The Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau is proud to be a Literary Partner of the 2018 AWP Conference in Tampa, Florida.
In addition to showcasing some of today’s brightest literary voices at our booth, we’ll be hosting a very special event: our speakers Nathan Englander and Lauren Groff will be joining Tampa Bay Times book editor Colette Bancroft to read and discuss their craft. Join us on Friday, March 9th, from 3:00pm – 4:15pm in Ballroom C of the Tampa Convention Center, First Floor for this exciting and engaging event.
During the conference, stop by booth #1008 in the bookfair to find out more about the Speakers Bureau and how you can book one of our literary speakers for your next event. We hope to see you there!
In addition to those on our panel, we encourage you to see some of our other luminous speakers at readings and events throughout the conference.
Our Featured Panel
Nathan Englander and Lauren Groff: A Reading and Conversation
3:00pm – 4:15pm, Friday, March 9th
Ballroom C of the Tampa Convention Center, First Floor
Learn more on the AWP website.
Nathan Englander
Finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in fiction and author of Dinner at the Center of the Earth and kaddish.com
Set in the heart of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Nathan Englander’s Dinner at the Center of the Earth was dubbed “a work of psychological precision and moral force” by Colson Whitehead. In addition to his novels, Englander has published two story collections: For the Relief of Unbearable Urges, a PEN/Malamud Award winner, and What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, a Pulitzer Prize finalist.
Lauren Groff
National Book Award finalist and bestselling author of Fates and Furies and Matrix
Lauren Groff is the award-winning author of the celebrated story collection Delicate Edible Birds and three novels: The Monsters of Templeton, Arcadia, and Fates and Furies, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. Groff is a captivating and thoughtful speaker who loves connecting with audiences when discussing her bestselling works. Her anticipated short story collection, Florida, will be published in June 2018.
Our Speakers at AWP 2018
Mambo in Chinatown - Jean Kwok
Thu 3/8, 9:00am – 10:15am: Defeating Writer’s Block: Techniques for Breaking Through
Fri 3/9, 3:00pm – 4:15pm: If Only I’d Known: Advice for Navigating the Publishing World
With or Without You - Domenica Ruta
Thu 3/8, 10:30am – 11:45am: Out of Our Head and Into the World: Writers on Live Performance
The Book of Joan - Lidia Yuknavitch
Thu 3/8, 10:30am – 11:45am: The Historical Women: Reimagining Past Narratives Through the Contemporary Female Perspective
Sat 3/10, 4:30pm – 5:45pm: Not an Island: The Place of Literary Citizenship in the Writer’s Life
Boy Erased - Garrard Conley
Thu 3/8, 1:30-2:45pm: Faith, Fervor, and Fundamentalism: How Writers Are Impacted by Their Religious Beliefs
Claire of the Sea Light - Edwidge Danticat
Thu 3/8, 3:00pm – 4:15pm: The Arts of Death, Mystery, and Perspective: Edwidge Danticat, Maud Casey, and Christopher Castellani, Sponsored by Graywolf Press
Get in Trouble - Kelly Link
Thu 3/8, 4:30pm – 5:45pm: Stranger and Truthier Than Truth: Fiction in the Age of Trump
Fri 3/9, 11:00am – 11:30am: Book signing
Sat 3/10, 1:30pm – 2:45pm: Monster Cultures
Crazy Like a Fox - Rita Mae Brown
Thu 3/8, 4:30pm – 5:45pm: A Reading and Conversation with Rita Mae Brown, Cherríe Moraga, and Chloe Schwenke, Sponsored by Red Hen Press
Fri 3/9, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm: Book signing
Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self - Danielle Evans
Thu 3/8, 4:30pm – 5:45pm: Our Brilliant Friends: Women, Friendship, and Art
Fri 3/9, 10:30am – 11:45am: Beyond “Add one and stir”: Negotiating Race, Gender, and Class as Female Faculty of Color
Pioneer Girl - Bich Minh Nguyen
Fri 3/9, 12:00pm – 1:15pm: Workshops that Work, Workshops that Matter
Sat 3/10, 12:00pm – 1:15pm: Walking Across the Hall—The Writer in the Literature Classroom
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley - Hannah Tinti
Fri 3/9, 1:30pm – 12:45pm: Failure: The Taboo Element of Craft
Sat 3/10, 12:00pm – 1:15pm: The Worst Writing Advice I Ever Got
A Question of Freedom - Reginald Dwayne Betts
Fri 3/9, 4:30pm – 5:45pm: Redemption in the Pen: Insights from the Journeys of Formerly Incarcerated Writers
Sat 3/10, 10:30am – 11:45am: The Life and Work of Lucille Clifton
The Destiny Thief - Richard Russo
Sat 3/10, 8:30pm – 10:00pm: A Reading & Conversation with Lesley Nneka Arimah and Carmen Maria Machado, Moderated by Richard Russo and Sponsored by The Authors Guild
The Boat Rocker - Ha Jin
Sat 3/10, 3:00pm – 4:15pm: Can Poetry Hold the Center? Sponsored by Copper Canyon Press