Poets & Writers Theater

In this Alaska Quarterly Review virtual event, poet and naturalist Elizabeth Bradfield reads from her collection SOFAR (Persea Books, 2025) and discusses the relationship of her poetics to ocean ecologies, memories of queer love, and both human and natural histories.

In this video, George Takei, honorary chair of Banned Books Week 2025, talks about how “access to books and knowledge is essential to democracy” and how reading provides a way to see ourselves reflected in stories and to discover the stories of others. To learn more, visit the Banned Books Week website.

Watch the trailer for the graphic novel series adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Developed by Ridley Scott and Mechanical Cake, the two-volume series will be released on Halloween and imagines a world where Hyde overtakes Dr. Jekyll. Written by Jesse Negron with Joe Matsumoto, and artists Gary Erskine and Chris Weston, Johnny Depp portrays the sinister character.

In this Service95 Book Club conversation hosted by Dua Lipa, Percival Everett revisits his award-winning 2021 novel, The Trees, and talks about how the murder and image of Emmett Till urged him to write the story, and how important the relationship between author and reader is to art. “People find their truth in art. It’s not complete until the reader comes to it. That’s when meaning gets made,” says Everett.

In this Green Apple Books event, Catherine Lacey talks about the breakup that led to her writing The Möbius Book (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2025) and her decision to combine nonfiction and fiction into this hybrid book in a conversation with Rita Bullwinkel. “It’s a different kind of grief,” says Lacey. “It’s not just the sadness of missing someone, but it’s also the sadness of missing yourself.”

In this CBS Boston interview, R. F. Kuang talks about her latest novel, Katabasis (Harper Voyager, 2025), and its forthcoming television series adaptation, her connection to Sylvia Plath and the city of Boston, and the importance of buying from independent bookstores.

In this Poets House event, four poets read from their new books: Kimberly Alidio, author of Traceable Relation (Fonograf Editions, 2025); Courtney Bush, author of A Movie (Lavender Ink, 2025); Natalie Shapero, author of Stay Dead (Copper Canyon Press, 2025); and Emily Skillings, author of Tantrums in Air (The Song Cave, 2025).

“I knew I was going to write about tech, but I did think of it first as a novel about labor.” Elaine Castillo talks about exploring the intersection of virtual reality and the Filipino American diaspora for her second novel, Moderation (Viking, 2025), and how Jane Austen’s novels, including Pride and Prejudice, informed her process in this episode of Poured Over: The Barnes & Noble Podcast hosted by Miwa Messer.

“Books became my friends, my companions, from an early age.” In this Louisiana Channel interview, novelist Elif Shafak talks about the universality of storytelling and how literature revealed other worlds to her from a young age.

In this Rattlecast episode, host and editor of Rattle Timothy Green introduces Jennifer Manthey, who reads her poem “Locker Room Annunciation,” and Richard Siken, who reads from his latest collection, I Do Know Some Things (Copper Canyon Press, 2025), and reflects upon his decision to write prose poems as a means of grounding himself in the aftermath of a stroke.

In this Writers on Writing event at the Newberry Library in Chicago, authors Carmen Maria Machado and Megan Stielstra engage in a conversation about their creative processes, the evolution of their works, and their insights into the art of storytelling.

“When the time of your life is a time of earthquakes.” In this PBS NewsHour interview, Arthur Sze reads from his latest collection, Into the Hush (Copper Canyon Press, 2025), and talks about his life and work, including his discoveries while translating literature. Sze has been named the twenty-fifth poet laureate of the United States.

Watch the trailer for Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest, a reimagination of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 film High and Low, which was loosely adapted from the 1959 novel King’s Ransom: An 87th Precinct Mystery by Ed McBain. The crime thriller film stars Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, and A$AP Rocky.

In this video, Margaret Atwood, recipient of the 2025 Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition Award speaks with Pádraig Ó Tuama about her literary career, the power and the craft of poetry, and how verse captures both personal and universal experiences.

In this 7 Stories Up event at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library, Jeremy Tiang talks about the impact of his award-winning debut novel, State of Emergency (Epigram Books, 2017), and how his diverse modes of playwriting, translation, and fiction writing offer him fluidity and freedom in a conversation with Reuben Gelley Newman.

Based on the murder mystery book series by best-selling author Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club is directed by Chris Columbus and stars Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie. In the film, four retirees spend time solving cold case murders for fun and then are plunged into a real-life murder mystery.

“Translate literature and it will teach you how to write.” In this American Library in Paris event, Jhumpa Lahiri reads from her essay collection Translating Myself and Others (Princeton University Press, 2022) and talks about her latest book, Bone Into Stone (Sylph Editions, 2024), which details her experiences translating Ovid’s Metamorphoses from the Latin in partnership with the classicist Yelena Baraz.

In this PBS NewsHour interview, Nicholas Boggs speaks about his new book, Baldwin: A Love Story (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2025), a biography which looks at the ways James Baldwin’s personal relationships shaped his life and work.

Written and directed by Bill Condon, this movie musical is based on the Tony Award–winning musical by Terrence McNally, John Kander, and Fred Ebb, and is the second film adaptation of the 1976 novel by Argentine author Manuel Puig. The film stars Jennifer Lopez in the titular role, alongside Diego Luna and Tonatiuh.

The History of Sound is a historical romantic drama film written by Ben Shattuck and based on his short story of the same name. Directed by Oliver Hermanus, the film stars Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor as Lionel and David who travel together recording folk songs after the end of World War I.