Marcia Franklin talks with author Claire Vaye Watkins about the nexus between her life and her books, which include the novel Gold Fame Citrus and the short story collection Battleborn. The two also discuss the myths that surround the American West, and how Watkins has incorporated her anger about them into her works. Watkins, a professor at the University of California at Irvine, was the recipient of the Story Prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship before she was 30.

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Originally Aired: 12/9/2016

The interview is part of Dialogue’s series “Conversations from the Sun Valley Writers' Conference” and was taped at the 2016 conference. Since 1995, the conference has been bringing together some of the world’s most well-known and illuminating authors to discuss literature and life.