Amy Tan, the acclaimed best-selling author of The Joy Luck Club, will provide the keynote presentation at the Literary Lions Gala at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue on March 22. The gala is the premier fundraising event of the King County Library System Foundation.

The event also features local Seattle celebrity, and popular librarian Nancy Pearl, who will emcee the event.

Born in the US to immigrant parents from China, Tan rejected her mother’s expectations that she become a doctor and concert pianist. She chose to write fiction instead. Her novels are The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, and Saving Fish from Drowning. All were New York Times bestsellers and recipients of various awards.

She is also the author of a memoir, The Opposite of Fate, two children’s books. Her work has been translated into 35 languages, from Spanish, French, and Finnish to Chinese, Arabic, and Hebrew. Tan’s latest book, The Valley of Amazement, will be published in October, 2013.

Pearl has become a rock star among readers and the tastemaker people turn to when deciding what to read next. She’s worked as a librarian and bookseller in Detroit, Tulsa and Seattle ad speaks at bookstores and libraries across the country and on her monthly television program Book Lust with Nancy Pearl. She is a regular commentator about books on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” and NPR affiliate station KUOW in Seattle.

This is the 21st year of the Literary Lions Gala. Last year, over $240,000 was raised at the event, which provides funding for programs delivered to more than 200,000 children, youth, and adults through the library system.

For more information or to purchase tickets for the Literary Lions Gala, visit the website.