Acclaimed author Maxine Hong Kingston will open the 26th Annual Sandhills Writers Conference at Augusta State with an 11 a.m. presentation March 22 in Galloway Hall. The free presentation is jointly sponsored with ASU's Lyceum Series. The author of The Woman Warrior will join nine other writers and editors at the two day conference that will include free evening readings for the public. The conference takes place in Galloway Hall; the free evening programs will be held in W1002 New Science Hall.

Ms. Kingston also wrote the novels China Men and Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book, as well as the essay collection Hawaii One Summer. She won the 1977 National Book Critics Circle Award and a 1981 National Book Award.

Authors Gilbert Allen and Patricia Powell will present free readings on Thursday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. Allen, a Furman University professor, authored two poetry collections, Second Chances and Commandments at Eleven. Powell is a Harvard professor and author of three novels, Me Dying Trial, A Small Gathering of Bones, and The Pagoda.

The Friday, March 23, free presentation features three writers: Robert Bausch, Pinkie Gordon Lane, and Philip Lee Williams. Bausch is the author of four novels: On the Way Home, The Lives of Riley Chance, Almighty Me, and A Hole in the Earth, and a collection of short stories. Lane is the author of five volumes of poetry, Wind Thoughts, The Mystic Female, I Never Scream, Girl at the Window, and Elgy for Etheridge. Williams has written eight novels including The True and Authentic History of Jenny Dorset and The Heart of a Distant Forest.

Other presenters in the conference include Anne Gallup, lyricist and singer, whose CDs include Cause and Effect, Backbone, Courage My Love, and Steady, Steady, Yes; Gail Karwoski, 1996 Georgia Author of the Year Children's Literature Award recipient, who wrote Seaman, The Dog Who Explored the West with Lewis and Clark, and The Tree that Owns Itself and Other Adventure Tales from Georgia's Past; and Judy Long, editor of several anthologies including Literary New Orleans.

The conference is being directed by Tony Kellman, languages, literature, and communications. He is the author of three books of poetry, Watercourse, The Long Gap, and Wings of a Stranger, as well as a novel, The Coral Rooms.