Poets & Writers Theater

"The books themselves are very powerful—when you're around them, it's palpable." Cofounders Jeff Lee and Ann Martin, and architect Jeff Schultz, talk about the ongoing renovations and collaborations involved with Buffalo Peaks Ranch in Colorado, a part of their ongoing Rocky Mountain Land Library project. The project is featured in “A Book Sanctuary in the Rockies” by Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

"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.

Watch the book trailer for C. Dale Young's new collection of poems, The Halo (Four Way Books, 2016), which is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

"A lightning flash split the gloom and a rumble of cascading boulders burst from the sky." At an event at the Library of Congress, A. Igoni Barrett reads from "The Shape of a Full Circle," a short story from his collection Love Is Power, Or Something Like That (Graywolf Press, 2013). His debut novel, Blackass (Graywolf Press, 2016), is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

"To the naked eye Boudicca is a haze of noxious green that lurks among fronds of seaweed looking exactly like the aftermath of a chemical spill." Helen Oyeyemi reads her short story "'Sorry' Doesn't Sweeten Her Tea" at the British Council Literature Seminar in Berlin. Oyeyemi's collection of stories, What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours (Riverhead Books, 2016), is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

Watch "TENDER BLACK," a video poem by Melissa Broder. So Sad Today (Grand Central Publishing, 2016), a collection of essays by Broder, is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

The book trailer for Melissa Broder's debut essay collection, So Sad Today (Grand Central Publishing, 2016), which is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine, follows the author as she shops for a coffin. For more from Broder, listen to the latest episode of Ampersand: The Poets & Writers Podcast.

Jhumpa Lahiri talks with Ann Goldstein, translator of Elena Ferrante's novels, about Ferrante, literature, translation, and writing at the Center for Jewish History. Lahiri, who is featured in the the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine, has a new memoir, In Other Words (Knopf, 2016), which is translated from the Italian by Goldstein. For more from Lahiri and Goldstein, listen to the latest episode of Ampersand: The Poets & Writers Podcast.

"I didn't have any intention of representing India accurately or inaccurately. I had a story in mind and I pursued the story ruthlessly." Karan Mahajan speaks about his debut novel, Family Planning (Harper Perennial, 2008), and the creative challenges faced by a new generation of Indian writers. His second novel, The Association of Small Bombs (Viking, 2016), is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“A lot of poems for me begin in the sense of feeling annihilated in some way or another.” Idra Novey discusses her poetic beginnings at the Academy of American Poets’ 2014 Poets Forum. Her debut novel, Ways to Disappear (Little, Brown, 2016), is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

"He will give me these hands, my perfect empty nests." Rita Mae Reese reads a selection of poems at the Crosshatxh reading series in 2011. Her second collection, The Book of Hulga (University of Wisconsin Press, 2016), is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

"Caress what can't be blessed, cup shadows under breasts." Poet Sharon Dolin reads from her sixth collection, Manual for Living (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2016), which is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

"Ezekiel likes meetings as much as he likes fiddle music and black garter belts and dancing, and he makes no distinction among these things, which all comfort him." Lee Smith reads from her novel The Devil's Dream (Berkeley Books, 1992) at the New School. Smith's memoir, Dimestore: A Writer's Life (Algonquin Books, 2016), is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

"I totally understand the vulnerability that my voice makes people feel." In an interview with Maria Hinojosa, author Diane Rehm speaks about living with the voice-destroying illness spasmodic dysphonia. Rehm's memoir On My Own (Knopf, 2016) is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine. 

"I hate to write. I loathe writing, but there's something in it that brings me back." Ethan Canin talks about inspiration, process, and his novel America America (Random House, 2008). His new novel, A Doubter's Almanac (Random House, 2016), is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.