Inside the Writers House

Inside the Writers House" invites you into the homes, offices, and writing rooms of acclaimed authors, providing an inside eye on their working life and a level of intimacy often lacking in more formal settings. An obvious reference to the televised Actor's Studio seminar, "Writers House" interviews are likewise craft focused, but strive for an earthy spontaneity unencumbered by prepared queries and index card cues. Visits are conversational and plastic, largely molded by (and dependent on) audience questions. In addition to the conversation, most visits include short readings, writing prompts, show-and-tell sessions, and house/apt tours. Chances are you'll meet their pets (and look inside their refrigerators).

In the last eight years, students have visited with almost 200 authors in dozens of different cities. Internationally, they've talked with Eoin Colfer in Dublin, Mariana Enriquez in Buenos Aires, Yewande Omotoso in Johannesburg, Garth Greenwell in Sofia, Karin Tidbeck in Stockholm, Kevin Barry in Sligo, and Daisy Johnson in Oxford. Stateside, they've talked with Maurice Ruffin in New Orleans, Karen Russell in Portland, Chigozie Obioma in Lincoln, Tommy Orange in Oakland, Susan Orlean in Los Angeles, Tom Perrotta in Belmont, Jeff VanderMeer in Tallahassee, and Eowyn Ivey in Palmer, Alaska (as well as more local, across-the-river luminaries like Jennifer Egan, Victor LaValle, Lev Grossman, and André Aciman).