AWM Author Talks

This week, bestselling mystery novelist Amanda Flower discusses her latest multi award nominated novel Because I Could Not Stop for Death: An Emily Dickinson Mystery . In this first book in an all new series, Emily Dickinson and her housemaid, Willa Noble, realize there is nothing poetic about murder… Flower is joined by author and scholar Peter Coviello to discuss her book and Dickinson’s literar...

This week, Caits Meissner and Nicole Shawan Junior discuss their contributions to The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting A Writer’s Life in Prison . They are joined by Alicia Brown. The following conversation originally took place May 15, 2022 and was recorded live at the American Writers Festival . AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME More about The Sentences That Create Us : The Sentences That Create Us  pr...

This week, Reverend Wheeler Parker, Jr.—Emmett Till's cousin, best friend, and the last surviving witness of the night Till was lynched—discusses his book A Few Days Full of Trouble with co-author Christopher Benson. The following conversation originally took place March 16th, 2023 and was recorded live at the American Writers Museum. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME More about A Few Days Full of Trouble...

This week, historian and author Deborah Cohen discusses her book Last Call at the Hotel Imperial: The Reporters Who Took on a World at War . Cohen is joined in conversation by Daniel Greene, President and Librarian at the Newberry Library . The following conversation originally took place at the American Writers Festival on May 15, 2022 and was recorded live. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME More about La...

This week, Natalie Y. Moore discusses her play The Billboard with J. Nicole Brooks. As a play and a book, The Billboard is a cultural force that treats abortion as more than pro-life or pro-choice. The following conversation originally took place at the American Writers Festival on May 15, 2022 and was recorded live. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME More about The Billboard : The Billboard is about a fict...

This week, political scientist Dr. Clarence Lusane discusses his book Twenty Dollars and Change: Harriet Tubman and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice and Democracy . He is interviewed by journalist Arionne Nettles. The following conversation originally took place February 23, 2023 and was recorded live via Zoom. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME More about Twenty Dollars and Change : Twenty Dollars and...

This week, activist and author Will Jawando discusses his book My Seven Black Fathers: A Young Activist’s Memoir of Race, Family and the Mentors Who Made Him Whole . He is joined by Ambassador Carolyn Curiel. The following conversation originally took place May 15th, 2022 at the American Writers Festival and was recorded live. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME More about My Seven Black Fathers: Will Jawand...

This week, acclaimed writers Ashley C. Ford and Eve L. Ewing discuss Ford’s memoir Somebody’s Daughter . One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the looming absence of her incarcerated father. The following conversation originally took place May 15th, 2022 at the American Writers Festival and was recorde...

This week, legal analyst and author Elie Mystal discusses his book Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy's Guide to the Constitution , with professor Ivy Wilson. This episode is presented in conjunction with the AWM's special exhibit and content initiative Dark Testament: A Century of Black Writers on Justice . The following conversation originally took place May 15, 2022 at the American Writers Festiva...

This week, professor and author Richard Bradford discusses his book Tough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer , the first biography to examine Mailer's life as a twisted lens, offering a unique insight into the history of America from the end of World War II to the election of Barack Obama. Bradford is interviewed by AWM Program Director Allison Sansone. The following conversation originally took place...

This week, professor and historian Brooks E. Hefner discusses his book Black Pulp: Genre Fiction in the Shadow of Jim Crow , a deep dive into mid-century African American newspapers, exploring how Black pulp fiction reassembled genre formulas in the service of racial justice. Hefner is interviewed by journalist Evan F. Moore. The following conversation originally took place May 15, 2022 at the Ame...

This week, author and professor Leonard Moore discusses his book Teaching Black History to White People . Moore is joined in conversation by Laura McEnaney, Vice President for Research and Education at the Newberry Library . The following conversation originally took place May 15th, 2022 at the American Writers Festival and was recorded live. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME More about Teaching Black Hist...

We thought we’d kick off 2023 with an episode full of laughs! In this episode, comedy writers Cristela Alonzo, Karen Chee, Peter Gwinn, Alexandra Petri and Peter Sagal discuss their crafts and the role of comedy writing in American culture. The following conversation originally took place May 15, 2022 at the American Writers Festival and was recorded live. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME

This week we take a look back at some of our favorite moments from the top episodes we released in 2022. From Poet Laureates and Pulitzer Prize winners to screenwriters, novelists and more, we hope you enjoy entering the minds of these writers. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME

This week, celebrate the 100th anniversary of T. S. Eliot’s iconic poem The Waste Land with scholar and professor Jed Rasula, author of What the Thunder Said: How The Waste Land Made Poetry Modern . Rasula discusses his book and the enduring impact of The Waste Land with poet and scholar Reginald Gibbons. The following conversation originally took place December 6th, 2022 and was recorded live via...

This week, we discuss The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2022 anthology with guest editor Rebecca Roanhorse, series editor John Joseph Adams, and bestselling author Veronica Roth. With a diverse selection of stories chosen by series editor John Joseph Adams and guest editor Rebecca Roanhorse,  The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2022  explores the ever-expanding and changing w...

This week, writers from Central and Eastern Europe stop by the AWM on the Ukrainian and Dissident Writers Tour, presented by The Continental Literary Magazine . Sándor Jászberényi , editor-in-chief of  The Continental Literary Magazine , moderates a panel of writers aimed at promoting cultural exchange between Central Europe and the writers of the United States. In tumultuous and dangerous times l...

This week, Stuart N. Brotman and John Palfrey discuss Brotman’s new book The First Amendment Lives On , a collection of conversations with free speech scholars and advocates. This conversation originally took place November 7th, 2022 at the American Writers Museum and was recorded live. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME More about The First Amendment Lives On : Hugh M. Hefner’s legacy of enduring free spee...

This week, Imani Perry, recent recipient of the 2022 National Book Award for nonfiction, discusses her book South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation . Perry is joined by Dawn Turner. This episode is presented in conjunction with our special exhibit Dark Testament: A Century of Black Writers on Justice , in which Perry and her work is featured. Explore Da...

This week, we present the Fierce Reads Nonfiction Panel, a discussion of the various forms of nonfiction writing with five authors who work in the genre. In order of appearance, the writers are Achut Deng and Keely Hutton, Alex Graudins, Ashley Woodfolk, and Jessica Vitkus. Quick note: Alex Graudins is a cartoonist and presented a slideshow of her work during her segment. If you would like to watc...

This week, bestselling author Ross Gay discusses his new essay collection Inciting Joy . In these gorgeously written and timely pieces, Gay considers the joy we incite when we care for each other, especially during life’s inevitable hardships. This conversation originally took place November 1, 2022 at the American Writers Museum and was recorded live. This episode is presented in conjunction with...

To celebrate Halloween, this week’s episode is magical! Acclaimed authors Dhonielle Clayton and Jacqueline Woodson discuss Clayton’s recent middle grade debut The Marvellers , a fantasy adventure set in a global magic school in the sky. This conversation originally took place May 15th, 2022 at the inaugural American Writers Festival and was recorded live. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HUB Dhonielle Clayton...

This week, acclaimed authors Reyna Grande and Juan Martinez discuss Grande’s life and writing, in particular her two most recent books: A Ballad of Love and Glory , a historical novel set during the Mexican-American War; and an anthology of immigrant voices she co-edited called Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings . The Spanish version of her recent n...

This week, photographer Carell Augustus discusses his new photography book Black Hollywood: Reimagining Iconic Movie Moments with journalist Arionne Nettles. This episode is presented in conjunction with our new special exhibit Dark Testament: A Century of Black Writers on Justice , now open. This conversation originally took place October 13, 2022 and was recorded live at the American Writers Mus...

This week, U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo and Literary Director of the Library of Congress Marie Arana explore the themes of their roots, their creativity, and how their origin stories feed them and their work. This conversation originally took place May 15, 2022 at the inaugural American Writers Festival and was recorded live. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HUB In 2019,  Joy Harjo  was appointed the...