Media Contact: Michelle Cragle at 202.783.7373.

WASHINGTON—The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) celebrates women authors with an extensive calendar of literary artists this fall including poets, novelists, playwrights, memoirists and short story authors. Museum visitors are able to attend lively readings followed by compelling discussions with the authors. Most literary artists will also be available for book signings during the receptions that follow the readings.

The fall literary program kicks off Friday, October 13 at 7 p.m. with a reading by Mariá Amparo Escandón. Escandón’s first novel, the best-selling Esperanza’s Box of Saints (1999), tells the magical and humorous story of a young widow’s search for her missing daughter and was the basis for the award-winning film Santitos (1997), for which she wrote the screenplay. Escandón will read from her most recent novel, González and Daughter Trucking Co.: A Road Novel with Literary License (2005), in which model prisoner Libertad González spins the tales of her life like a modern-day Scheherazade to enthrall her fellow inmates in a Mexican prison. Author Web site: www.mariaescandon.com

Audrey Niffenegger will discuss her books on Monday, October 30 at 7 p.m. in conjunction with The Book as Art: Twenty Years of Artists’ Books from the National Museum of Women in the Arts, in which one of Niffenegger’s handmade books is displayed. Niffenegger is a visual artist and writer who captured readers’ imaginations with her highly original first novel, The Time Traveler’s Wife (2003), which blends fantasy with unsentimental romance to tell the tale of artist, Clare, and time-traveler, Henry. Niffenegger also wrote and illustrated Three Incestuous Sisters (2005), about a trio of gifted siblings, and the forthcoming book, The Adventuress (September 2006), centered on an alchemist’s daughter. Author Web site: www.audreyniffenegger.com

On Sunday, November 12 from 1:30 to 8 p.m. NMWA will host the finale to The 4th D.C. International Poetry Festival. Programming features bilingual readings by Indian poet, novelist, and memoirist Meena Alexander (Raw Silk) and Israeli poet Agi Mishol (Look There: New and Selected Poems), as well as discussions with Alexander, Mishol, Chris Abani, and Jacques Roubaud. The events co-sponsors include Wordfest and Chapters Literary Book Store. This program is free and no reservations are required. Check www.chaptersliterary.com for a complete schedule of events.

Reading from her extraordinary debut novel, The Dream Life of Sukhanov (2006), which was short-listed for the Orange Award for New Writers, Olga Grushin will discuss her new book with NMWA visitors on Thursday, January 25 at 7 p.m. Her book has been compared to the works of Nabokov, Tolstoy, and Gogol. Russian-born Grushin drew partly upon memories of her childhood in communist Moscow to craft a novel full of richly complex characters who explore the interplay between art and politics as well as hope and regret at the end of the Soviet era. Author Web site: www.olgagrushin

On Friday, February 23 at 7 p.m. poet, writer, playwright, director and producer, Nathalie Handal, will read her poems to museum visitors and discuss her inspirations and technique. She has lived, studied, and taught in Europe, the United States, Latin America, and the Arab world. Her most recent publication is the poetry CD, Spell (music by Egyptian musician Will Solimon). Her acclaimed collection The Lives of Rain (2005) explores geographic and emotional exile and wandering. Handal is also the editor of the award-winning The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology (2000) and the associate artist and development executive for The Kazbah Project, production company currently working on the feature film Gibran. Author Web site: www.nathaliehandal.com

Natasha Trethewey tells of how she drew inspiration from the life of her mother, her own biracial heritage, and the history of her native Mississippi for her critically acclaimed new collection, Native Guard (2006) at NMWA on Friday, March 9 at 7 p.m. Described as “a young poet in full possession of her craft” by former poet laureate Rita Dove, Trethewey is the author of two previous collections, Bellocq’s Ophelia (2002) and Domestic Work (2000). The latter was selected by Dove as the winner of the inaugural Cave Canem Poetry Prize for the best first book by an African American poet. Trethewey teaches at Emory University.

Award winning author, Marilynne Robinson, reads to and talks with NMWA visitors on Friday, April 13 at 7 p.m. Her eagerly anticipated second novel, Gilead (2004), garnered a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Critics Circle Award. This captivating novel takes the form of a letter from the Reverend John Ames to his son. It presents an account of the father’s life and those of his forebears amid a broad sweep of American history, from the Civil War to the 20th century. Robinson’s first novel, Housekeeping (1981), won the PEN/Hemingway Award and is now considered a classic of American literature. Robinson is also the author of two books of non-fiction, Mother Country (1989) and The Death of Adam (1998). She teaches at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

All literary programs for the National Museum of Women in the Arts require reservations. For reservations email reservations@nmwa.org or call 202-783-7370. Literary program costs are as follows: General $10, NMWA Members $7, Visitors 60 and over $8, and Students $5. All author readings are followed with a discussion and reception.