Poets & Writers Theater

“Reading during lockdown created a really powerful sense of connection with the books.” In this video, Maya Jasanoff, chair of the judges for the 2021 Booker Prize, speaks about the “deliberate quality” of the thirteen longlisted titles, which include Second Place by Rachel Cusk, Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, and Bewilderment by Richard Powers.

“The lesson my mother taught me was, finish the job. When hers could not be finished, I forged myself into a prodigy.” In this short film, Azura Tyabji reads an excerpt from her chapbook, Dear Azula, I Have a Crush on Danny Phantom (Button Poetry, 2021), cowritten by Jackson Neal.

“Genre writing is an amazing place to try new words out as long as you provide good context.” In this video, Stacey Abrams discusses her love of language and word choice, as well as the writing process for her latest novel, While Justice Sleeps (Doubleday, 2021), with Merriam-Webster editors Ammon Shea and Adam Maid.

In this Politics and Prose Live video, Tahmima Anam reads from her new novel, The Startup Wife (Scribner, 2021), and discusses writing about marriage and the start-up world with author and editor Megha Majumdar.

“To what and whom am I responsible when translating this text?” In this Center for Fiction virtual event, Brazilian literature translator Katrina Dodson offers ways to consider a practical philosophy of translation and speaks with translator Heather Cleary about questions and ways to approach the work. The Literary Translation Clinic is a monthly series of open sessions with a focus on literary translation as a profession hosted by members of the translator collective, Cedilla & Co.

In this Poets & Writers Live virtual event, Kristen Arnett walks through the revision process of select scenes from her latest novel, With Teeth (Riverhead Books, 2021), with Spencer Quong, the assistant editor of Poets & Writers Magazine. For more Arnett, read her contributions to our Craft Capsules series on writing humor in fiction.

In this Poets & Writers Live virtual event, poet and scholar Clint Smith speaks about his new book, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America (Little, Brown, 2021), with poet and novelist Destiny O. Birdsong. Smith is featured in a profile written by Birdsong in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

This Librairie Drawn & Quarterly virtual event celebrates the book launch of Lee Lai’s debut graphic novel, Stone Fruit (Fantagraphics, 2021), as the author speaks with Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch about editing, writing vignettes, and gay characters. Lai is featured in “First Fiction 2021” in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“To me, [revision] is about the majesty of failure,” says Kiese Laymon in this conversation about the newly revised edition of his debut novel, Long Division (Scribner, 2021), with Peter Ho Davies for the Center for Fiction.

“I wrote this book for Black women who’ve been in those workspaces, but really anyone who’s been an other in these kind of spaces.” In this video, Zakiya Dalila Harris speaks about her debut novel, The Other Black Girl (Atria Books, 2021), and how her characters navigate through workplace politics with Robin Roberts for Good Morning America. Harris is featured in “First Fiction 2021” in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this Politics and Prose Bookstore video, Eric Nguyen speaks about his debut novel, Things We Lost to the Water (Knopf, 2021). Nguyen is featured in “First Fiction 2021” in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“A poem is an utterly free space for language,” says Kathleen Ossip in this 2017 lecture at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. “That is what makes it indispensable to me, and also what makes it political.” Ossip’s fourth poetry collection, July (Sarabande Books, 2021), is featured in Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“Over time, pets become like their owners. Over time, I had become more like the fox.” In this book trailer for Fox & I: An Uncommon Friendship (Spiegel & Grau, 2021), Catherine Raven reads an excerpt from her memoir, which is featured Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“She likes to lean her head against my neck. I had never wished she could speak, because we understand each other.” In this Square Books virtual event, Rivka Galchen reads from her second novel, Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021), and speaks with Alexandra Kleeman about research and process. The novel is featured in Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this Books Are Magic event celebrating the book launch of Ashley C. Ford’s debut memoir, Somebody’s Daughter (Flatiron Books, 2021), she talks to Jason Reynolds, who tries not to drop any spoilers. The memoir is featured in Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“The most important thing for me when I was writing this book was to invite the reader along with me…it was an adventure for me.” In this episode of Shelf Analysis, host Rick O’Shea interviews Doireann Ní Ghríofa about her debut memoir, A Ghost in the Throat (Biblioasis, 2021), which is featured in Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine. 

In this video, poet and scholar Clint Smith speaks about the historic places he visited and writes about in his new book, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America (Little, Brown, 2021). A profile of Smith by Destiny O. Birdsong is featured in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“since I couldn't say my name / I opened // as if preparing for a throat / culture...” In this video for Colby College, visiting professor of English Adam Giannelli reads his poem “Stutter” from his award-winning debut collection, From Tremulous Hinge (University of Iowa Press, 2017).

In this virtual event for the Brooklyn Rail, Jorie Graham curates the thirty-fifth installment of the Radical Poetry Reading series focused around the topics of illness, injustice, and truth featuring poets Jericho Brown, Victoria Chang, Forrest Gander, D. A. Powell, and Claudia Rankine.

“It’s a book about being present to the world and accepting the complexity of the world.” In this virtual event hosted by the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, Larissa Pham speaks about her new book, Pop Song: Adventures in Art and Intimacy (Catapult, 2021), and the subjects addressed in her essays, including relationships and the differences of expression through visual art and writing, in a conversation with R. O. Kwon.