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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“I want to live a life of free imagination.” In this video, Binyavanga Wainaina describes his dream for Africans to tell their own stories and be set free of certain traditional systems and structures. The Kenyan author and gay rights activist, who won the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2002, died at the age of forty-eight on May 21, 2019. For more from his work, read an excerpt from his memoir, One Day I Will Write About This Place (Graywolf Press, 2011).
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A Discovery of Witches (Viking, 2011), the first novel in Deborah Harkness’s All Souls historical fantasy trilogy, has been adapted into a television miniseries. The eight-part series stars Edward Bluemel, Gregg Chillin, Matthew Goode, Teresa Palmer, and follows the story of a history scholar witch, a geneticist vampire, and a long-lost alchemical manuscript.
Tags: Fiction | Deborah Harkness | A Discovery of Witches | Viking | 2011 | 2018 | All Souls | trailer | television adaptation | television series | fantasy -
“Look at us growing up. Who will we be?” We the Animals (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011), Justin Torres’s debut novel, has been adapted into a film directed and cowritten by Jeremiah Zagar. Starring Raúl Castillo, Sheila Vand, and Evan Rosado, the film follows Jonah, growing up with his brothers and escaping into a fantasy world to cope with his volatile home life.
Tags: Fiction | We the Animals | Justin Torres | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | 2011 | movie trailer | film adaptation -
The Sisters Brothers (Ecco, 2011), Patrick deWitt’s Booker-nominated picaresque western novel about two assassin brothers during the California Gold Rush, has been adapted into a feature film. Directed by Jacques Audiard, the film stars Riz Ahmed, Jake Gyllenhaal, Rutger Hauer, Carol Kane, Joaquin Phoenix, and John C. Reilly.
Tags: Fiction | The Sisters Brothers | Patrick deWitt | 2011 | Ecco | Man Booker Prize | movie trailer | film adaptation -
Luljeta Lleshanaku reads from her collection Haywire: New & Selected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, 2011) in English translation and in the original Albanian, and talks about how history, politics, and religion have informed her writing. Lleshanaku’s new collection, Negative Space (New Directions, 2018), translated from the Albanian by Ani Gjika, is featured in Page One in the May/June issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Tags: Poetry | Luljeta Lleshanaku | reading | translation | Page One | May/June 2018 | Negative Space | New Directions | 2018 | Haywire | Bloodaxe Books | 2011 -
Ernest Cline’s debut novel, Ready Player One (Crown, 2011), a dystopian science fiction adventure following a teenager’s quest for fortune through a virtual reality game, has been adapted into a feature film. Directed by Steven Spielberg with a screenplay by Cline and Zak Penn, the film stars Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg, and Tye Sheridan.
Tags: Fiction | Ernest Cline | Ready Player One | Crown | 2011 | 2018 | science fiction | movie trailer | film adaptation -
“This is a story about what makes us different and about having the courage to find the place where we belong.” In this film adaptation of Brian Selznick’s novel Wonderstruck (Scholastic Press, 2011), two children from two different eras set out on quests in New York City. Directed by Todd Haynes with a screenplay by Selznick, the film stars Oakes Fegley, Julianne Moore, Millicent Simmonds, and Michelle Williams.
Tags: Fiction | Wonderstruck | Brian Selznick | movie trailer | film adaptation | Scholastic Press | 2011 | 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.
Tags: Fiction | The Snowman | Jo Nesbø | Knopf | 2011 | translation | Don Bartlett | movie trailer | film adaptation | 2017 -
Danny Strong’s directorial debut, Rebel in the Rye, is a biopic portraying J. D. Salinger’s earlier years, focusing on his service during World War II and the 1951 publication of The Catcher in the Rye. The film is adapted from Kenneth Slawenski’s biography J. D. Salinger: A Life (Random House, 2011), and stars Zoey Deutch, Nicholas Hoult, and Kevin Spacey.
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“Artificial is the only way to fly.” In this 2013 video, Cyrus Console reads a selection of poems from his books The Odicy (Omnidawn, 2011) and Brief Under Water (Burning Deck, 2008). His first nonfiction book, Romanian Notebook (FSG Originals, 2017), is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Tags: Poetry | Creative Nonfiction | Cyrus Console | 2013 | FSG Originals | Romanian Notebook | Page One | March/April 2017 | The Renaissance Society | University of Chicago | The Odicy | Omnidawn | 2011 | Brief Under Water | Burning Deck | 2008 | 2017 -
In this video, Book Riot offers six recommendations for books that feature refugees including Girl at War (Random House, 2015) by Sara Nović, Inside Out and Back Again (Harper, 2011) by Thanhha Lai, and Exit West (Riverhead Books, 2017) by Mohsin Hamid.
Tags: Fiction | 2011 | 2015 | 2017 | Book Riot | Books Featuring Refugees | Exit West | Girl at War | Harper | Inside Out and Back Again | Mohsin Hamid | Random House | Riverhead Books | Sara Nović | Thanhha Lai -
“Expect poison from the standing water.” Musician and poet Marilyn Manson reads “The Proverbs of Hell” by William Blake at Dark Blushing, an evening of poetry, music, and art presented in collaboration with Write Now Poetry Society, at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
Tags: William Blake | music | 2011 | Marilyn Manson | The Proverbs of Hell | J. Paul Getty Museum | Write Now Poetry Society | Poetry -
“Upon moments like these, time never stops gnawing its little beaver teeth and the dialogue never stops even after we stop listening.” In this 2012 video, Peter Orner reads from his novel Love and Shame and Love (Little, Brown, 2011). His first essay collection, Am I Alone Here? Notes on Living to Read and Reading to Live (Catapult, 2016), is featured in Page One in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
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Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Quirk Books, 2011), the debut young adult novel by Ransom Riggs, blends fantasy, mystery, and thriller—and is interspersed with illustrative vintage photographs. Packed with these enchanting elements, the film adaptation, directed by Tim Burton, stars Asa Butterfield, Eva Green, Samuel L. Jackson, and Ella Purnell.
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"We can't fix them, we can only fix ourselves." In this film adaptation of Kevin Wilson's best-selling novel The Family Fang (Ecco, 2011), Nicole Kidman and Jason Bateman star as siblings dealing with their aging artist parents. Kidman, also a producer of the film, optioned the book and recruited playwright David Lindsay-Abaire to write the screenplay.
Tags: Ecco | movie trailer | 2011 | film adaptation | Kevin Wilson | The Family Fang | Fiction -
Derrick Weston Brown reads "Misdirected," a poem in the form of the Bop incorporating lyrics from "Find a Way," a song off A Tribe Called Quest's album Love Movement. Brown's poetry collection Wisdom Teeth was published by PM Press in 2011.
Tags: reading | 2011 | Derrick Weston Brown | Wisdom Teeth | PM Press | A Tribe Called Quest | Love Movement | Poetry -
"Sometimes in my dreams I sign and everyone understands me." In this 2011 documentary directed by Judy Lieff, a deaf teen is introduced to American Sign Language (ASL) Poetry and enters into the spoken word slam scene. Deaf Jam has inspired a website which includes resources for ASL poets and workshops with the artists featured in the film.
Tags: movie trailer | documentary | 2011 | slam poetry | ASL | Poetry | Spoken Word -
Umberto Eco speaks with Paul Holdengräber at Kensington Town Hall in November 2011 about his novel The Prague Cemetary (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011), and the future of books.
Tags: interview | 2011 | Paul Holdengräber | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | Umberto Eco | The Prague Cemetary | Fiction -
"I love. Wouldn't we all like to start / a poem with 'I love...'? I would." C. Dale Young reads his poems "The Bridge" and "Torn" from his book Torn (Four Way Books, 2011) at the 2014 Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. Young's fourth collection of poems, The Halo (Four Way Books, 2016), is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Tags: Page One | Four Way Books | Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival | 2011 | 2016 | C. Dale Young | March/April 2016 | The Halo | Torn | Poetry -
Ten Thousand Saints is a feature film adaptation of Eleanor Henderson’s 2011 debut novel, which is set in the 1980s New York City hardcore scene. Directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, the film stars Asa Butterfield, Ethan Hawke, and Hailee Steinfeld.
Tags: Fiction | Ten Thousand Saints | Eleanor Henderson | film adaptation | movie trailer | Ecco | 2011