National Book Award Finalist Amber McBride spoke with me about finding her authentic voice, getting yelled at by kids, near-death experiences and the story behind her latest novel-in-verse THE LEAVING ROOM.

Amber McBride is an award-winning author, poet, and former assistant professor of poetry, writing, and protest literature. Her debut young adult novel, Me (Moth) was a finalist for the National Book Award, 2021 and won the 2022 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent, among many other accolades.

Her latest YA novel-in-verse is The Leaving Room, also a 2025 National Book Awards Finalist.

“Told from the perspective of a girl hovering between life and death, The Leaving Room is a poignant story about connection, grief, love, and the power of memories.”

Amber McBride’s middle-grade debut, Gone Wolf, won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She holds an MFA in poetry from Emerson College, and her poetry has been published in Ploughshares, The Rumpus, DecomP Magazine, Provincetown Arts, and more.

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In this file Amber McBride and I discussed:

Overcoming hundreds of rejections early on

Finally quitting her assistant professorship to write full time

How the loss of her grandfather changed her writing

Why anything beyond publishing is icing on the cake

How she creates an entire world with a quarter of the words

Writing while the world sleeps

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

amber-mcbride.com 

76th National Book Awards - Young People's Literature - Finalists

The Leaving Room by Amber McBride (Amazon)

Amber McBride Amazon Author Page

Amber McBride on Threads

Amber McBride on TikTok

Amber McBride on Instagram

Kelton Reid on Twitter

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