Poets & Writers Theater
Every day we share a new clip of interest to creative writers—author readings, book trailers, publishing panels, craft talks, and more. So grab some popcorn, filter the theater tags by keyword or genre, and explore our sizable archive of literary videos.
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“When you have a name like Alejandra Kim, teachers always stare at you like you’re a typo on the attendance sheet.” In this Politics and Prose event, Patricia Park reads from her debut YA novel, Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim (Crown Books for Young Readers, 2023), and speaks about shifting from writing adult fiction to YA fiction with author Dolen Perkins-Valdez.
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“This name— / branded on my family—rises out of / the ashes in the wind. I can trace each syllable / back to our cantón: Buena Vista.” Cynthia Guardado reads from her collection Cenizas (University of Arizona Press, 2022) and speaks about ancestry, names, and family stories in this Poetry.LA interview with poet Douglas Manuel.
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In this Late Night With Seth Meyers interview, Margaret Atwood speaks about grief, unburnable books, and her latest story collection, Old Babes in the Wood (Doubleday, 2023).
Tags: Fiction | Margaret Atwood | Old Babes in the Wood | short story | Doubleday | 2023 | Late Night With Seth Meyers -
In this PBS NewsHour video, National Book Award-winning poet and professor Nikky Finney discusses the work of social justice activism and preservation in her community of Columbia, South Carolina, which includes opening a cultural arts center honoring her father’s legacy as the first Black chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court since the Reconstruction era.
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In this Poetry of Resilience interview, U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón reads from her collection The Hurting Kind (Milkweed Editions, 2022) and speaks about the emotions she writes from and the importance of poetry for healing with hosts and poets Danusha Laméris and James Crews.
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“I’m not convinced by myself as a writer,” says Adam Mars-Jones in this London Review Bookshop video about his slightly negative writing process and the origins of his memoir Kid Gloves: A Voyage Round My Father (Particular Books, 2015).
Tags: Creative Nonfiction | Adam Mars-Jones | London Review Bookshop | Kid Gloves | memoir | Particular Books | 2015 | interview | writing process -
“I left like a season’s first lover across a window, // slowly like a southern sun / diagonal on a work-back.” Tyree Daye reads “The Mechanical Cotton Picker,” which appears in his poetry collection Cardinal (Copper Canyon Press, 2020), in this Academy of American Poets video.
Tags: Poetry | Tyree Daye | Academy of American Poets | Cardinal | Copper Canyon Press | 2020 | reading -
“I’m no moaning bluet, mountable / linnet, mumbling nun. I’m / tangible, I’m gin. Able to molt / in toto, to limn.” In this short film, Paisley Rekdal, who served as the Utah state poet laureate from 2017 to 2022, recites her poem “Self-Portrait as Mae West Anagram” for the Utah Division of Arts and Museums.
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In this Free Library of Philadelphia event, Joseph Earl Thomas reads from his debut memoir, Sink (Grand Central, 2023), and speaks with author Elias Rodriques about writing in third person and on the subjects of violence, care, and family. Sink is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
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This Wall Street Journal video analyzes the history and business model of the bookstore chain Barnes & Noble and how they are adopting the strategies of independent bookstores by empowering their local booksellers to make more decisions on inventory and displays in order to boost sales.
Tags: Not Genre-Specific | Barnes & Noble | Wall Street Journal | bookstore | 2023 -
“You don’t have to have an MFA to be a writer, you’re a writer by writing.” In this 2017 Talks at Google event, Grant Faulkner, author of Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo (Chronicle Books, 2017) and The Art of Brevity: Crafting the Very Short Story (University of New Mexico Press, 2023), discusses tips to boost creativity and endurance when writing fiction with author Anthony Francis. For more from Faulkner, read his essays on writing from our Craft Capsule series.
Tags: Fiction | Grant Faulkner | Talks at Google | craft talk | 2017 | Pep Talks for Writers | The Art of Brevity | NaNoWriMo -
Thierry Kehou, director of Programs & Partnerships at Poets & Writers, hosts this celebratory reading by the inaugural fiction cohort of Get the Word Out, a publicity incubator for debut authors. Publicity mentor Lauren Cerand introduces authors Federico Erebia, Kristen Gentry, Anita Gail Jones, Chin-Sun Lee, Magogodi Makhene, Mark Ernest Pothier, Shannon Sanders, Brenda Wilson, Lauren Yero, and Ada Zhang for the event.
Tags: Fiction | Get the Word Out | reading | debut author | Lauren Cerand | Thierry Kehou | Federico Erebia | Kristen Gentry | Anita Gail Jones | Chin-Sun Lee | Magogodi Makhene | Mark Ernest Pothier | Shannon Sanders | Brenda Wilson | Lauren Yero | Ada Zhang | 2023 -
In this 2020 Academy for Teachers craft talk, former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins discusses his theories on how poems find their way to an ending and discusses the works of David Berman, Wisława Szymborska, Tom Wayman, and others.
Tags: Poetry | Billy Collins | United States Poet Laureate | craft talk | Academy for Teachers | 2020 -
“Writing can be beautiful, witty, and entertaining but it’s a serious commitment.” In this 2019 Louisiana Literature interview, Anne Waldman shares her advice to aspiring writers with emphasis on the importance of reading widely and respecting the act of writing.
Tags: Poetry | Anne Waldman | Louisiana Channel | Louisiana Museum of Modern Art | interview | writing advice | 2019 -
“Much like his life, Neruda’s poems bridged romance and revolution by emphasizing the everyday moments worth fighting for.” Author Ilan Stavans narrates this TED-Ed animated film about the life and poetry of Pablo Neruda, directed by Ivana Bosnjak and Thomas Johnson.
Tags: Poetry | Pablo Neruda | Ilan Stavans | TED-Ed | animation | short film | 2019 -
Poet Brian Blanchfield reads Carl Phillips’s poem “Corral” at the Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana in this short film directed by Matthew Thompson as part of the Above Strands of Earth series produced in collaboration with Tippet Rise and the Academy of American Poets, and commissioned by the Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation.
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“I think this year I’ll wait for the white lilacs / before I get too sad.” For the Paris Review’s “Poets on Couches” video series, poet Cheswayo Mphanza reads and discusses the late Gerald Stern’s poem “Leaving Another Kingdom.”
Tags: Poetry | Cheswayo Mphanza | Gerald Stern | Leaving Another Kingdom | Poets on Couches | Paris Review | 2021 -
In this 1998 video from Howard County Poetry & Literature Society’s The Writing Life series, Amiri Baraka reads a selection of his poems including his first published poem, “Preface to a 20 Volume Suicide Note,” and speaks with poet E. Ethelbert Miller about his writing influences, the link between his poetry and music, and pushing against the norms.
Tags: Poetry | Amiri Baraka | HoCoPoLitSo | The Writing Life | 1998 | E. Ethelbert Miller | music -
Watch this surreal animated book trailer for Colin Winnette’s new novel, Users (Soft Skull, 2023), animated by Casey Jarman with music by Ben Morton and Kyle Morton. For more about the book, read this installment of our Ten Questions series featuring Winnette.
Tags: Fiction | Colin Winnette | book trailer | Users | Soft Skull Press | 2023 | animation | Ten Questions -
In this 2020 McSweeney’s Instagram Live reading, Mai Nardone reads an excerpt from his short story “The Tum-Boon Brigade,” which appears in his debut story collection, Welcome Me to the Kingdom (Random House, 2023). Nardone’s book is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Tags: Fiction | Mai Nardone | Welcome Me to the Kingdom | short story | Random House | 2023 | McSweeney's | Page One | March/April 2023