14 March 2007/Contact: Melissa Witt, Public Relations Associate Tele.: 860.255.3777 Fax: 255.3417 E-mail: [email protected] PHOTOS OF WRITERS ATTACHED 4th Annual Writers’ Festival of Tunxis Community College National and International Best-selling Authors, a Writer for The Simpsons, Among Those to Speak Tunxis Community College invites the community to a “Writers’ Festival” on April 18, 8:15 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Whit’s Place café (cafeteria). Nationally recognized poets and writers of fiction and non- fiction will speak about their works and the writing process. All events are free, and refreshments will be served. Tunxis is located at the junction of Routes 6 and 177 in Farmington: 860.255.3500; tunxis.commnet.edu. 8:15-8:45 a.m. Continental Breakfast and Book Display 8:45-9 a.m. Welcoming Remarks 9-10 a.m.—Cartoonist Abby Denson will read from and discuss her latest works, which include graphic novel Tough Love: High School Confidential (Manic D Press, San Francisco, CA, 2006), originally a comic series that appeared in XY Magazine. She has also written for Powerpuff Girls Comics, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Simpsons Comics, Josie and the Pussycats, Disney Adventures, and comics for Nickelodeon Magazine. Her other comic strips include Deadsy Cat & Kissy Kitty, Jamie Starr Teen Drag Queen and two self-published works, Dolltopia and Night Club. 10:15-11:15 a.m.—Christopher Whitcomb, national counterterrorism expert, will speak on his books, which include the international best-selling memoir Cold Zero: Inside the FBI Hostage Rescue Team (Warner Books, Inc., New York, NY, 2001), and fiction thrillers White (Little, Brown, New York, NY, 2005) and Black (Little, Brown, New York, NY, 2004). Whitcomb is a 15-year veteran of the FBI, and an internationally recognized authority in the fields of terrorism, operational security, interrogation and behavioral analysis. Prior to leaving the FBI as a supervisory special agent in 2001, Whitcomb worked many of the FBI’s highest profile investigations, including the Branch Davidian standoff in Waco, Texas; war crimes in Kosovo; and the USS Cole bombing in Aden, Yemen. He speaks around the world on security and crisis- resolution matters. Since the release of Cold Zero, Whitcomb has appeared on dozens of national television and radio programs. He also writes on a freelance basis for several national publications and works as an on- air analyst for CBS News. 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m.—Tryfon Tolides, winner of the prestigious 2005 National Poetry Series Award and former Tunxis student, will read from his debut collection, An Almost Pure Empty Walking (Penguin Books, New York, NY), an 80-page book of 63 of his poems, published in May 2006 as part of the National Poetry Series Award. Some of Tolides’ poetry reflects his experiences with the cultural differences that span his native Greece, where he lived as a young child and still visits, and his life in America. Tolides has also received a Reynolds Scholarship and the 2004 Foley Poetry Prize. (MORE)