Jump to navigation Skip to content
Poet Roger Reeves presents “The Work of Poetry in the Age of Ferguson, Baltimore, and Charleston: Towards a Klepto_Poetics” as part of the Craft Capsules portion of Poets & Writers Live in Chicago on June 20, 2015.
Novelist Edward Kelsey Moore presents "Making Up the Truth: Using Real-Life Experiences to Enrich Fiction" as part of the Craft Capsules portion of Poets & Writers Live in Chicago on June 20, 2015.
The second year of Poets & Writers Live debuted with an event at the Brava Theater in San Francisco on January 10, 2015, featuring a "poetry keynote" by Pulitzer Prize–winner and former U.S. poet laureate Kay Ryan; conversations about inspiration and the writing life with dozens of authors, including Michelle Tea, David Shields, Wendy Lesser, and D. A. Powell; advice from agent Danielle Svetcov and other publishing professionals; a multigenre, multimedia “inspiration experiment” featuring dancer Sarah Fiske and musician Ben Arthur; and much more.
Acclaimed author Joyce Carol Oates, singer-songwriter Ben Arthur, poet and filmmaker Nick Twemlow, award-winning illustrator Roman Muradov, and dancer Sarah Fiske present an inspired series of linked performances, followed by a conversation, led by Kevin Larimer, about the creative process and the roots of inspiration.
Melissa Faliveno, associate editor of Poets & Writers Magazine, leads a conversation with authors Wendy Lesser, Yiyun Li, Alejandro Murguia, D. A. Powell, and Michelle Tea about the personal, political, and professional reasons we choose to write while living in a culture, a family, or a community that doesn’t always value what we do.
David Shields and Caleb Powell, authors of I Think You're Totally Wrong: A Quarrel, reignite the age-old debate about the lives of artists as they attempt to disturb preconceived divisions between reality and fiction, life and art.
The first year of Poets & Writers Live included events in Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, and featured dozens of authors and publishing professionals, including Kay Ryan, Dani Shapiro, Jeff Shotts, Charles D'Ambrosio, Tayari Jones, Danielle Svetcov, Eric Simonoff, Edward Hirsch, Harryette Mullen, Frank Bidart, and many others.
Three writers from the Poets & Writers Live audience read their query letters and receive feedback from editors Jordan Bass of McSweeney's Publishing and Ethan Nosowsky of Graywolf Press, literary agent Danielle Svetcov, and publicist Megan Fishmann of Counterpoint Press.
Publishing veteran Debra Englander gives an overview of the self-publishing process, followed by a conversation with literary agent Ted Weinstein—who represents Keith Devlin, NPR's Math Guy and author of numerous traditionally published books as well as the self-published title Leonardo and Steve: The Young Genius Who Beat Apple to Market by 800 Years—and publicist Amy Packard about the opportunities available to independent authors as well as the challenges they face.
Jamie Asaye FitzGerald, director of Poets & Writers’ Readings & Workshops (West), leads a discussion about resources available to writers in San Francisco, the importance of community, and how various literary communities can support one another. Panelists include Stacey Lewis of City Lights Books, Laura Moriarty of Small Press Distribution, Joyce Jenkins of Poetry Flash, Janis Cooke Newman of the Grotto, and Jason Bayani of Kearny Street Workshop.
