Poets & Writers Theater

“People live in stations like they never had mothers or fathers...” Jennifer Hayashida reads from her debut poetry collection, A Machine Wrote This Song (Gramma, 2018), in this book trailer filmed by Hayashida and Benj Gerdes.

“Seed” is a digital story written by Joanna Walsh and illustrated by Charlotte Hicks, and published by Visual Editions. Created by Google Creative Lab, the story is available for free and “crafted to live inside mobile technology,” designed so that readers can navigate through multiple unique narratives.

“Without knowing where we came from and how we got here, how can we possibly understand where we are and come to grips with where we go next?” Jeremy Tiang describes the history and research involved in writing his debut novel, State of Emergency (Epigram Books, 2017), which explores the leftist movements of Singapore and Malaysia through the members of one family.

Eight Ghosts: The English Heritage Book of New Ghost Stories (September Publishing, 2017) is a collection of “eight chilling tales” that are “set within the walls of England’s grandest houses, castles, and forts.” Inspired by visits to English Heritage’s historical properties, the spooky collection includes stories by Sarah Perry, Max Porter, and Jeanette Winterson, among others.

Ed Lin’s hardboiled thriller trilogy, This Is a Bust (Kaya Press, 2007), Snakes Can’t Run (Minotaur Books, 2010), and One Red Bastard (Minotaur Books, 2012), is being reissued by Witness Impulse. The mystery novels take place in the 1970s, and feature Chinese American detective and Vietnam veteran Robert Chow solving crimes in New York City’s Chinatown. 

This animated book trailer captures the elements of thriller, mystery, and fable present in Australian author Fiona McFarlane’s debut novel, The Night Guest (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013). McFarlane received the 2017 International Dylan Thomas Prize for her story collection, The High Places (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016).  

In this book trailer, Richard Flanagan, winner of the 2014 Man Booker Prize, narrates a selection from his forthcoming novel, First Person, to be published by Knopf in 2018. Written in the style of a memoir, the novel follows a struggling writer who has six weeks to ghostwrite the memoir of a con artist.

“I just really wanted my words back—it was the one thing I lost, and it was the one thing I wanted back.” In the book trailer for her debut memoir, Tell Me Everything You Don’t Remember: The Stroke That Changed My Life (Ecco, 2017), Christine Hyung-Oak Lee describes experiencing a stroke and how writing contributed to her recovery.

This book trailer for John Darnielle's Universal Harvester, forthcoming from Farrar, Straus and Giroux in February, offers a glimpse into the mysterious contents in copies of VHS tapes that set the stage for this suspenseful novel.

This book trailer provides an atmospheric preview of Jon Boilard’s debut novel, A River Closely Watched (MacAdam/Cage, 2012). Boilard’s first short story collection, Settright Road (Dzanc Books, 2017), is featured in Page One in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“I left Indiana and drove towards happiness.” Watch the book trailer for John W. Evans's second memoir, Should I Still Wish (University of Nebraska Press, 2017), which is featured in Page One in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this book trailer for his debut memoir, All Tomorrow’s Parties (Grove Press, 2016), Rob Spillman recounts defining experiences from time spent as a child in Berlin, Aspen, and Baltimore. Spillman, who serves as the editor of Tin House and the executive editor of Tin House Books, is featured in Agents & Editors in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this book trailer for her debut story collection, Know the Mother (Wayne State University Press, 2016), Desiree Cooper reads from "In the Ginza." Cooper is featured in "5 Over 50 Reads" in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“A cook marries ingredients much the way a poet marries words. This is a human experience.” In Cooking With the Muse: A Sumptuous Gathering of Seasonal Recipes, Culinary Poetry, and Literary Fare (Tupelo Press, 2016), poet Stephen Massimilla and chef Myra Kornfeld collaborate on an anthology of culinary poems and recipes. The book explores the connection between cooking and writing, and includes works by luminaries such as Emily Dickinson, Pablo Neruda, Zora Neale Hurston, Seamus Heaney, and Jane Hirshfield.

"I was too young to remember my father's death or much of his life." This book trailer for The Song Poet: A Memoir of My Father (Metropolitan Books, 2016) by Kao Kalia Yang features Hmong song poetry composed and sung by Bee Yang, the author's father.

"Twenty-two stories about the magic of useless things" promises the book trailer for Dolan Morgan's new collection of short stories, Insignificana (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2016). Civil Coping Mechanisms was featured in Small Press Points in the May/June 2015 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

"The moon barely showed itself, the river cut a trail between the fields, the cold changed to numbness the deeper I went in." In this book trailer, an excerpt of Michelle Hoover's new novel, Bottomland (Grove Press, 2016), is animated by Laura Harrison.

Raphael Montes is featured in this book trailer for his English-language debut, Perfect Days (Penguin Press, 2016),​ a crime novel​ translated from the Portuguese by Alison Entrekin​. ​Montes was a finalist for both the Benvirá Literature Prize and the Machado de Assis Prize from the Brazilian Academy of Letters for his first novel, Suicidas (Saraiva/Benvirá, 2012).

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.

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.