Poets & Writers Theater

The Little Drummer Girl (Knopf, 1983), John le Carré’s spy thriller novel about a young English actress who works as a double agent for an Israeli intelligence agency in the 1970s, has been adapted into a television miniseries. The six-part series is directed by Park Chan-wook, and stars Florence Pugh, Michael Shannon, and Alexander Skarsgård.

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. 

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.

In the new HBO television show Miss Sherlock, both the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Watson from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original detective series have been reimagined as women. The network’s first Japanese-language series is set in modern-day Tokyo and stars Yuko Takeuchi as Sara “Sherlock” Shelly Futaba and Shihori Kanjiya as Dr. Wato Tachibana.

The Miniaturist (Ecco, 2014), Jessie Burton’s debut novel revolving around a mysterious dollhouse in seventeenth-century Amsterdam, has been adapted into a three-part television miniseries for Masterpiece on PBS. Directed by Guillem Morales, the series stars Emily Berrington, Romola Garai, Alex Hassell, Hayley Squires, and Anya Taylor-Joy.

My Brilliant Friend (Europa Editions, 2012), the first novel in the Neapolitan Quartet by Elena Ferrante, translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein, has been adapted into HBO’s first foreign-language series. Directed by Saverio Costanzo, the eight-episode miniseries stars Elisa Del Genio, Gaia Girace, Margherita Mazzucco, and Ludovica Nasti.

Sharp Objects (Shaye Areheart Books, 2006), Gillian Flynn’s debut novel about a reporter who returns to her hometown to investigate a series of murders, has been adapted into an HBO television miniseries. Created by Marti Noxon and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, the series stars Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson, Matt Craven, Chris Messina, and Elizabeth Perkins.

“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.

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.