Interview

Valeria Luiselli: “There are always fingerprints of the archive in my books.”

By Mary Wang February 12, 2019

The writer opens her archives to reveal maps, recordings, and questionnaires that have fueled her work—including photos that didn’t make it into her new novel.

Miscellaneous Files Lit World

Review

Valeria Luiselli’s Rapturous New Novel

By Rob Spillman February 8, 2019

The Lost Children Archive swims in the same historical currents as the great stories of journey and discovery that came before.

Readpolitik Lit World

Video

Lauren Groff: Stories Should Ask Difficult Questions

By Amy Brady February 6, 2019

Watch the video of our talk with Lauren Groff to hear her discuss climate change and her writing process.

Lit World

Interview

Anelise Chen: “Then I changed it to third-person clam, and that was exactly how it was meant to be.”

By Mary Wang January 18, 2019

The writer shares a collection of digital fragments that have shaped her practice, including an image depicting cycling exercises, a photo of Kafka’s diaries, and a video of her mother’s first time seeing snow.

Miscellaneous Files Lit World

Interview

Natasha Trethewey: Finding Her Calling in a Wound That Never Heals

By Chet’la Sebree January 9, 2019

The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet on her recently released collection, the connections between personal and historical violence, and how she received her calling.

Lit World

Interview

Kiese Laymon: “I Didn’t Want to Be a Silent Survivor of Moral Failure Anymore”

By Lacy M. Johnson December 19, 2018

The writer on his memoir, Heavy, and the role of truth-telling and loneliness in artmaking.

Family & RelationshipsLit WorldRace

Interview

Miscellaneous Files: Jabari Asim

By Mary Wang December 10, 2018

The writer Jabari Asim on stories as instruments of power, how he places himself in the lineage of African American literature, and how writers of color should navigate an onerous publishing landscape.

Miscellaneous Files Lit World

Interview

Helen Schulman’s Many Worlds

By Phineas Lambert December 7, 2018

The best-selling author on invasive technology, her new novel, and the craft of writing.

Lit World

Interview

Back Draft: Catherine Barnett

By Ben Purkert and Catherine Barnett November 27, 2018

The poet discusses the separation of mind and body—literally and figuratively—the transformation of influence, and imagining an audience.

Back Draft Lit World

Review

The Character of Berlin

By Rob Spillman November 20, 2018

A sprawling chronicle of the Nazis' rise to power, decades in the making, sheds light on both the present and the past.

Readpolitik HistoryLit World