Our 2024 author lineup puts the B in iBAM! for books.
Stop by the 1st floor or Library to meet with authors, hear them read from their work, and purchase their books!
SATURDAY
Saturday and Sunday, 12:30pm, Room 109
Retired CFD Chief Patrick J. Kenny
Taking the Cape Off: How to Lead Through Mental Illness, Unimaginable Grief and Loss
Armed with a career of advocacy for mental health, Chief Kenny shares his journey to overcome his perceived failure as a leader in his most cherished duty, that of being a protector. His "cape" failed to protect his 20-year-old son Sean from dying by suicide, after a lifelong battle with mental illness. Kenny's anguish was complicated by his role as the leader of a fire department.
In his iBAM! presentation, Kenny puts forth a call to action to face challenges head-on by examining the myths and stigmas, and discusses the complications that arise from being a cape wearer, whether in work, family, or personal life.
Saturday, 12:30pm, - 1:15pm Room 111
Poet Nora Power
Loud Silence and a Wild Soul
Poems written as therapy and advocacy to bring awareness to important life altering issues faced by many teens are compiled here in Nora Power's first published collection.
Power is currently 14 years old, a high school student who was born with cerebral palsy and has experienced medical and emotional complications that have prompted her to contemplate her life and her place in the greater world.
This collection of her poems is insightful and heartfelt and will ring true for many of us as we struggle within society and ourselves.
Saturday, 1pm, Library
Author Maureen Connolly
Chicago author Maureen Connolly reads from her new novel, A Million Miles From Yesterday. Hank Cleary, the town doctor in Alma, Wisconsin, failed his wife when she died. In spring 1999 he struggled to climb back into life. A Chicago expatriate, he is challenged by other migrants: the Chicana owner of Livy's Bar and Café, an old man who loves jazz, a Navajo family transplanted from the Southwest, a strange woman who rarely speaks, a drifting Menominee, and the iconoclastic Bookstore Ladies. Disparate cultures rub up against each other.
When a cataclysmic fire engulfs the Alma recycling plant in mid-summer, Hank cannot resuscitate Silent Margaret, and he relives his despair at being unable to save his wife. At the turn of the millennium, healing comes in unexpected ways.
Saturday, 1:30pm - 2:15pm Room 111 - The Author's Parlor
Meet Author and iBAM! 2024 Literature Awardee, Cónal Creedon
Acclaimed novelist, playwright and documentary filmmaker Cónal Creedon Discusses His Work over the weekend.
Conal Creedon Website
He will be in Chicago to receive the iBAM! 2024 Literature Award November 16th at the iBAM! Awards Gala held in the Erin Room at the Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N Knox Ave., Chicago IL 60630.
2024 is turning out to be a great year for Conal as he will also be receiving another prestigioius award. The World Cultural Council in Switzerland announced Cónal Creedon is the winner of The World Cultural Council Arts Award. He will receive The Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts 2024 At McGill University Montreal, Canada.
The jury of this prestigious award were impressed by the diversity of Cónal’s creative practice, described as an exploration of the spaghetti bowl of streets in downtown Cork city, Ireland – where his family has lived and traded for over a hundred years.
“Cónal’s detailed investigation of such a tight-knit neighbourhood across various art forms reveals a fascinating insight into the universal nature of the human condition, and constitutes a significant contribution to the artistic legacy of creative expression.”
Further recognition for Cónal’s work includes:
The IP Gold Book Award 2023 (USA)
The One City One Book 2022 (Ireland)
The Eric Hoffer Book Award USA 2020 (USA)
Cónal’s recently published book, Art Imitating Life Imitating Death, was presented at the centre of Irish Studies at Zurich University, James Joyce Federation in 2020. It was subsequently published by Florence University Press and has since picked up Gold at the IP Book Awards in the European Non-Fiction Category and Silver at the IP Book Awards in the Global reference Non-Fiction Category.
His collection of Award winning short stories Pancho and Lefty Ride Again (2021) has been Awarded One City One Book Award 2020. It holds the record of being the most borrowed adult fiction book at Cork City Libraries 2022.
His novel, Begotten Not Made (2018), has achieved literary award recognition: Winner of the Eric Hoffer Award USA 2020, The Bronze Award New Generation Book Award USA 2020; Finalist in the Montaigne [Most Thought-Provoking Book] Award USA 2020. Finalist The IAN Book of the Year Award 2022, Nominated for the Dublin International Book Award 2020; Book of the Year Irish Examiner; Top Books of the Year – Liveline RTÉ Irish National Radio.
Other published books by Cónal Creedon include, Cornerstone (2017), The Immortal Deed of Michael O’Leary (2015), Second City Trilogy (2007), Passion Play (1999) cited as Book of the Year BBC Radio 4, and beat off stiff competition to be the most popular book at UCC Library Winner in 2021, Pancho & Lefty Ride Out (1995), Pancho & Lefty Ride Again (2021).
Cónal’s award-winning stage plays include; The Trial of Jesus (2000), which featured as part of the Irish National Millennium celebrations, received two Business to Arts Awards by President of Ireland Mary McAleese and was nominated for an Irish Times Special Judges Theatre Award 2000. Glory Be to the Father (2001), produced by Red Kettle Theatre Company, Waterford. Cónal’s Second City Trilogy of stage plays achieved high acclaim from theatre critics in Shanghai, New York and Ireland. The Second City Trilogy picked up a number of awards at the 1st Irish Theatre Awards New York, including Best Actor, Best Director and was nominated Best Playwright. When I Was God, a production from the Second City Trilogy was also awarded Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor at ICA Federation Awards 2014. In 2021 it was awarded Best Production, Best Actor and Best Director at the Irish National Play Awards.
Cónal’s film documentaries achieved high critical acclaim, including shortlisted for the Focal International Documentary Awards UK and numerous broadcasts by RTÉ [Irish National Television] with international screening at New York University NYU, Féile an Phobail West Belfast Festival, World Expo Shanghai, China, Origin Theatre Festival New York, USA and the Irish National Centenary Commemorations.
Cónal has written and produced more than 60 hours of original radio drama broadcast by RTÉ, BBC, CBC, ABC. Cited as Best Radio by Irish Times radio critics 1996 and 1998.
Recognition for contribution to the Arts:
Cumann Iarscoláirí na Mainistreach Thuaidh. Person of The Year Award 2021
Appointed Culture Ambassador for Cork City 2020
Awarded Cork City Lord Mayor’s Culture Award 2020.
Invited Goodwill Literary [Covid] Ambassador, European Association EASPD, Cork EU 2020
Speaker at James Joyce Foundation/Centre Irish Studies, Zurich, Switzerland 2019
Invited Guest of Honour, 10th Anniversary Shanghai Writers’ China 2018
Nominated Cork Person of the Year [for Contribution to the Arts] 2018
Appointed Heritage Ambassador for Cork City 2017
Appointed Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing UCC 2017
Keynote Speaker Daniel Corkery Summer School, Inchigeela, Ireland 2016
Keynote Speaker Merriman Summer School, Glór, Ennis, Ireland 2015
Keynote Speaker Launch Cork Europa Erlesen, Irish Embassy Berlin, Germany 2014
Invited Scholarship Forum, Fudan University, Shanghai, China 2008
Speaker 7-City Reading Tour, Irish American Cultural Institute, USA 2008
Nominated Cork Person of the Year 2001
Awarded Cork City Lord Mayor’s Culture Award 1999
Sunday, 1:15pm Room 111 - The Author's Parlor
Author Arthur Cola
Arthur Cola was born in Chicago in the "little Italy" neighborhood of the near west side of the city. His family moved to Oak Park, IL where he attended Oak Park-River Forest High School. While attending Loyola University, Chicago, he met his future wife, Donna Shields. Together they have five now grown children and six grandchildren. He, his wife and family now live in Wisconsin.
He has been an educator for 35 years. During that time he was a Teacher of History and a School Principal. Upon receiving his Master's Degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, he also served as a Lecturer for Barry University in Florida. His post graduate work concentrated on Educational administration and theology. He studied in Rome at the Loyola University Campus while conducting research for two of his novels, "The Stone Cutter Genius" and "The Brooch" and traveled extensively in Ireland and Britain researching cultural sites for his "Doonagore Theft Trilogy."
He has written 26 books!
All of his books are listed at www.amazon.com
Saturday, 2:30pm - 3:15 Room 111
Author Mary Behan
Mary Behan was formerly a professor of neuroscience. Now retired, she devotes her time to writing fiction, memoir and short stories. Her first book, Abbey Girls, is a memoir she wrote with her sister, Valerie Behan, about their childhood in Ireland. Her debut novel, A Measured Thread, set in Wisconsin and Ireland, was named a Top 100 Indie Book in 2020, a finalist in the Page Turner Awards, and an eLit medal winner. Kernels, a collection of short stories, was published in 2021. Her stories have been published in the Irish Literary Journal, Crossways, and received Honorable Mention in the Writer’s Digest Writing Competition.
Saturday, 3:30pm - 4:15 Room 111
Author Monica Dougherty
Monica is an artist, art therapist, author and teacher. After a few years working in TV production she left the bright lights of New York City and returned home to Chicago to follow new dreams. Along the way there were countless jobs as a temp secretary to pay the bills as she pursued a freelance art career. After fulfilling her biggest dream – becoming a mother – she went on to become an art therapist, author and art teacher. In her role as an art therapist she has worked with pre-school, elementary and high school students.
She also works at a facility which provides services for adults with intellectual, physical and developmental disabilities, offering creative opportunities for enhanced self-esteem, for the expression of feelings, for stimulating a sense of joy and supplying opportunities for success. She is a published author and creator of The Laughing Angels©, a whimsical and merry group of beings who inspired her first book, You’re A Miracle…Pass It On! She will also discuss her novel, Rose’s Ring.
Saturday, 4:15pm-5pm, Room 109
Author J. Lee Burke
J. Lee Burke is the author of Blackrock Island, an international suspense thriller. When Laine Sullivan, an undercover NOVAS operative,
takes a mission in Ireland, she is faced with unraveling the murder of thoroughbred horses.
CBS WWJ Newswatch aired clips of her novel, Blackrock Island, while on the film set of Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino.
In her next psychological thriller in the series, Laine Sullivan, an undercover agent at NOVAS,
investigates criminal organizations, money laundering, and drugs in Key Largo.
With the help of her Irish horseracing friends, she seeks to unravel the atrocities surrounding several murders at an exclusive private club in Key Largo.
J. Lee Burke and E. Jones, have an enchanting, magical children’s book, Can I Tell You Something?
Children of all ages engage in sharing and caring for each other. The five,
lively, short stories and “How to Make a Valentine” are featured in the New York Times Book Review, “Meet the Next Big Thing!”.
Saturday, 4:30pm, Room 111
Author and Photographer Kevin O’Donnell
Author, photographer and year-round Door County, Wisconsin, resident Kevin O’Donnell discusses Behind the Door: Profiles of a Peninsula. O’Donnell has been described as a natural storyteller, a historian, an environmentalist, a humanist and a tireless researcher. His photography book provides affectionate insight into the traditions, history, culture and environment of Door County. As the title implies, the large-format book goes well beyond the peninsula’s most popular locations and celebrates its hidden beauty with more than 140 unique color photographs and 29 original essays.
SUNDAY
Sunday, 12:30pm, Room 111 - The Author's Parlor
Lois Farley Shuford
Lois Farley Shuford is driven by a desire to know what and who came before her.
She relishes history, travel, genealogy, music, art, and baseball, and carries a deep love for Ireland in her heart.
She has had a rich and varied career in all levels of education, most recently at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
Shuford’s Finding Home: An Irish American Story traces one family through an epic century of disaster, epidemic, and divisions strong enough to tear countries apart. Part memoir, part family history, it captures the tumultuous events of the nineteenth century through the eyes of everyday people who lived them.
Sunday, 12:30pm, Room 109
Retired CFD Chief Patrick J. Kenny
Taking the Cape Off: How to Lead Through Mental Illness, Unimaginable Grief and Loss
Armed with a career of advocacy for mental health, Chief Kenny shares his journey to overcome his perceived failure as a leader in his most cherished duty, that of being a protector. His "cape" failed to protect his 20-year-old son Sean from dying by suicide, after a lifelong battle with mental illness. Kenny's anguish was complicated by his role as the leader of a fire department.
In his iBAM! presentation, Kenny puts forth a call to action to face challenges head-on by examining the myths and stigmas, and discusses the complications that arise from being a cape wearer, whether in work, family, or personal life.
Sunday, 1pm, Room 111 - The Author's Parlor
Author Arthur Cola
Arthur Cola has been an educator for 35 years. During that time he was a teacher of history and a school principal. Upon receiving his master's degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, he also served as a lecturer for Barry University in Florida. His post-graduate work concentrated on educational administration and theology. He studied in Rome, Italy, at the Loyola University campus while conducting research for two of his novels, The Stone Cutter Genius and The Brooch, and traveled extensively in Ireland and Britain researching cultural sites for his Doonagore Theft Trilogy.
Sunday, 3:45pm - 4:15pm, Room 111
Author James Mallon
James Mallon was born in County Armagh in Northern Ireland in 1942. His life from Ireland to America includes a stop in Lourdes, France, immigrating to America, serving in the United States Army and finally settling in Chicago to begin his life as husband, father, actor, playwright, and author. Mallon will take you on a fascinating journey of his life and career in his autobiography Frightened Pilgrim.
Sunday, 4:30pm-5pm, Room 111
Artist and Author Kathy Kelly
Kelly is a visual artist, arts educator and author. She is the IAHC’s Art Gallery Director.
Her new book, Jelly Bean’s Art Museum Adventure, is a delightful tale of a black cat with a sense of adventure who is whisked away
to an art museum when he follows a ball of yarn into a backpack. Follow Jelly Bean through this fun, educational adventure.