Bestselling Author Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl) And Rising “Pop-Noir” Sensation Nicole Atkins Featured in the Next “Upstairs At The Square” on Thursday, January 10, at the Union Square Barnes & Noble Journalist Katherine Lanpher Again Hosts the Program

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, today announced the next event in its unique series, “Upstairs at the Square,” held at the Union Square Barnes & Noble in Manhattan (33 East 17th Street at Union Square). On Thursday, January 10, 2008, at 7pm, popular author Eoin Colfer (www.eoincolfer.com), creator of the phenomenally successful Artemis Fowl series, and singer-songwriter Nicole Atkins (www.nicoleatkins.com), whose new debut album is Neptune City (Columbia Records), discuss and perform their work. Journalist Katherine Lanpher hosts the program. Admission is free, and no tickets are required. Seating is available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Eoin Colfer’s first book, Benny and Omar, was published in 1998, based on his personal experiences in Tunisia; it has since been translated into many languages. A sequel followed in 1999. In 2001, the first Artemis Fowl book was published, and the rest is publishing history. Colfer’s new book is the fantasy novel Airman (Hyperion Books for Children), which will be published on January 2, 2008. He says, “I will keep writing until people stop reading or I run out of ideas.”

Nicole Atkins’ father introduced her to blues artists like Jimmy Reed and allowed her to sit in on sessions with local musician friends. A Jersey shore native, her lauded debut album is named after her hometown, Neptune City, New Jersey. Rolling Stone named Atkins one of 10 “Artists to Watch,” noting her “voice full of longing and Loretta Lynn elegance, and slightly surreal folk-pop songs that evoke moonlit walks with the shadows closing in.” The pop-noir album, Neptune City, “is the history of my town; it’s the history of my family and friends in this town,” Atkins explains.

Katherine Lanpher (www.katherinelanpher.com) is an award-winning print and broadcast journalist. Springboard Press published her first book, Leap Days.

The next “Upstairs on the Square” will take place on Wednesday, February 13th, at 7PM, featuring Anne Enright, author of 2007 Man Booker Prize-winning novel The Gathering, and Camphor (Friendly Fire Recordings), a New York-based indie pop group built around the songwriting of Max Avery Lichtenstein, composer of unconventional scores for critically-acclaimed films such as Tarnation, Jesus’ Son and The King.

This past summer, “Upstairs at the Square” celebrated a year of truly innovative cultural programming, having paired authors such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, David Lynch, Anna Gavalda, and Armistead Maupin with musicians including The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn, Duncan Sheik and members of the cast of Spring Awakening, Sondre Lerche, Au Revoir Simone and more. A full archive of recordings of all 15 previous events is available on Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com/upstairs), where “Upstairs at the Square” is enjoyed by listeners around the world in addition to its live audiences.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 801 bookstores in 50 states. For the fourth year in a row, the company is the nation’s top bookseller brand, as determined by a brand’s overall strength based on its combination of familiarity, quality and purchase intent, according to the EquiTrend® Brand Study by Harris Interactive®. Barnes & Noble conducts its online business through Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com), one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites.

General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company’s corporate website: http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com.