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“If the only thing we can give to each other is ourselves, we better do it. Now.” In this inaugural Speak Now series event hosted by Columbia University School of the Arts, Claudia Rankine reads from her work-in-progress “Triage” and discusses political censorship in higher education and the importance of literature in crises in a conversation with Sarah Cole.
In this NGC Bocas Lit Fest event, Edwidge Danticat speaks about the roots of her work and reads excerpts from her works of fiction and nonfiction, including the preface from her new essay collection, We’re Alone (Graywolf Press, 2024), in a conversation with Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw. A profile of Danticat by Renée H. Shea appears in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
“The reason why I favor long poems—not just writing them but reading them—is that it just feels like a much truer picture of the self, or selves.” In this Books Are Magic event, Jason Koo reads from his latest poetry collection, No Rest (Diode Editions, 2024), and discusses the narrative opportunities of long poems in a conversation with Bessie Flores Zaldívar.
“I like being an outsider. It allows for that distance to enjoy the carnival for what it is.” In this event hosted by the Library of Congress, bestselling author Kevin Kwan speaks about his experiences as an author and the process of writing his latest novel, Lies and Weddings (Doubleday, 2024), with Library of Congress literary director Clay Smith.
In this video, Nikki Giovanni reads a selection of her poems and speaks about her life and career for the Wright Conversations series hosted by the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit and PBS Books.
In this virtual reading hosted by the Oak Spring Garden Foundation and Furious Flower Poetry Center, Lauren K. Alleyne introduces Ashia Ajani, who reads from their debut collection, Heirloom (Write Bloody Publishing, 2023), and Ariana Benson, who reads from their debut collection, Black Pastoral (University of Georgia Press, 2023), winner of the 2022 Cave Canem Poetry Prize.
In this event hosted by the Townsend Center for the Humanities and the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Ocean Vuong talks about his journey through poetry and teaching, how his voice and understanding of genre have changed, and whether or not poetry can change the world in a conversation with Cathy Park Hong. “I’ve always been doubtful of myself, of my work, of my life. But when I’m writing, when I’m inside the poem, I rarely feel true fear,” says Vuong.
In this 2001 Lannan Foundation event, John Barth speaks about the ways in which self-confidence and temperament play a role in his writing in a conversation with literary critic Michael Silverblatt. Barth died at the age of ninety-three on April 2, 2024. For more from Barth, read “All Trees Are Oak Trees: Introductions to Literature” from the January/February 2004 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
In this New Orleans Book Festival event, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Ladee Hubbard, and Maurice Carlos Ruffin discuss the rich tradition of Black literature, their literary and ancestral influences, and the power of community building and resistance through writing in a conversation with novelist Louis Edwards.
In this Left Bank Books virtual event, Diane Seuss reads from her new collection, Modern Poetry (Graywolf Press, 2024), and joins poet Jane Hilberry in a conversation about their fathers, writing practices, and friendship. Seuss is interviewed by Bianca Stone in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
