A former Fulbright scholar and graduate of Harvard University, Emily Rapp Black is the author of the books The Still Turning Point of the World and Poster Child: A Memoir, in addition to many essays and stories in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Bark, Bellevue Literary Review, The Sun, Body + Soul, StoryQuarterly, Good Housekeeping, The Texas Observer, and other publications. She is the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Writers' Award, a James A. Michener Fellowship at the University of Texas-Austin (Michener Center for Writers), and the Philip Roth Writer-in-Residence fellowship at Bucknell University. She has received awards and grants for her work from the Fine Arts Work Center, the Jentel Arts Foundation, the Corporation of Yaddo, and the Fundacion Valparaiso. She has taught writing in the MFA program at Antioch University-Los Angeles, where she was a core faculty member, the Gotham Writers' Workshop, and UCLA-Extension. She is currently professor of creative writing and literature at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design. She is at work on a novel.
Producer, senior editor, Afropop expert, and author Banning Eyre talks about his new book, Lion Songs, a 15-years-in-the-making biography of Zimbabwe’s legendary musician Thomas Mapfumo.
Author Viet Thanh Nguyen discusses his debut novel, The Sympathizer, new ways of looking at the Vietnam War, and how to blend important ideas with entertainment.
Poet, historian, and philosopher Jennifer Michael Hecht talks about Thomas Aquinas, Robin Williams, and her most recent book, Stay: A History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It.
Novelist LaShonda Katrice Barnett discusses her debut novel, Jam on the Vine, how becoming a historian taught her about plot, Muslims living in Texas in the 19th century, and the Missouri State Penitentiary, also known as “the bloodiest 47 acres in America.”
For writers at the beginning of their journeys, The Writer’s Welcome Kit is a 5-week asynchronous course with 51 lessons and corresponding projects to help you establish your regular writing practice.