Poets & Writers Theater

Washington Post book critic Ron Charles takes a humorous look at Helen Oyeyemi’s sixth novel, Gingerbread (Riverhead Books, 2019), for his Totally Hip Video Book Review series. Oyeyemi answers questions about her new novel in a recent installment of our online series Ten Questions.

“In a lot of African storytelling, unlike storytelling in the West, it’s the trickster who is telling the story, so you already know you can’t quite believe it.” On Late Night With Seth Meyers, Marlon James speaks about the influences behind his new novel, Black Leopard, Red Wolf (Riverhead Books, 2019), the first title of his Dark Star Trilogy, ranging from the television series The Affair and George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. A profile of James by Kima Jones appears in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“I became a writer not because I was seeking community but rather because I thought it would be something I could do alone and hidden in the privacy of my own room,” says Sigrid Nunez in her acceptance speech for the 2018 National Book Award in fiction, which she won for her seventh novel, The Friend (Riverhead Books, 2018). “How lucky to have discovered that writing books made the miraculous possible: to be removed from the world and to be a part of the world at the same time.”

“I have always been interested in borders, physical and metaphysical borders, frontiers that we create...” Anna Badkhen speaks with Sarah Beth Childers at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa about the inspiration for her latest book, Fisherman Blues: A West African Community at Sea (Riverhead, 2018), and the blending of mythology and history. Badkhen was awarded the second Barry Lopez Visiting Writer in Ethics and Community Fellowship.

“The extraordinary story of a bloodstained, diminutive crumb of a servant girl who went on to become the world’s most famous wax sculptor,” is how the book trailer describes Edward Carey’s sixth novel, Little (Riverhead Books, 2018), which is featured in Page One in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this 2015 video, Jess Row reads from his debut novel, Your Face in Mine (Riverhead Books, 2014), for the Story Hour in the Library series at the University of California in Berkeley. Row is a recipient of the 2018 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant for White Flights: Race, Fiction, and the American Imagination, forthcoming from Graywolf Press.

“I love the intimacy of a novel and how it lets you get to know people.” Meg Wolitzer speaks about her writing process, the recognition of women writers, and her latest novel, The Female Persuasion (Riverhead Books, 2018), with PBS Newshour’s Jeffrey Brown. The rights for the novel were recently acquired by Amazon Studios and Nicole Kidman’s production company.

Lesley Nneka Arimah speaks about investigating “the ways in which our past traumas inform our present selves” through her writing, and answers questions from readers about her debut story collection, What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky (Riverhead Books, 2017), for PBS NewsHour’s Now Read This book club, a partnership with the New York Times.

In this TED Talk, Casey Gerald speaks about a poignant day in his childhood and how those events altered his thoughts on belief, faith, and doubt. Gerald is the author of the debut memoir, There Will Be No Miracles Here (Riverhead Books, 2018), and is featured in “The Genre of Resistance” in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

Nick Hornby’s Juliet, Naked (Riverhead Books, 2009), a novel about a couple whose relationship is altered by a reclusive singer-songwriter’s album, has been adapted into a film. Directed by Jesse Peretz, the film stars Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke, and Chris O’Dowd.

Boy Erased is a film based on Garrard Conley’s 2016 coming-of-age memoir of the same name. Lucas Hedges stars as a young man who is forced by his fundamental Baptist parents, played by Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman, to attend a gay conversion therapy program. The film is written and directed by Joel Edgerton, who also costars as the program’s head therapist.

R. O. Kwon talks about her debut novel, The Incendiaries (Riverhead Books, 2018), with Rich Fahle of PBS Books at the 2018 AWP Annual Conference & Book Fair. Kwon is featured in “First Fiction 2018” in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“This book is very much about climate change…the collision between the human in nature, between internal and external, between domesticity and the wild.” Lauren Groff speaks about her short story collection Florida (Riverhead Books, 2018) with Rich Fahle of PBS Books at the 2018 AWP Annual Conference & Book Fair in Tampa. “Severe Weather in the Sunshine State,” a profile of Groff by Bethane Patrick, is in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“Don’t worry about whether you’re writing anything, worry about if you’re sitting there attempting to write something or not.” Mohsin Hamid speaks to Granta about his most recent novel, Exit West (Riverhead Books, 2017), the job of being a writer, and what he has learned from Douglas Adams.

Argentinian author Samanta Schweblin talks about living in Berlin and reads from her debut novel, Fever Dream (Riverhead Books, 2017), translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell. Fever Dream, which was shortlisted for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize, was the winner of the 2018 Tournament of Books beating out George Saunders’s Lincoln in the Bardo (Random House, 2017) in the final round.

“I narrate in such a free manner that, I hope, inspires the reader.” In this interview for Louisiana Channel, Olga Tokarczuk talks about air travel and how it influenced the story structure for her most recent novel, Flights (Riverhead Books, 2018), translated from the Polish by Jennifer Croft, which is longlisted for the 2018 Man Booker International Prize.

“I didn’t begin with the dog—I wrote that book the way I’ve written all my books which is I start at the beginning and I move on and create the story as I go along.” Sigrid Nunez talks with Rich Fahle of PBS Books about her latest novel, The Friend (Riverhead Books, 2018), at the 2018 AWP Annual Conference & Book Fair in Tampa.

“For me personally, it’s about recovering and celebrating a language.” Daniel Alarcón talks about his work as the executive producer of NPR’s Radio Ambulante, the Spanish-language podcast that presents long-form Latin American narratives. Alarcón’s second story collection, The King Is Always Above the People (Riverhead Books, 2017), is featured in Page One in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“I wanted to write a book that would help you take a little bit more care.” Gabriel Tallent talks about the main character in his debut novel, My Absolute Darling (Riverhead Books, 2017), and how he hopes the book will resonate with readers. The novel is featured in Page One in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“What makes life and fiction important and interesting and meaningful is for it to be examined...” Dina Nayeri talks to Bill Kenower of Author Magazine about researching her first book, A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea (Riverhead Books, 2013), and her beliefs about imagination and the writing process. Nayeri’s second novel, Refuge (Riverhead Books, 2017), is featured in Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.