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In this AAWW conversation moderated by Piyali Bhattacharya, writers with debut essay collections recently published, including Cathy Park Hong, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, and Sejal Shah, discuss Asian American identity, genre, gender, race, publishing, and the ways that the essay form has allowed writers to tell important stories.
Yaa Gyasi and Zadie Smith speak with Courtney Martin about representation and risks in writing, the power of fiction to invoke curiosity and transform behavior, issues of history and identity, and their current projects at the 2018 Obama Foundation Summit.
“Poetry survives the errors of its beliefs.” In this video, Jon Baskin, editor of the Point, moderates a panel exploring the purpose of poetry with Don Share, Srikanth Reddy, Lamar Jorden, and Kush Thompson.
“I think that the idea that you can separate politics out from life is the first fiction.” Claudia Rankine speaks about the confluence of writing and politics with Tony Kushner and Salman Rushdie in “The Stuff of Fiction,” a panel moderated by David Remnick, the first event in the New Yorker’s Public Forum: A Well-Ordered Nation series.
“You have to really free your mind from the word obligation.” During an event at the Center for Fiction, authors Francisco Goldman, Idra Novey, and Rivka Galchen answer questions from the audience about moving between fiction and other genres, which leads to a discussion about the importance of donuts.
Melissa Faliveno, associate editor of Poets & Writers Magazine, leads a conversation with authors Wendy Lesser, Yiyun Li, Alejandro Murguia, D. A. Powell, and Michelle Tea about the personal, political, and professional reasons we choose to write while living in a culture, a family, or a community that doesn’t always value what we do.
Kevin Sampsell, publisher of Future Tense Books, talks with the editors of some of the Pacific Northwest's most successful independent presses about the kind of work they publish, along with practical advice for writers looking to submit their work. Panelists include Heidi Broadhead, managing editor of Wave Books; Natalie Garyet, managing editor of Tavern Books; Rhonda Hughes, publisher of Hawthorne Books; and Michael Wiegers, editor in chief of Copper Canyon Press.
Publishing veteran Debra Englander gives an overview of the self-publishing process, followed by a conversation with self-published author William Hertling, editor Jessica Page Morel, and book publicist Jessica Glenn about the opportunities available to independent authors as well as the challenges they face.
Dana Isokawa, assistant editor of Poets & Writers Magazine, talks with the editors of some of Portland's most exciting literary magazines about the kind of work they're looking for, the relationships they cultivate with their authors, and the balance between publishing traditional work and developing new and innovative ideas for both print and digital literature. Panelists include LeAnna Crawford of Gertrude, Cheston Knapp of Tin House, Travis Meyer of Poor Claudia, and Kim Winterheimer of Masters Review.
Kevin Larimer, editor in chief of Poets & Writers Magazine, moderates as editors Jordan Bass of McSweeney's Publishing and Ethan Nosowsky of Graywolf Press join literary agent Danielle Svetcov and publicist Megan Fishmann of Counterpoint Press for a conversation about how authors can make a good impression—in cover letters, book proposals, and even at social gatherings.
