building was a year old and one of the tallest and most architecturally distinctive skyscrapers in the South. Grimsley and Dudley high schools, the Carolina Theatre, and the Southern Railway Train Station, were all newly constructed.
Martin Zelder - Prior to writing "Recovering Maurice", Martin Zelder spent many years as a professor of economics at schools including Northwestern University, Duke University, and Australian National University. He has received teaching awards and published numerous articles and book chapters on topics including divorce, suicide, love, altruism, and health spending. "Recovering Maurice" is his first work of fiction.