Poets & Writers Theater

“It’s not all fun, you know, the usual terror of writing a book.” In this Waterstones interview, Colson Whitehead talks about his new novel, Harlem Shuffle (Doubleday, 2021), and how he gave himself permission to write a heist story. The novel is featured in Page One in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“uneasiness wills its way around my / swollen tongue // the extract / i make my language out of / so i might speak to you,” reads fahima ife from their poem “anamnesis, amanuensis,” included in their debut collection, Maroon Choreography, in this Duke University Press video. The collection is featured in Page One in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this virtual event from the 2020 Cúirt International Festival of Literature, Kei Miller and Carolyn Forché read their poems and discuss the exploration of place, hope, and community in their work with poet Jess Traynor. Miller’s second essay collection, Things I Have Withheld (Grove Press, 2021), is featured in Page One in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

Kat Chow reads from her debut memoir, Seeing Ghosts (Grand Central Publishing, 2021), and speaks about the macabre humor of her family and growing up with loss in this virtual event for DC Public Library’s Summer Challenge series. The memoir is featured in Page One in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this NEW INC virtual event, Brain Pickings founder Maria Popova speaks with Patrick Rosal about art, cities, and nature and how poetry helps connect people to the natural world. Rosal’s latest collection, The Last Thing: New & Selected Poems (Persea Books, 2021), is featured in Page One in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this episode of Literary Hub’s Personal Space: The Memoir Show with host Sari Botton, Lilly Dancyger speaks about her debut memoir, Negative Space (Santa Fe Writers Project, 2021). Dancyger is featured in “The New Nonfiction 2021” in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

Lauren Hough speaks about her debut essay collection, Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing (Vintage, 2021), with Ashley C. Ford, author of the memoir, Somebody’s Daughter (Flatiron Books, 2021), in this Town Hall Seattle video. Hough and Ford are featured in “The New Nonfiction 2021” in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

Charm City Books bookseller Brandon Rashad Butts hosts this episode of Between Two Succulents with poet and screenwriter Brian Broome who speaks about his debut memoir, Punch Me Up to the Gods (Mariner Books, 2021). Broome is featured in “The New Nonfiction 2021” in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

James Tate Hill discusses the themes of disability and self-acceptance in his debut memoir, Blind Man’s Bluff (Norton, 2021), and speaks about process and the author-agent relationship in this Writing Workshops Dallas conversation with agent and author Eric Smith. Hill’s memoir is featured in Page One in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine. 

“In Cloud Cuckoo Land, I try to tell the story of stewards, people who care deeply about something, and how their actions reverberated through the generations after them,” says Anthony Doerr in this video about the inspiration behind writing his new novel, Cloud Cuckoo Land (Simon & Schuster, 2021), which is featured in Page One in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“It has taken me almost ten years to get to this point of publishing this book.” In this Politics and Prose Bookstore video, Nawaaz Ahmed talks about what led him to write his debut novel, Radiant Fugitives (Counterpoint, 2021), which is featured in Page One in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“I’m carrying this for America, but for Indigenous peoples in particular,” says Joy Harjo about what it means to be the first Native American to serve as the poet laureate of the United States in this 2019 PBS NewsHour interview with Jeffrey Brown. A Q&A with Harjo about her new memoir, Poet Warrior (Norton, 2021), appears in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“I could say grace was a woman with time on her hands, or a white buffalo escaped from memory. But in that dingy light it was a promise of balance,” reads Joy Harjo from her poem “Grace” in this 2019 reading at the offices of the Academy of American Poets.