AMITAVA KUMAR is a writer and journalist. He was born in Ara, India, and grew up in the nearby town of Patna, famous for its corruption, crushing poverty, and delicious mangoes. Kumar is the author of the novel Immigrant, Montana, as well as several other books of nonfiction and fiction. He lives in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he is Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair at Vassar College. His latest novel is called A Time Outside This Time.

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Ash Davidson was born in Arcata, California, and attended the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her work has been supported by the Arizona Commission on the Arts and MacDowell. She lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, and her debut novel is called Damnation Spring.

Recommended Reading:

A Bitter Fog by Carol Van Strum

The Last Stand by David Harris

The Return of Faraz Ali by Aamina Ahmad

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Miriam Toews is the author of seven previous bestselling novels, Women Talking, All My Puny Sorrows, Summer of My Amazing Luck, A Boy of Good Breeding, A Complicated Kindness, The Flying Troutmans, and Irma Voth, and one work of nonfiction, Swing Low: A Life. Her latest novel is called Fight Night. She lives in Toronto.

Recommended Reading:

Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife by Sam Savage

Never Any End To Paris by Enrique Vila-Matas

Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann

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Phoebe Robinson is a stand-up comedian, writer, producer, and actress. She’s the cocreator and costar of the hit podcast and series of TV specials 2 Dope Queens. She's also a New York Times bestselling author whose latest essay collection is called Please Don't Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes, and it’s the first book out from Tiny Reparations Books, Phoebe’s new imprint at Dutton/PRH.

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Susan Orlean has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1992. She is the New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including The Library Book, Rin Tin Tin, Saturday Night, and The Orchid Thief, which was made into the Academy Award–winning film Adaptation. She lives with her family and her animals in Los Angeles.

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Dave Eggers is the author of many books, among them The Circle— the companion to The Every— and also The Monk of Mokha, A Hologram for the King, What Is the What, and The Museum of Rain. He is a cofounder of 826 National, a network of youth writing centers, and Voice of Witness, an oral history book series that illuminates the stories of those impacted by human rights crises. 

Recommended Reading:

Mi María: Surviving the Storm edited by Ricia Chansky and Marci Denesiuk

Ivory Shoals by John Brandon

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Melissa Broder is the author of the novels Milk Fed and The Pisces, the essay collection So Sad Today, and four poetry collections, selections from which are included in her new collection Superdoom. She is the winner of a Pushcart Prize for poetry. She lives in Los Angeles. 

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How do you hide a love affair when you’re two big-name Hollywood stars? True love is a new scripted podcast from Wondery that brings you stories of scandal, romance, and drama. In the new season, Abby and Erik are co-stars in a new blockbuster superhero franchise. The last thing either of their careers need is an on-set romance … but they just can’t help themselves. Each season of True Love is passionate, scandalous, and inspired by a real-life love story. This is just a preview, but you can listen to the full episode at wondery.fm/TrueLoveSeason2.

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Nichole Perkins is a writer from Nashville, Tennessee who examines the intersections of pop culture, race, sex, gender, and relationships. She’s a 2017 Audre Lorde Fellow at the inaugural Jack Jones Literary Arts Retreat and a 2017 BuzzFeed Emerging Writers Fellow. Her debut essay collection is called Sometimes I Trip On How Happy We Could Be.

Recommended Reading:

Negotiations by Destiny O. Birdsong

Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires

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Lauren Groff is a two-time National Book Award finalist and The New York Times–bestselling author of three novels, The Monsters of Templeton, Arcadia, and Fates and Furies, and the celebrated short story collections Delicate Edible Birds and Florida. Her latest novel is called Matrix.

Recommended Reading:

Something New Under the Sun by Alexandra Kleeman

Dear Memory by Victoria Chang

How To Wrestle a Girl by Venita Blackburn

Harrow by Joy Williams

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