The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet discusses her new memoir, a gorgeous kaleidoscope of self and family that explores the meaning of home against a complex backdrop of race, religion, and unbreakable bonds. With lyrical precision and tender intelligence, Smith delves into the life and death of her mother. Smith struggles to understand her mother’s steadfast Christian faith, ultimately discovering her own prayer-like solace in poetry. Lynell George, whose own body of work includes reflections about place, family, and her mother, leads an intimate conversation with Smith about the extraordinary journey of a daughter.

The masterful poet and essayist shares her latest two works—Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World, a dazzling collection of essays on poetry, and The Beauty, her newest book of poems—for a close look at poetry’s power to expand our perception of the perimeters of existence. Join Hirshfield as she walks us through many wonderful poems, examining how they work by tuning our attention, renovating language, and unfastening the mind.

Inspired by the author’s years living in Mexico and ten years of field research, this transporting, the visceral novel tells the story of young women in rural Guerrero who live in the shadows of the drug war. The poetic narrative of the heroine Lady disguised by her mother as a boy for protection from the vicious cartels—shows great resilience and resolve as a young woman caught in a real-life nightmare. This fictionalized work by award-winning author and the former President of PEN Mexico ensures that the most vulnerable voices cannot be silenced at a time when fiction never seemed truer to fact than the present.

Co-presented with LéaLA, Feria del Libro en Español de Los Ángeles.

Our second annual gathering unites students from five Southland graduate writing programs—CalArts, Otis College, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and USC—to share recent work and tune our ears to the future of the language. What are the ideas, forms, questions, syntaxes, images, and narratives of our immediate future? Who better as our compass in the wilds of the now than emerging writers?

Featuring Sydney Barile, Justin Evans, Amanda Foushee, Melissa Gutierrez, Michael Mitchell, Nicole Olweean, Niela Orr, Sean Pessin, Julian Smith-Newman, and Paula Tang.

Stiglitz, winner of the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize for Economics, has time and time again offered a singular voice of reason to diagnose America’s greatest economic challenges. In his provocative new book, the bestselling author makes an urgent case for Americans to solve inequality now. Veteran journalist Jim Newton engages Stiglitz in conversation, probing for answers to the greatest threat to American prosperity—the yawning gap between the rich and the poor.

Stiglitz, winner of the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize for Economics, has time and time again offered a singular voice of reason to diagnose America’s greatest economic challenges. In his provocative new book, the bestselling author makes an urgent case for Americans to solve inequality now. Veteran journalist Jim Newton engages Stiglitz in conversation, probing for answers to the greatest threat to American prosperity—the yawning gap between the rich and the poor.

Espíritu Rebelde: Letras de Poder y ProtestaAna Tijoux en conversación con la poeta y traductora Jen HoferPresentado en conjunto con la Asociación Filarmónica de Los ÁngelesAlzando su voz por los derechos de las mujeres, la reforma migratoria, el activismo ambiental y demás, la cantante nominada al GRAMMY, Ana Tijoux, ha transformado el escenario mundial con sus versos cargados de fuerza política. Las composiciones de Tijoux, sin límites geográficos o de género musical, reflejan las influencias literarias de su juventud y las ricas tradiciones musicales de su Chile natal. De Eduardo Galeano a Violeta Parra, escucha –mediante conversación y canto- las inspiraciones que impulsan su espíritu rebelde.Co-presented with the Los Angeles Philharmonic AssociationRebel Spirit: Lyrics of Power and ProtestRaising her voice for women’s rights, immigration reform, environmental activism, and more, GRAMMY-nominated musician Ana Tijoux has transformed the global stage with her politically powered verses. Unbounded by geography and genre, Tijoux’s songwriting reflects the literary influences of her youth and the rich musical traditions of her native Chile. From Eduardo Galeano to Violeta Parra, hear—through conversation and song—the inspirations that fuel her rebel spirit.

The veteran journalist and critically acclaimed author of The Lemon Tree brings us another true story of hope in the Palestinian-Israeli impasse. His newest book, Children of the Stone, chronicles a young violist—Ramzi Hussein Aburedwan—who escapes a Palestinian refugee camp and later returns to fulfill his dream: establishing a music school with the help of Israeli musicians including Daniel Barenboim, director of the Berlin State Opera and La Scala. Join Tolan for a moving conversation about how a love of music transforms and empowers lives in a war-torn land.

A veteran of twenty years of human rights research and activism and recent recipient of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Bennoune offers an eye-opening chronicle of peaceful resistance to extremism in her recent book. Scouring the globe for stories of heroic individuals—artists, doctors, lawyers, and educators— who challenge stereotypes of Islamist fundamentalism, Bennoune shares these vivid portraits that offer an uplifting look at our best hopes for ending fundamentalist oppression worldwide.

In his first collection in nine years, McGuane confirms his status as a modern master of Big Sky country. With a comic genius that recalls Mark Twain, and his own beautiful way with words, McGuane, The Bushwacked Piano, Gallatin Canyon, Ninety-two in the Shade, offers a jubilant and thunderous new batch of stories about life’s complicated nature from the wilds of Montana. Join us for a reading and conversation with one of America’s most deeply admired storytellers.