January 8, 2015 (REVISED January 21, 2014) Registration Opens for Feb. 10-11 Conference on Romance Fiction

Press Contact: Guy Lamolinara (202) 707-9217
Public Contact: Center for the Book (202) 707-5221
Contact: Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ada@loc.gov
Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov

Registration now is open for those wishing to attend the conference “What Is Love? Romance Fiction in the Digital Age” to be held Tuesday, Feb. 10, and Wednesday, Feb. 11, at the Library of Congress.

The event is hosted by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Harlequin, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, is the lead sponsor. Additional support is provided by the Popular Romance Project; the Nora Roberts Foundation; the Romance Writers of America; and Berkley/NAL, imprints of Penguin Random House.

Romance fiction is the second-best-selling genre in the publishing industry, generating more than $1 billion in publisher revenues in 2013, according to Bookstats. Romance accounts for 21 percent of the adult fiction market.

The conference will speak to the business and social aspects of romance writing, romance literature scholarship and public engagement with people who love the genre. The Popular Romance Project, led by Laurie Kahn of Blueberry Hill Productions, also includes the feature-length documentary film “Love Between the Covers,” directed by Kahn. There will be a preview screening of the film at the Library of Congress on the evening of Feb. 10.

The conference and film screening are free and open to the public; attendees are asked to register at www.popularromanceproject.org/prp-conference External.

The conference schedule, panel sessions and participants follow:

What Is Love? Romance Fiction in the Digital Age
An International Multimedia Conference

Hosted by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress
Lead sponsor: Harlequin

Day 1: Sneak-Preview Screening of “Love Between the Covers”

Tuesday, Feb. 10
Library of Congress, Jefferson Building
10 First Street, SE, Washington, D.C.

6:30 p.m. – 8:45 p.m., Screening of “Love Between the Covers” -- A sneak preview of a new documentary exploring the remarkable global community of women who create, consume and love romance novels
Coolidge Auditorium

8:45 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., Q&A with filmmaker Laurie Kahn, film editor Bill Anderson and featured romance authors
Coolidge Auditorium

Day 2: Conference

Wednesday, Feb. 11
Library of Congress
Madison Building, 6th Floor
101 Independence Avenue, SE, Washington, D.C.

9 a.m. – 9:10 a.m.: Welcome

9:10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m., Panel 1: What Belongs in the Romance Canon? Why?
Mumford Room

Moderator: Pamela Regis (Professor of English, McDaniel College; President of the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance)

Panelists: Len Barot/Radclyffe (President, Bold Strokes Books) Susan Ostrov Weisser (Professor of English, Adelphi University) Eric Selinger (Professor of English, DePaul University) Beverly Jenkins (Author, HarperCollins) Nicole Peeler (Associate Professor of English, Seton Hill University; author, Hachette)

10:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.: Drop-in “interactive rooms” featuring activities, exhibitors and giveaways
Montpelier Room & Oval Gallery

10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.: Panel 2: What Do the Science and History of Love Reveal?
Mumford Room

Moderator: William Gleason (Professor of English, Princeton University)

Panelists: Stephanie Coontz (Professor of History and Family Studies, Evergreen State College) Eli Finkel (Professor of Social Psychology, Northwestern University) William Reddy (Professor of History and Cultural Anthropology, Duke University) Darlene Clark Hine (Professor of African American Studies and History, Northwestern University) Ron Walters (Professor of History, Johns Hopkins University)

12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.: Lunch Break
Cafeteria, Sixth Floor

1:45 p.m – 3:15 p.m., Panel 3: Community and the Romance Genre
Mumford Room

Moderator: Mary Bly/Eloisa James (Professor of English, Fordham University; author, Harper-Collins)

Panelists: Anne Jamison (Associate Professor of English, University of Utah) Sarah Wendell (Romance Blogger) Brenda Jackson (Author, Harlequin) Robyn Carr (Author, Harlequin) Kim Castillo (Author Assistant) Allison Kelley (Executive Director, Romance Writers of America)

3:30 p.m. – 5 p.m.: Panel 4: Trending Now: Where is Romance Fiction Headed in the Digital Age?
Mumford Room

Moderator: Sarah Frantz Lyons (Editorial Director, Riptide Publishing; Founder, International Association for the Study of Popular Romance)

Panelists: Dominique Raccah (CEO, Sourcebooks) Liliana Hart (Author, self-published) Jon Fine (Former Director of Author and Publisher Relations, Amazon) Claire Zion (Editor, Penguin Random House) Angela James (Editorial Director, Carina Press/Harlequin)

5 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.: Closing Remarks
Mumford Room

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PR 15-007
2015-01-08
ISSN 0731-3527