Writers who rock also will talk at Tucson book festival

Best-selling authors Amy Tan, Mitch Albom, Dave Barry, Sam Barry, Scott Turow, Ridley Pearson, Alan Zweibel and Greg Iles, and couple of ringer musicians, including drummer Josh Kelly and Albom’s singer/actress wife, Janine Sabino Albom, will give a 90-minute show in the University of Arizona Student Union Memorial Center ballroom. The authors will also be presenting during the festival, set March 14-15 on the University of Arizona campus.

Most of the presentations are in venues for which free online tickets will be available in advance. (See related item on how and when to get the online tickets.)

Here’s where to hear the Rock Bottom Remainders authors speak about their work:

Saturday, March 14 in the Student Union South Ballroom

• Meet Mitch Albom — author of "Tuesdays with Morrie," "The Five People You Meet in Heaven," and "The First Phone Call From Heaven" — at 10 a.m.
• Dave Barry, Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, columnist and humorist, who has written more than 30 books, and Alan Zweibel, an original “Saturday Night Live” writer who has a shelf full of awards for his work in television, team up for Laugh Out Loud at 11:30 a.m. Barry and Zweibel co-wrote the novel “Lunatics.”
• Amy Tan, whose body of work includes the “The Joy Luck Club,” “The Kitchen God's Wife,” “The Hundred Secret Senses,” “The Bonesetter's Daughter,” “ Saving Fish from Drowning” will join Jean Kwok and Lisa See for “Bridging the Divide: Writing Across Cultures” at 1 p.m. The trio will discuss how straddling different cultures brings challenges and rewards to their writing.
• Barry returns to the South Ballroom at 2:30 p.m. for “The Funniest Man in America,” a title that recalls The New York Times quote, "Dave Barry is the funniest man in America."
• Scott Turow, an attorney is the author of 10 best-selling legal thrillers that began with his first novel "Presumed Innocent," to his latest novel "Identical." He holds court (Oops! we mean "an author's session") called “Legal Thrillers” at 4 p.m. 

Saturday in the Integrated Learning Center Room 120

• "Greg Iles and Ridley Pearson in Conversation with Luis Urrea" at 1 p.m. Pearson is the best-selling author of more than 48 novels, divided between suspense and young adult adventure. Iles' pulse-pounding thrillers have been made into films and translated into more than 20 languages, and published in more than 35 countries. Iles’ recent book "Natchez Burning" was named Best Book of 2014 by a number of publications. Moderator Urrea is the author of 16 books, including “The Devil's Highway,” “The Hummingbird's Daughter” and “Into the Beautiful North.” His new book of poetry, "The Tijuana Book of the Dead," will debut at the festival.

Saturday in the Integrated Learning Center Room 150

• Sam Barry will join Morgana Gallaway, Johnny Temple and Mary Vensel White at 1 p.m. to explore “Alternate Routes to Publishing,” a discussion among some successful "nontraditional" authors and publishers on the avenues opening up for authors.

Read more about the Rock Bottom Remainders in Thursday's Caliente.