Speaker Biographies

William Bernhardt

William Bernhardt loves his job and it shows in his writing. Library Journal has called him the "master of the courtroom drama." His 27 books have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.

His most recent novel is Capitol Conspiracy, which takes attorney Ben Kincaid to Washington, D.C., for a high-profile case involving controversial anti-terrorist legislation, political skullduggery, and murder. His forthcoming novel, Nemesis: The Final Case of Eliot Ness, solves the mystery of America's first serial killer, whose identity has eluded investigators for decades. Bernhardt's novels are renowned for their unexpected twists, breathless pace, humor, and insightful consideration of issues confronting contemporary American society.

He has twice won the Oklahoma Book Award for Best Fiction and he received the Southern Writers Guild's Gold Medal Award. He was presented with a Career Achievement Award at the 2000 Booklovers Convention in Houston and he is one of only 30 people inducted into the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame - and the youngest author ever so honored. In 2000, he was honored with the H. Louise Cobb Distinguished Author Award, which is given "in recognition of an outstanding body of work that has profoundly influenced the way in which we understand ourselves and American society at large." And he is the recent recipient of the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award from the University of Scranton.

In addition to his work as a writer, Bernhardt is also a popular teacher and publisher. In 1999, he founded HAWK Publishing Group. Although HAWK focuses on discovering new writers, particularly those in the Southwest, it has also published books by acclaimed authors such as Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist N. Scott Momaday, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Janis Ian, and PBS newsman Jim Lehrer. He also sponsors the HAWK Writing Workshop and Seminars each summer to nurture and mentor aspiring writers.

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