#60;b#62;Thomas H. Holloway#60;/b#62; is Professor of Latin American History at the University of California at Davis, where he was Director of the Hemispheric Institute on the Americas from 2000 to 2007. He served as President of the Latin American Studies Association, 2000-01, and Executive Secretary of the Conference on Latin American History, 2002-07. He has taught widely on Latin American history since 1974. His research focuses mainly on the social and economic history of Brazil. His previous books include #60;i#62;Immigrants on the Land: Coffee and Society in S#227;o Paulo, 1886-1934#60;/i#62; (1980) and #60;i#62;Policing Rio de Janeiro: Repression and Resistance in a 19th-century… city#60;/i#62; (1993).#60;b#62;Val Williams#60;/b#62; is a Senior Research Fellow at the Norah Fry Research Centre, University of Bristol, UK - a leading centre for research into services for people with intellectual disabilities based on a social model of disability. Her work concerns the barriers faced by adults with learning disabilities, with particular emphasis on inclusive research and analysis of naturally-occurring communication.
Award-winning writer and literary critic Colm T�ib�n was born in Enniscorthy, Ireland in 1955. He studied history and English at University College Dublin, earning his B.A. in 1975. After graduating he moved to Barcelona for three years and taught at the Dublin School of English. In 1978 T�ib�n returned to Dublin and began working on an M.A. in Modern English and American Literature. He wrote for In Dublin, Hibernia, and The Sunday Tribune. T�ib�n became the Features Editor of In Dublin in 1981, and then a year later accepted the position of Editor for the Irish current affairs magazine Magill. His first book, "Walking Along the Border," was published in 1987, and his first… novel, "The South," debuted in 1990. T�ib�n wrote for The Sunday Independent as a drama or television critic and political commentator. He has penned several more novels and a travel book, plus edited anthologies and a book of essays, created a play, and written regularly for The London Review of Books. T�ib�n's second novel, "The Heather Blazing," received the 1993 Encore Award, and "The Master" achieved the 2006 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Los Angeles Times Novel of the Year, the Stonewall Book Award, and the Lambda Literary Award. T�ib�n has been a visiting professor or lecturer at many American universities. In recognition of his contribution to contemporary Irish literature, he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Ulster in 2008. He made The New York Times Best Seller List with his title Nora Webster.