Poets & Writers Theater

In this PBS NewHour video, Jeffrey Brown speaks with best-selling author Rebecca Yarros and romance bookstore owner Leah Koch about the rise of the romantasy genre, which mixes elements of romance and fantasy stories.

In this video, Kim Fu, author of Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century (Tin House, 2022), and Lidia Yuknavitch, author of Thrust (Riverhead Books, 2022), speak about writing within off-kilter realities for this 2022 National Book Festival event moderated by Poets & Writers editor-in-chief Kevin Larimer.

“It took me a long time, a lot of books under my belt before I could finally sit down and say, I am now skilled enough and experienced enough and confident enough to write The Art of Prophecy.” In this video, Wesley Chu speaks about his love of fantasy and Wuxia, and combining these genres in his new novel, The Art of Prophecy (Del Rey, 2022), the book he’s always wanted to write.

His Dark Materials is a television series adaptation of Philip Pullman’s award-winning fantasy adventure trilogy of the same name, comprising of the novels The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. Directed by Tom Hooper, the series stars Tyler Howitt, Dafne Keen, James McAvoy, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Ruth Wilson, and follows the coming-of-age story of two children discovering their identities and destinies while journeying through parallel universes.

“A story or a character should change. The events that happen change us.” George R. R. Martin, whose book Fire & Blood: 300 Years Before A Game of Thrones (Bantam, 2018) is a history of the Targaryen family from his fantasy novel series A Song of Fire and Ice, talks to John Hodgman about how the realness in Stan Lee’s comic books influenced him as a writer.

A Discovery of Witches (Viking, 2011), the first novel in Deborah Harkness’s All Souls historical fantasy trilogy, has been adapted into a television miniseries. The eight-part series stars Edward Bluemel, Gregg Chillin, Matthew Goode, Teresa Palmer, and follows the story of a history scholar witch, a geneticist vampire, and a long-lost alchemical manuscript.

“I see the world as a magical place.” Nnedi Okorafor talks about magical realism, fantasy, and her writing process at the 2015 Aké Arts and Book Festival in Abeokuta, Nigeria. Okorafor is the author most recently of Akata Warrior (Viking, 2017), the second novel in the Akata young adult fantasy series centered around Sunny Nwazue, a Nigerian American girl.

A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle’s 1962 science fiction fantasy novel about a thirteen-year-old girl who travels through space and time in search of her scientist father, has been adapted into a feature film. Directed by Ava DuVernay, the film stars Mindy Kaling, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris Pine, Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Zack Galifianakis.

The Dark Tower is a film sequel to Stephen King’s eight-novel series of the same name, which was published between 1982 and 2004 and inspired by Robert Browning’s poem “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came.” Directed by Nikolaj Arcel and starring Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, and Katheryn Winnick, the film will premiere in August.

The Starless Sea (Doubleday, 2019), the follow-up to Erin Morgenstern’s debut novel, The Night Circus, follows a graduate student who discovers a library book that inexplicably tells a story from his own past leading him to a mysterious underground world filled with ancient books, lost cities, pirates, painters, and lovers.

The Tiger at Midnight (Katherine Tegen Books, 2019) is the first novel in a young adult fantasy trilogy by debut author Swati Teerdhala. Inspired by Hindu folklore and mythology and ancient Indian history, the story follows the epic journeys of Esha and Kunal as they navigate star-crossed romance, action-packed battles, and questions of sacrifice and loyalty.

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (Workman Publishing, 1990), Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s collaborative comedic fantasy novel about an angel and a demon attempting to prevent Armageddon, has been adapted into a television show. The six-part miniseries is directed by Douglas Mackinnon, and stars Sam Taylor Buck, Ilan Galkoff, Michael Sheen, and David Tennant. 

“Learn how to write jokes...” Gabe Hudson, author of the science fiction novel, Gork, the Teenage Dragon (Knopf, 2017), talks about the craft behind humorous writing, and having to adapt to a new environment during his MFA years at Brown University.

“Fiction, literature, is probably the greatest tool that has ever been invented to try to help people understand what it's like to be somebody else…” Gene Yang, host of the Reading Without Walls video podcast, speaks with Michael Chabon about his books for young readers and his lifelong love of fantasy books. Chabon is profiled in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.