Poets & Writers Theater

In this virtual reading and conversation, Poets & Writers features editor India Lena González introduces the 2024 cohort of “5 Over 50” debut authors: Suzette Mullen, author of The Only Way Through Is Out (University of Wisconsin Press, 2024); Dorsía Smith Silva, author of In Inheritance of Drowning (CavanKerry Press, 2024); Uchenna Awoke, author of The Liquid Eye of a Moon (Catapult, 2024); Parul Kapur, author of Inside the Mirror (University of Nebraska Press, 2024); and Deborah Jackson Taffa, author of Whiskey Tender (Harper, 2024).

In this episode of the Open Book Broadcast, Suzette Mullen speaks about the publishing process for her debut memoir, The Only Way Through Is Out (University of Wisconsin Press, 2024), and why queer voices and stories matter in a conversation with host Ally Berthiaume. Mullen is featured in “5 Over 50: 2024” in the November/December issue in Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this Columbia Fiction Foundry event, Parul Kapur reads from her debut novel, Inside the Mirror (University of Nebraska Press, 2024), and discusses how the Partition of India in 1947 informed her story, as well as her work in journalism, criticism, and publishing in a conversation with Tania Moore. Kapur is featured in “5 Over 50: 2024” in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this City Lights Live event, Deborah Jackson Taffa reads from and speaks about her debut memoir, Whiskey Tender (Harper, 2024), in a conversation with Dean Rader. Taffa is featured in “5 Over 50: 2024” in the November/December issue in Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this virtual reading and conversation, Poets & Writers editor in chief Kevin Larimer introduces the 2023 cohort of “5 Over 50” debut authors, Alma García, author of All That Rises (University of Arizona Press, 2023); Bernardine “Dine” Watson, author of Transplant (Washington Writers’ Publishing House, 2023); Tommy Archuleta, author of Susto (Center for Literary Publishing, 2023); Chin-Sun Lee, author of Upcountry (Unnamed Press, 2023); and Donna Spruijt-Metz, author of General Release From the Beginning of the World (Parlor Press, 2023).

“When preparing to call the soul back, first ask the Earth for permission to take from her only what will be needed.” In this virtual reading hosted by the Journal of Expressive Writing, Tommy Archuleta reads from his debut poetry collection, Susto (Center for Literary Publishing, 2023), and talks about becoming a published author. Archuleta is featured in “5 Over 50: 2023” in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“My husband and I had a fight today about pictures—I never like the ones of me, and that pisses him off.” In this reading for Orange Blossom Review, Donna Spruijt-Metz reads her poem “To the Death,” which appears in her debut collection, General Release From the Beginning of the World (Parlor Press, 2023). Spruijt-Metz is featured in “5 Over 50: 2023” in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this virtual reading, Poets & Writers editor in chief Kevin Larimer introduces the 2022 cohort of “5 Over 50” debut authors, Sari Botton, author of And You May Find Yourself: Confessions of a Late-Blooming Gen-X Weirdo (Heliotrope Books, 2022); Shareen K. Murayama, author of Housebreak (Bad Betty Press, 2022); Madhushree Ghosh, author of Khabaar: An Immigrant Journey of Food, Memory, and Family (University of Iowa Press, 2022); David Santos Donaldson, author of Greenland (Amistad, 2022); and Jane Campbell, author of Cat Brushing (Grove Atlantic, 2022).

In this event for the House of SpeakEasy’s “Seriously Entertaining” series, David Santos Donaldson celebrates the launch of his debut novel, Greenland (Amistad, 2022), by sharing the story of his reckoning with what it means to be Black in America from the perspective of a native Bahamian and queer artist. Donaldson is featured in “5 Over 50: 2022” in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“In 1993, when I boarded my first international flight, I sat at the window seat watching my country slowly dim into a whiff of clouds in the dark.” In this Warwick’s Books video, Madhushree Ghosh reads from her debut book, Khabaar: An Immigrant Journey of Food, Memory, and Family (University of Iowa Press, 2022), and speaks with author Adrienne Brodeur. Ghosh is featured in “5 Over 50: 2022” in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“My adoption story didn’t come to me in any linear form and that’s always how they kind of want you to write memoir,” says Megan Culhane Galbraith about the hybrid structure of her debut memoir, The Guild of the Infant Saviour: An Adopted Child’s Memory Book (Mad Creek Books/Ohio State University Press, 2021), in this Left Banks Books interview with Rena J. Mosteirin. Galbraith is featured in “5 Over 50: 2021” in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

Vinod Busjeet speaks about emigration versus immigration and how his debut novel, Silent Winds, Dry Seas (Doubleday, 2021), started out as a memoir in this virtual conversation with NYU Washington, DC lecturer Sydney Boyd. Busjeet is featured in “5 Over 50: 2021” in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“I was writing just about the experience of grief and life amidst dying...then I wanted to tell stories that made my parents alive, that brought them back to life and made it clear why this was such a loss.” In this A Word on Words interview, Margaret Renkl talks about her debut essay collection, Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss (Milkweed Editions, 2019), which is featured in “5 Over 50” in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.