Charles Yu on Rejecting the Grand Narrative

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Yu reflects on the rise in anti-Asian harassment and violence, and how storytelling can resist the dehumanization that stems from erasure.
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Hanif Abdurraqib on Writing to Survive the World

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Abdurraqib discusses his new essay collection, A Little Devil in America, a celebration of Black culture through the lens of artists like Josephine Baker, Beyoncé, Whitney Houston, and more.
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Ottessa Moshfegh on Isolated Characters Growing Anywhere

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Moshfegh discusses her 2018 book, My Year of Rest and Relaxation, and how it has taken on a life of its own during the pandemic.
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Sandra Cisneros on Reaching Non-Readers with Her Books

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Sandra Cisneros reflects on the enduring legacy of The House on Mango Street and how it was able to reach audiences around the world.
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Kevin Young on Poetry as a Companion to Grief

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Young discusses the ways poetry can help those grieving in the midst of the pandemic and act as a quiet companion.
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Forsyth Harmon on Observing and Recording Without Judgement

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Forsyth Harmon discusses her new book, Justine, which casts a careful, thoughtful eye on body image and disordered eating and their effects on the book's teenage characters.
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Yaa Gyasi on the Inevitable Risk of Living

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Yaa Gyasi discusses the theme of risk in her latest novel, Transcendent Kingdom, and how it is necessary in both pleasure and pain.
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Honorée Fanonne Jeffers on Telling Human Stories Through Poetry

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Honorée Fanonne Jeffers discusses her collection of poetry, The Age of Phillis, which imagines the life of poet Phillis Wheatley.
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Courtney Zoffness Puts Messiness on Display

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Courtney Zoffness discusses her book, Spilt Milk, and how writing it was an exercise in embracing uncertainty.
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Toni Morrison’s Momentous Editorial Career

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Arielle Gray reflects on the lasting legacy of Toni Morrison's role as an editor and how she ushered in a generation of writers during her 19-year career at Random House
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Viet Thanh Nguyen’s on Exploring Parallel Lives Through Writing

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Viet Thanh Nguyen discusses his newest book, The Committed, and how it allows him to explore paths in life he may have missed.
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Isabel Allende on Engaging With the World at Any Age

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Isabel Allende discusses her new memoir, The Soul of a Woman, and how she finds value at every stage of her life.
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Kazuo Ishiguro on the Joys of Repetition

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Kazuo Ishiguro discusses his newest book, Klara and the Sun, and how it echoes themes he has often explored in his previous work.
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Sonia Sanchez’s Essential Black Literature

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Sonia Sanchez shares her picks for the essential books of Black Literature, including Toni Morrison, Amiri Baraka, Zora Neale Hurston, and more.
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The Prophetic Visions of Octavia E. Butler

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Ramtin Arablouei reflects on the urgency of Octavia Butler's novels and why her work calls on us to use our greatest power: to change.
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The Second Life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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Biographer Fiona Sampson reflects on the life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, whose forced isolation due to respiratory illness led her to find an escape through writing.
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Beverly Jenkins on the Importance of Black 19th Century Romance

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Beverly Jenkins, known as the queen of of Black historical romance, discusses the importance of the genre reflecting the identities of those who read it.
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Charles Yu on Switching Between TV and Novel Writing

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Charles Yu discusses the novelistic techniques he employs in his television writing and, conversely, how his TV projects influence his fiction.
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