AWM Author Talks

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and we continue our celebration of that with June Hur, author of The Silence of Bones . This conversation originally took place April 29th, 2020 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer.

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and we begin our celebration of that with R. O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries . This conversation originally took place July 31, 2019 and was recorded live. You can see R. O. Kwon live at the American Writers Museum on June 5, 2024 ! She will be here to read from and discuss her newest novel, Exhibit . She takes her investigations into d...

Our National Poetry Month celebrations continue with acclaimed poets Rigoberto González and Johanny Vázquez Paz. This program took place April 15th, 2021 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. All podcasts and episodes here .

Our National Poetry Month celebrations continue with indigenous poets Layli Long Soldier, Mark Turcotte, and Tanaya Winder who read from and discuss the recent book When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry . This program took place November 19th, 2020 and was recorded live via Zoom. Quick programming note: The work Layli Long Sold...

Celebrate Arab American Heritage Month with Sahar Mustafah, who discusses her recent novel The Beauty of Your Face . This conversation took place April 8th, 2020 and was recorded live via Zoom. Mustafah also put together a list of some of her favorite and most influential books by Arab American writers. Check out that reading list here . ALL PODCAST EPISODES We hope you enjoy entering the mind of...

This week, we kick off National Poetry Month with former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins, who is interviewed by Irish Ambassador to the US Daniel Mulhall. This conversation took place December 8th, 2020 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. ALL PODCAST EPISODES HERE

This week, pop culture historian and bestselling author Jennifer Keishin Armstrong discusses her new book When Women Invented Television: The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today . This conversation took place March 23rd, 2021 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer.

This week, anthropologist Claudio Lomnitz discusses his memoir Nuestra América: My Family in the Vertigo of Translation with Princeton University professor Arcadio Díaz-Quiñones. This conversation took place March 9th, 2021 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer.

This week, to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, acclaimed Irish-American writers Alice McDermott, Joseph O’Neill and Irish Ambassador to the United States Daniel Mulhall discuss their work, their approach to writing, and their shared Irish heritage. This program originally took place October 29th, 2020 and was recorded live over Zoom. Hear more immigrant and refugee writers share their stories in our v...

This week, AWM President Carey Cranston chats with award-winning New York Times cybersecurity reporter Nicole Perlroth about her new book This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race . This conversation was recorded live via Zoom on February 26th, 2021. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer.

This week, renowned mystery writer Sara Paretsky discusses her book Shell Game, her writing process and more. This conversation was recorded live at the American Writers Museum in October 2018. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer.

This week, NPR correspondent Aarti Shahani discusses her memoir Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares with fellow NPR correspondent Sonari Rhodes Glinton. This conversation was recorded live at the American Writers Museum in October 2019. This program was the first in a series of programs presented in conjunction with our special exhibit My America: Immigrant and Refugee Writers Today...

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...