AWM Author Talks

This week, Harvard scholar Dr. John Stauffer discusses the legacy of Frederick Douglass, particularly his use of early photography. This lecture was recorded live at the American Writers Museum in March 2019. Quick programming note: Dr. Stauffer used photographs to go along with his presentation. If you would like to see those, you can watch this program in its entirety here on YouTube . They are...

This week, Jasmine Guillory discusses her romance novel The Wedding Party with writer and poet Diamond Sharp. This conversation was recorded live at the American Writers Museum in July 2019. Quick programming note: this discussion contains explicit language and references to sex, it is a romance novel after all...Listener discretion is advised. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer.

This week, we sit down with Walter Mosley and discuss his work and the craft of writing. This program took place October 24th, 2018 and was recorded live at the American Writers Museum. At the time, Mosley’s novel John Woman had just been published. Mosley’s latest Easy Rawlins mystery comes out tomorrow, February 2nd! Quick programming note: this discussion contains explicit language and referenc...

This week, iconic young adult author Gary Paulsen discusses his new middle grade memoir Gone to the Woods , his own survival story. He is joined by children’s book author and librarian Betsy Bird. This program took place January 12th, 2021 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS “I’m just gonna write until I die. Probably about Thursday a...

For our first episode of 2021, we chat with renowned writer Jacqueline Woodson. She is the author of dozens of award-winning books for young adults, middle graders, and children; among her many accolades, she is a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a four-time National Book Award finalist, and a two-time Coretta Scott King Award winner. This conversation took place September 7th, 2018 and was recorde...

This week, AWM Program Director Allison Sansone chats with award-winning NBC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff. This conversation took place September 3rd, 2020 and was recorded live via Zoom. This is our final Author Talks episode of the year. We are taking a couple weeks now to rest but we will return in January with more fun, engaging, and inspiring conversations with contemporary writers. Have...

This week, hear from Caldecott Medal-winning author and illustrator Uri Shulevitz about his new illustrated memoir Chance: Escape from the Holocaust . Presented in partnership with the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. This conversation took place October 13th, 2020 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. Listen to more episodes and podcasts h...

This week, AWM President Carey Cranston chats with Pulitzer Prize-winner and global energy expert Daniel Yergin about his timely new book The New Map: Energy, Climate and the Clash of Nations . This conversation took place October 8th, 2020 and was recorded live via Zoom. Quick programming note: near the 20 minute mark, Carey and Daniel start discussing some of the pictures included in the book. I...

This week, AWM Program Director Allison Sansone chats with writer and historian Catharine Arnold about her recent book Pandemic 1918: Eyewitness Accounts from the Greatest Medical Holocaust in Modern History . This conversation took place May 26, 2020 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS “It was important for me to really bring [the 19...

This week Glory Edim, founder of Well-Read Black Girl book club, discusses her essay anthology with fellow writer Charlene Carruthers. This conversation was recorded November 5, 2018 live at the American Writers Museum. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS “As Black women we define ourselves, for ourselves. When you tell us we can’t, we simpl...

This week we hit the funny pages and talk about the anthology The Peanuts Papers with editor Andrew Blauner, contributing artist Chris Ware and cartoonist Ivan Brunetti who honor the legacy of Charles Schultz and his iconic Peanuts comic strip. This conversation was recorded November 4, 2019 live at the American Writers Museum. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. Listen to more podcas...

This week, AWM President Carey Cranston chats with Dr. Manisha Sinha about the legacy of Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists from her book The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition . This conversation was recorded live May 28, 2020. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS "Much of the literature that had been written on slave rebellions a...

Today, we discuss the legacy of Nelson Algren with Colin Asher, author of the biography Never A Lovely So Real: The Life and Work of Nelson Algren . This was originally recorded live at the American Writers Museum June 25th, 2019. Quick note: the end of this podcast episode includes a Q&A with the live audience, however their questions were not recorded. We did want to include Colin’s answers...

This week we discuss the legacy of Norman Mailer with J. Michael Lennon, Mailer’s archivist and authorized biographer, and Maureen Corrigan, book critic for NPR’s Fresh Air. This conversation was originally recorded August 27, 2018 and was recorded live at the American Writers Museum. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS “Political power of the most frightening sort...

This week, we present an excerpt from a previously recorded conversation with author and historian Nicholas Buccola about his recent book The Fire Is Upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate over Race in America . To watch the full program as well as view an accompanying photo slideshow, visit the American Writers Museum YouTube channel . We hope you enjoy entering the mind o...

This week, get your peanuts and Cracker Jack ready because we’re chatting with essayist Joe Bonomo and sportswriter Rick Telander about their favorite baseball writing. This program took place and was recorded in June when Major League Baseball was still on hiatus. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS "Baseball especially encourages that, that feeling of connection t...

Today, in recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day, we talk with Native poets and performing artists Frank Waln and Tanaya Winder, who will also play some of their powerful music. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. Listen to more episodes here. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS “I really believe in helping people heal through the power of love and I try to infuse anything I write -- whether it’s poetr...

This week, AWM Facilities Supervisor, Cristina Carrera, chats with former U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera about his new collection Every Day We Get More Illegal . We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. Find more podcast episodes here . EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS “Instead of more openness, the doors seem to be bigger and tighter and more locked up, in more ways than one. So I wanted to thi...

This week, AWM Assistant Director of Programming and Education, Sonal Shukla, chats with Adrianna Cuevas, debut author of the middle grade fantasy novel The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez . We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. Find more episodes here . EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS “I pretty much live in my own head most of the time, so surrounding myself with my imagination and writing helps me g...

We continue celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month this week with singer-songwriter Louie Pérez, lead singer of Los Lobos, who chats with radio broadcaster Catalina Maria Johnson about his work and writing. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. Listen to all podcast episodes here . EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS “Everything I’ve written has always come from the experiences I had growing up. Y...

This week, AWM President Carey Cranston sits down with bestselling author and immigrant rights advocate Julissa Arce to kick off National Hispanic Heritage Month. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. Listen to more episodes here . EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS “I’ve been very motivated and very inspired by young undocumented people now who are out fighting for their rights and are chanting, ‘Undo...

This week, AWM President Carey Cranston sits down with author and historian Michelle Duster who discusses the indelible impact and lasting legacy of her great-grandmother, Ida B. Wells. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. Listen to more episodes here . EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS “[Wells] felt the need to write her own autobiography because she was concerned that the work that she did would so...

This week, AWM Program Director Allison Sansone sits down with Isabel Ibañez to chat about her Bolivian heritage, writing process, and her debut Young Adult Fantasy novel Woven in Moonlight . We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. Listen to more episodes here . EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS “Home sort of felt like two places and I had to balance both of them. Those two identities, Isabel in Bolivia...

This week, we honor Ray Bradbury’s recent Centennial on August 22nd with more science fiction. The prolific writer John Scalzi talks about his novel The Consuming Fire , how he wrote it in just two weeks, and his affinity for wombats. Yes, wombats. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. Listen to more episodes here . EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS “I do the majority of my writing in the shower.” “On...

This week, journalist Dan Sinker talks with Annalee Newitz about Annalee’s recent time-traveling, punk rock novel The Future of Another Timeline . This is the second of four conversations with science fiction and fantasy writers in honor of  Ray Bradbury’s Centennial  on August 22. Admission to the AWM is also free of charge that day to celebrate Bradbury’s work and lasting legacy. Inter...