Poets & Writers Theater

The Handmaid’s Tale, a television series adapted from Margaret Atwood’s classic dystopian novel published in 1985, returns for a second season. Atwood, who was a cowriter on the first season, has also collaborated extensively with series creator Bruce Miller on the storylines for this season.

Howards End, the 1910 novel by E. M. Forster about social class divisions between three English families, has been adapted into a four-part television miniseries for BBC One and Starz. Directed by Hettie Macdonald and written by Kenneth Lonergan, the series stars Hayley Atwell, Philippa Coulthard, and Matthew Macfadyen.

Sweetbitter (Knopf, 2016), Stephanie Danler’s debut novel about a young woman’s coming-of-age experience working at an exclusive restaurant in New York City, has been adapted into a television series. The series stars Daniyar, Eden Epstein, Caitlin FitzGerald, Evan Jonigkeit, and Ella Purnell.

The Alienist (Random House, 1994), Caleb Carr’s historical suspense novel, has been adapted into a television series. The series stars Daniel Brühl, Luke Evans, and Dakota Fanning, and follows an investigative duo using innovative forensic science techniques to solve a serial murder crime in nineteenth-century New York City.

Edward St. Aubyn’s Patrick Melrose novels, which were published between 1992 and 2011 by Picador and follow the saga of a dysfunctional upper-class English family, have been adapted into a five-part television miniseries with each episode based on a different novel in the series. Directed by Edward Berger, the series stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Holliday Grainger, and Jessica Raine.

Louisa May Alcott’s classic 1869 novel Little Women has been adapted into a new television miniseries for BBC One and Masterpiece on PBS. Directed by Vanessa Caswill, the series stars Dylan Baker, Annes Elwy, Willa Fitzgerald, Angela Lansbury, Maya Thurman-Hawke, and Emily Watson.

Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams is a British anthology television series based on the science fiction author’s short stories. Each episode has a different director and cast of actors including Steve Buscemi, Vera Farmiga, Terrence Howard, Greg Kinnear, Janelle Monáe, and Anna Paquin.

Alias Grace (Anchor Books, 1996), Margaret Atwood’s fictional account of Grace Marks, an Irish Canadian maid who was convicted of murdering her employer and his mistress in 1843, has been adapted into a television series. Directed by Mary Harron and written by Sarah Polley, the series stars Sarah Gadon, Edward Holcroft, and Zachary Levi.

Will is a television drama about the imagined life of William Shakespeare in his early twenties in London as he struggles to get his plays onto the stage. Created by Craig Pearce, the series stars Laurie Davidson as Shakespeare and Jamie Campbell Bower as his rival Christopher Marlowe.

Thirteen Reasons Why (Razorbill, 2007), Jay Asher’s best-selling young adult novel about a teenager piecing together the story and circumstances behind the suicide of a classmate, has been adapted into a television series.

“Your inspiration has become low, but can be regained by reading, attending to sounds of life in the distance, enjoying solitude...” Walden, a Game is a video game inspired by Henry David Thoreau’s time spent in solitude and reflection at Walden Pond. The goal is to achieve a well-balanced way of life by completing simple activities such as fishing, foraging, reading and writing, and communing with the natural environment.

“He basically married the heroine of his stories.” In this Amazon original series based on Therese Anne Fowler’s historical novel Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald (St. Martin’s Press, 2013), David Hoflin and Christina Ricci star as F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.

“But ordinary is just what you're used to.” Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale (McClelland and Stewart, 1985) has been adapted into a television series, directed by Mike Barker and Reed Morano. The series is cowritten by Atwood, and stars Alexis Bledel, O. T. Fagbenle, Joseph Fiennes, and Elisabeth Moss.

This trailer reveals a sneak peek of Memoranda, a video game inspired by twenty of Haruki Murakami's short stories and created by development team Bit Byterz. Currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, the 2-D point-and-click adventure game is a series of puzzles where players try to find what each character has lost.

“It’s what poetry can do—it can take us to other places, in a moment.” Cynthia Nixon and other cultural figures including Yo-Yo Ma, Joe Biden, Sonia Sanchez, Shaquille O’Neal, Edward Hirsch, and Bono are featured in this trailer for the public television series Poetry in America. Hosted by Harvard professor Elisa New, each episode explores and interprets a single American poem.

Liane Moriarty’s best-selling novel Big Little Lies (Penguin Books, 2014) has been adapted into a television miniseries, created by David E. Kelley and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. The dark comedy tells the story of a murder involving three mothers of young children, and stars Nicole Kidman, Zoë Kravitz, Alexander Skarsgård, Reese Witherspoon, and Shailene Woodley.