Poets & Writers Theater

“What I was interested in was the idea of this character committing to whiteness as this act, and the idea that race can be performed but at the same time it has these real implications in your life.” In this Politics and Prose virtual event, Brit Bennett speaks about the topics of duality, passing, and family in her latest novel, The Vanishing Half (Riverhead Books, 2020), with New York Times Magazine editor Jazmine Hughes.

“This is a poem I wrote nearly fifty years ago in response to the war that the Metropolitan Police force had declared against the Black youth of my generation,” says Linton Kwesi Johnson in this video for the Geraldine Connor Foundation’s Generations Dreaming online event last month. The recent PEN Pinter Prize–winner reads his poems “All Wi Doin is Defendin,” “It Dread inna Inglan (for George Lindo),” “Mekin Histri,” and “License fi Kill.”

“Don’t be embarrassed by what you like, just be ready to own it.” A Mighty Blaze’s Rachel Barenbaum speaks with Jean Kyoung Frazier about advice for emerging writers and the inspiration for her debut novel, Pizza Girl (Doubleday, 2020). Frazier is featured in “First Fiction 2020” in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“Jeremy could not move, speak. Happenings were happening too fast, and his mind switched from simple sentences.” In this virtual Center for Fiction event, Tracy O’Neill reads from her new novel, Quotients (Soho Press, 2020), and speaks with Gina Apostol about the book’s themes and how they relate to our times.

“To be seen and not / heard, herded, and yet, / heralded—ambidoxic / harem, primary colors-studded...” Tyrone Williams reads “Alhambra,” “taškīl,” and “The D.I.Y. Archive” from his poetry collection As iZ (Omnidawn, 2018) in this third installment of ENCLAVE, a virtual series of readings by contemporary innovative poets curated by Rae Armantrout and Jeanne Heuving.

Shirley (Blue Rider Press, 2014), Susan Scarf Merrell’s historical fiction novel about a young couple who stay at the home of horror writer Shirley Jackson and literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman in 1964, has been adapted into a feature film of the same name. Directed by Josephine Decker, the thriller stars Logan Lerman, Elisabeth Moss, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Odessa Young.

“In those brown albums, our family at times looks like a family and at other times not.” Porochista Khakpour reads from her new book, Brown Album: Essays on Exile and Identity (Vintage, 2020), and talks to author Tania James in this virtual Politics and Prose Bookstore event video. 

“I’m also asking you to unleash the cry of the subconscious, and to listen and record that voice from within without fear or judgment. Listening to yourself in that way is actually a radical act of self-love.” Ananda Naima González leads an exercise in asemic writing for PEN to Paper, a video series of original writing exercises from authors participating in PEN America’s 2020 Digital World Voices Festival: These Truths.

“It follows the band’s ascent up the wobbly ladder of stardom and the Faustian pact with fame, the hidden costs of getting what they want and the way dreams are not quite the same when they come true.” In this Booktopia TV video, David Mitchell talks about the premise of his eighth novel, Utopia Avenue (Random House, 2020), which is featured in Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“I tried to do it too fast. I rushed it, which is never a good idea with writing.” In this Lighthouse Writers Workshop video, Rachel Weaver speaks with author R. L. Maizes about the publishing process of her books, how she was told there is no market for short story collections, and how her first book of short stories and new novel, Other People’s Pets (Celadon, 2020), came to be. Other People’s Pets is featured in Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“I acquired a copy of my great-great-grandfather’s diaries in 2013,” says Lauren Russell about the inspiration for her new book, Descent (Tarpaulin Sky Press, 2020), at an event with author Megan Milks for Brown University’s Authors in the Archives series in 2019. Descent is featured in Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this video, Marie-Helene Bertino celebrates the launch of her new novel, Parakeet (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020), with Alexandra Kleeman and Angel Nafis for a virtual reading hosted by BOMB Magazine and Greenlight Bookstore. Parakeet is featured in Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“Eight years of active searching had come to this: an abandoned house, an outdoor stove, and a doll, signs of a former life but necessarily his and hers.” In this book trailer, Donna Hemans reads an excerpt from her second novel, Tea by the Sea (Red Hen Press, 2020), which is featured in Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“My essays are about race, place, and belonging, and about growing up Indian in non-Indian places.” In this episode of Literary Hub’s Personal Space: The Memoir Show, Sejal Shah talks about her memoir-in-essays, This Is One Way to Dance (University of Georgia Press, 2020), which is featured in Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“How does the elegy believe me?” This lyric art video created by Rachel Eliza Griffiths offers a peek into her new book of poems and self-portraits, Seeing the Body (Norton, 2020), which is featured in Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this 92Y video, artist Shantell Martin creates a live performance illustration inspired by a speech Maya Angelou delivered at the 92Y’s Kaufmann Concert Hall in 1971.

“What does it feel like, to love someone so much that you’re willing to publicly bare your heart and soul with a black Sharpie?” In this Harper Stacks at Home video, Lambda Award–winning author Kacen Callender reads from their novel Felix Ever After (Balzer + Bray, 2020), which follows the journey of a Black, queer, and transgender teen grappling with identity while falling in love for the first time.

“He forgets his own name somewhere in the tunnel to Penn Station. He doesn’t notice, at first. Too busy with all the stuff people usually do when they’re about to reach their train stop: cleaning up the pretzel bags and plastic bottles of breakfast....” N. K. Jemisin reads from the first chapter of her new fantasy novel, The City We Became (Orbit, 2020), the first in her Great Cities trilogy, and answers audience questions for a virtual event hosted by Politics and Prose Bookstore. 

“They’ve asked that the bookstore be cleared away during the event / they say it’s no place to sell books…” As part of the Writers in Residence at-home video series for PEN America’s 2020 Digital World Voices Festival, Oksana Vasyakina reads her poem “These people didn’t know my father,” translated from the Russian by Ainsley Morse and Eugene Ostashevsky. 

“Books have been such an important part of my life, from The Brothers Karamazov when I was a teenager to reading Charlotte’s Web to my grandchildren,” says Hillary Clinton in this video of over one hundred book-loving authors, actors, musicians, public figures, and professional librarians sharing their favorite books in celebration of the New York Public Library’s 125th anniversary.