Poets & Writers Theater

“The thing when you write about pop culture—especially pop culture that you’re interested in—that you have to avoid, is just saying ‘isn’t this cool?’ again and again...I realized that I needed to put myself into it.” Elena Passarello talks about writing creative nonfiction and reads from her first book, Let Me Clear My Throat (Sarabande Books, 2012). Passarello’s Animals Strike Curious Poses (Sarabande Books, 2017) is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“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.

“Across his body were rounded scars, bullet holes, healed over.” Hannah Tinti reads from her second novel, The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley (Dial Press, 2017), which is featured in Page One in the March/ April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“Who knew our pudgy American dream was so combustible?” Patricia Smith reads a poem from her seventh poetry collection, Incendiary Art (TriQuarterly Books, 2017), which is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“You never really know when you’re going to find that thing that’s extraordinary.” Laird Hunt talks about a surprising source of inspiration that he discovered while researching his new novel, The Evening Road (Little, Brown, 2017), which is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

Morgan Parker reads a selection of poems including “Heaven Be a Xanax,” “Hottentot Venus,” and “Slouching Toward Beyoncé” from her second poetry collection, There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé (Tin House Books, 2017), with musical accompaniment by David Cieri. Parker’s book is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

Dean Rader reads his poem inspired by Leilani Bustamante’s painting “Lady Moore” and “Self-Portrait in Place” for a Quiet Lightning reading series event. Rader’s most recent collection, Self-Portrait as Wikipedia Entry (Copper Canyon Press, 2017), is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“They’re unwanted where they come from, they’re unwanted when they arrive, but we have a great tradition of welcoming refugees and turning them into Pulitzer Prize winners.” Pulitzer Prize–winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen speaks about his experience as a refugee and the significance of refugees in the United States on Late Night With Seth Meyers. Nguyen’s first short story collection, The Refugees (Grove Press, 2017), is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

Written and directed by Graham Sack, this virtual reality film is an adaptation of George Saunders’s debut novel, Lincoln in the Bardo (Random House, 2017). Saunders speaks about his debut novel in “The Emotional Realist Talks to Ghosts” in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“A story is made up of situations.” In this Skillshare video, Yiyun Li explains the difference between an everyday situation and a story. Li’s debut memoir, Dear Friend, From My Life I Write to You in Your Life (Random House, 2017), is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“I see myself in the shadows of a leaf.” Afaa Michael Weaver reads his poem “Self Portrait” and Lucille Clifton’s poem “My Dream About God” for the P.O.P. series, which was shot and edited by Rachel Eliza Griffiths in partnership with the Academy of American Poets. Weaver’s poetry collection Spirit Boxing (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017) is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“The reason why we have narrative scarcity is because we have economic scarcity, and people don’t have equal access to modes of storytelling.” Viet Thanh Nguyen talks about the value and pressure placed on stories told by writers from minority cultures at an event with Maxine Hong Kingston. Nguyen’s first story collection, The Refugees (Grove Press, 2017), is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“I tell my students that if you want to be a writer you need to learn how to look.” In this TEDxNavesink video, Melissa Febos shares her lifetime habit of secrecy and explains how telling your secrets can set you free. Her debut essay collection, Abandon Me (Bloomsbury, 2017), is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“I take inspiration from the fact that however difficult our moment is today, it’s not as difficult as it has been in the past.” Viet Thanh Nguyen speaks with Bonnie Boswell about the current political climate and connections between his own personal history and his Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, The Sympathizer (Grove Press, 2015). Nguyen’s first story collection, The Refugees (Grove Press, 2017), is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“Something kept nagging at me...I couldn’t give the story to one voice.” Laird Hunt, whose most recent novel, The Evening Road (Little, Brown, 2017), is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine, talks about his writing process and the multiple narrators in his historical novel.