Poet and 2021 NEA Literature Fellow Leslie Sainz discusses her creative process and how, as the daughter of Cuban immigrants, she uses poetry to navigate themes of displacement, tradition, and identity.
Author and 2015 National Humanities Medalist Isabel Wilkerson discusses her acclaimed first book “The Warmth of Other Suns,” and the profound impact of the Great Migration on every aspect of American culture.
YA and children’s author and curator Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee) discusses the joys and responsibilities of writing and curating authentic Native voices for young readers.
Journalist, author, and filmmaker Sebastian Junger discusses his book Tribe—an exploration of how a fractious society disengaged from war may contribute to PTSD suffered by veterans.
Marking Disability Pride month by revisiting my 2020 interview with Rebekah Taussig who discusses her memoir in essays (and current NEA Big Read title) Sitting Pretty The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body.
Author and 2021 National Humanities Medalist Amy Tan discusses “The Joy Luck Club,” her writing with its themes of family and identity, and her relationship with her mother.
Author and Library of Congress’s 2023-24 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Meg Medina wants to spark joy in young readers as they find themselves and others in books.
Novelist and poet Bushra Rehman celebrates the Pakistani American community of 1980s Corona, Queens, and the coming of age of a queer Muslim girl and budding writer in her novel "Roses in the Mouth of a Lion."
Author of the NEA Big Read title "Nothing to See Here" Kevin Wilson discusses the serious issues at the heart of this outrageous (and outrageously funny) novel.
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