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Presented by National Book Foundation and BAM
George Saunder’s reads from “Sea Oak,” which can be found in his short story collection Pastoralia. A Q&A session with moderator Aoibheann Sweeney and the audience follows, where Saunders discusses (among other things) the writer’s place in the political landscape, why he writes short stories versus novels, and the truthfulness found in fiction.
Presented by National Book Foundation and BAM
An esteemed novelist and cultural critic, Edmund White is the author of many books, including the autobiographical novel A Boy’s Own Story; a biography of poet Arthur Rimbaud; a previous memoir, My Lives, and most recently, City Boy. White lives in New York City and teaches writing at Princeton University.
Presented by the National Book Foundation and BAM
Elizabeth Strout is the winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for her novel Olive Kitteridge. She is also the author of two previous novels: Abide With Me, a national bestseller and Book Sense pick, and Amy and Isabelle, which won the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize and was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize in England. Her short stories have been published in a number of magazines, including The New Yorker. She was raised in small towns in New Hampshire and Maine and currently lives in New York City.
Presented by the National Book Foundation and BAM
The Russian-born siblings Keith Gessen (All the Sad Young Literary Men) and Masha Gessen (The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin) discuss their work with Phillip Lopate.
Presented by the National Book Foundation and BAM
The acclaimed author of The Satanic Verses and Midnight’s Children discusses his work with The New Yorker fiction editor Deborah Treisman.
Salman Rushdie is the acclaimed author of 11 novels, including Grimus, Shame, The Satanic Verses, and Midnight’s Children, which was awarded the Booker Prize and the Best of the Booker. Rushdie has also received the European Union’s Aristeion Prize for Literature, among other awards, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is the president of the PEN World Voices International Literary Festival, which he helped create, and was knighted for services to literature. Rushdie’s books have been translated into more than 40 languages. He lives in Manhattan.
Presented by the National Book Foundation and BAM
The National Book Award-winning writer McDermott delves into her latest novel, Someone, among others, with The New Yorker fiction editor Deborah Treisman.
Alice McDermott is the National Book Award-winning author of After This, Child of My Heart, Charming Billy, At Weddings and Wakes, and, most recently, Someone (which was shortlisted for this year’s National Book Awards for Fiction). Her short stories and articles have appeared in The New Yorker, Ms., The New York Times, and The Washington Post, among others. McDermott is a three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. She teaches at the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars and lives with her family outside Washington, DC.
Presented by the National Book Foundation and BAM
Jeffrey Eugenides is the author of Middlesex, which won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize and was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award; The Virgin Suicides; and most recently, The Marriage Plot. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and teaches creative writing at Princeton University. His work has been translated into 35 languages.
Presented by the National Book Foundation and BAM
Jonathan Franzen then reads from his autobiography The Discomfort Zone: A Personal History, an interview follows by moderator Brigid Hughes. Franzen talks candidly about his life as a writer, the difficulty of writing fiction post-9/11 and the difference between being a Hollywood celebrity and a “famous” writer. And yes, during the audience Q&A Franzen talks about what happened when The Corrections was chosen by Oprah Winfrey for her book club.
Presented by the National Book Foundation and BAM
Gary Shteyngart reads from his novel Absurdistan. An interview follows by moderator Jessica Hagedorn. Shteyngart talks about life as a Russian-Jewish writer and a New Yorker. He speaks about his literary influences and answers questions from the audience.
