writers on writing

Garrard Conley is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir, “Boy Erased.” His debut novel, “All the World Beside,” is the story of two men in love caught between the demands of their families and societal pressures. Conley has coined it “The Queer Scarlet Letter.”

Could you forgive a person who committed a crime? Could you forgive an attempted murderer? Would you trust an overworked legal system to decide your fate? Who decides if someone gets to have a clean slate, and when? These are the questions at the heart of the newest novel, "Days of Wonder," by Caroline Leavitt, the bestselling author of "Cruel Beautiful World," "With or Without You," and "Pictures of You."

Writing as Lemony Snicket, Daniel Handler has led several generations of young readers into that special and curious space of being hopelessly lost, and joyfully finding yourself, in the essential strangeness of literature. His latest, "And Then? And Then? What Else?" is a book not just for anyone curious about the creator of Lemony Snicket, but for anyone who loved books when they were a child, and still loves them now.

Poet Kaveh Akbar joins us to discuss his first novel “Martyr!” which follows Cyrus Shams on a journey of introspection and discovery. Cyrus is a drunk, an addict, and a poet. His obsession with martyrs and dealing with the death of his mother drives him to examine the mysteries of his past.

The winner of the Booker Prize 2023, “Prophet Song” by Paul Lynch, presents a terrifying and shocking vision of a country sliding into authoritarianism and a deeply human portrait of a mother’s fight to hold her family together.

“Elegy plus comedy is the only way to express how we live in the world today,” says a character in “The Vulnerables,” the ninth novel by National Book Award winner Sigrid Nunez. “The Vulnerables” offers a meditation on our contemporary era, asking how present reality affects the way a person looks back on their past.

Ayana Mathis’s new novel, “The Unsettled,” is set in the 1980s and follows three generations of a family divided by a painful past. Ava lives in racially and politically turbulent Philadelphia, struggling to care for her son, Toussaint. Her mother, Dutchess, remains in her historically Black hometown of Bonaparte, Alabama, fighting to save her land.

Lydia Davis knows that the small details that make up a life are fascinating. It’s a matter of perspective.In "Our Strangers," Davis’ seventh collection of fiction, peoples’ lives intersect for brief moments on trains, in restaurants, and as neighbors. Conversations are overheard and misheard; a special delivery letter is mistaken for a rare white butterfly; toddlers learning to speak identify a ping pong ball as an egg; mumbled remarks become a series of moments of annoyance in a marriage.

The third annual Saratoga Book Festival will take place October 12th -15th, bringing together more than 60 authors from near and far for a celebration of reading.To tell us all about it we welcome festival founder and co-chair, Ellen Beal.

Ruta Sepetys is known for creating vivid characters and harrowing plots. After five award-winning works of historical fiction and countless hours of meticulous research, she can affirm that the secret to strong writing is embedded within your life experience."You: The Story" is a powerful how-to book for aspiring writers that encourages you to look inward and excavate your own memories in order to discover the authentic voices and compelling details that are waiting to be put on the page.