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“Sing of disappointments more repeated than the batter of the sea....” At the Lannan Foundation in 1998, William Gass reads from his second novel, The Tunnel (Knopf, 1995), which took twenty-six years to write and earned him the 1996 American Book Award. Gass died on December 6, 2017 at the age of ninety-three.
“Learn how to write jokes...” Gabe Hudson, author of the science fiction novel, Gork, the Teenage Dragon (Knopf, 2017), talks about the craft behind humorous writing, and having to adapt to a new environment during his MFA years at Brown University.
Erika L. Sánchez reads her poem “Forty-Three,” which reflects on the 2014 abduction of forty-three students in Guerrero, Mexico, as Ashley Rockwood interprets the poem through dance for this video produced in partnership with Chicago magazine. The poem is from Sánchez’s debut collection, Lessons on Expulsion (Graywolf Press, 2017), and her debut novel, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2017), is a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award in young people’s literature.
“I think that’s one of the great things that fiction has the power to do: it allows you to create a character, a character you might find despicable or with whom you might not agree, but then give them the power to basically make their case as though they were making it before God.” Elliot Ackerman talks to PBS NewsHour’s Jeffrey Brown about his second novel, Dark at the Crossing (Knopf, 2017), which is a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award in fiction.
“If you read it, I hope you enjoy it.” In this short video, Tom Hanks sits in front of his collection of vintage typewriters to announce the publication of his debut short story collection, Uncommon Type: Some Stories (Knopf, 2017).
The Snowman (Knopf, 2011), the crime novel written by Jo Nesbø and translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett, has been adapted into a feature film. Directed by Tomas Alfredson, the film stars Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Val Kilmer, and Chloë Sevigny.
“It’s a story that I’ve carried with me for quite a long time, almost a decade now.” Ayobami Adebayo talks about her debut novel, Stay With Me (Knopf, 2017), which is featured in Page One in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Jo Nesbø describes how awkward Tinder dates and vampirism inspired his new novel, The Thirst (Knopf, 2017), the latest in his Harry Hole thriller series.
"My interest in science fiction was really based in what now seems like a very kitschy futuristic aesthetic—an image of the future from about forty years ago." Poet Tracy K. Smith discusses how she conducted research for her Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Life on Mars (Graywolf Press, 2011). Smith, whose new book, the memoir Ordinary Light, is forthcoming from Knopf, is featured in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
“Something is happening. Whether it is all in my head remains to be seen.” Ayelet Waldman reads from her book A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life (Knopf, 2017) at Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C.
