This week, we kick off our new exhibit and content initiative American Prophets: Writers, Religion, and Culture with four writers of speculative fiction: N. K. Jemisin, Matthew J. Kirby, Nnedi Okorafor, and Nghi Vo. Moderated by Michi Trota, the panel of authors discuss religion in their writing, the importance of considering socio-spiritual systems when world-building, and how these influence the ways their characters move through the worlds they create.

This conversation originally took place April 22, 2025 and was recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago. We hope you enjoy entering the Mind of a Writer.

American Prophets: Writers, Religion, and Culture opens November 2025 at the American Writers Museum in Chicago. Learn more about the exhibit and upcoming programming schedule here. American Prophets is supported by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative.

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More about the writers:

N. K. JEMISIN is a fantasy author and 2020 MacArthur Fellow whose fiction has been recognized with multiple Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards. Most of her works have been optioned for television or film, and collectively her novels, including the Broken Earth trilogy — The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, and The Stone Sky — have sold over two million copies. Her speculative works range widely in theme, though with repeated motifs: resistance and oppression, loneliness and belonging, and Wouldn’t It Be Cool If This One Ridiculous Thing Happened. In her spare time she’s into tabletop and video games, biking, fanfiction, and urban gardening. She lives and writes in Brooklyn, with her son and two cats.

MATTHEW J. KIRBY is the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of numerous books for young readers, including The Clockwork Three, Icefall, The Lost Kingdom, the Dark Gravity Sequence, the Assassin’s Creed series Last Descendants, A Taste for Monsters, and Star Splitter. He has also written adult titles for the Assassin’s Creed and Diablo video game franchises. He has won the Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery, the PEN Center USA award for Children’s Literature, and the Judy Lopez Memorial Award.

NNEDI OKORAFOR is the author of multiple award-winning and New York Times bestsellers, including Death of the Author, the Binti trilogy, Who Fears Death, and Lagoon, currently in development at Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment. She has won every major prize in speculative fiction, including the World Fantasy, Nebula, and Eisner Awards; multiple Hugo Awards; and the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa. Born in Cincinnati to Igbo Nigerian immigrant parents, she now resides in Phoenix, Arizona, with her daughter, Anyaugo.

NGHI VO is the author of the novels Siren Queen and The Chosen and the Beautiful, as well as the acclaimed novellas of the Singing Hills Cycle, which began with The Empress of Salt and Fortune. The series entries have been finalists for the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and the Lambda Literary Award, and have won the Crawford Award, the I...

This week, we discuss McSweeney’s new quarterly issue: McSweeney’s 78: The Make Believers, featuring writers of the Vietnamese diaspora. We are joined by contributors and guest editors of the issue, Thi Bui and Vu Tran, as well as McSweeney’s Quarterly Editor Rita Bullwinkel. You can learn more about their work in the episode description below.

During the episode, Thi, Vu, and Rita mention upcoming events in celebration of this issue. You can learn more about these special events at the links below. We hope to see you at one of these!

Asian Art Museum | San Francisco | May 1 | 3:45 pm Natasha Reichle, Associate Curator of Southeast Asian Art, leads a special curator's choice discussion with McSweeney’s 78: The Make Believers co-guest editor Vu Tran and contributing author Doan Bui.

Tenderloin Museum | San Francisco | May 1 | 6:00 pm A block party in the heart of Little Saigon. Readings by Vu Tran and Doan Bui, plus a DJ set by Topazu.

University of Chicago | Chicago | May 15 | 5:00 pm Co-editors Vu Tran and Thi Bui will be joined by fellow contributor Isabelle Pelaud for a reading and celebration of the issue's publication.

This conversation originally took place April 7, 2025 and was recorded via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the Mind of a Writer.

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More about The Make Believers:

In McSweeney’s 78: The Make Believers (guest edited by Thi Bui and Vu Tran), ten writers of the Vietnamese diaspora write from the eclectic hodgepodge that is their shared imagination of what it means to be "Vietnamese." Packaged in a beautiful foil-stamped cigar box (with art by Bui on each and every surface), and including two booklets, one menu, and a glossary of broken Vietnamese, the work in this issue spans from highbrow to lowbrow, proper to naughty, logical to absurd, and painful to funny. Published on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, its contributors work across perspectives and multiple languages. In this completely singular, nothing-else-of-its-kind anthology, these artists write (and illustrate!) from a place of collective loss and joy.

Featuring work by: Doan Bui, Thi Bui, H'Rina DeTroy, Anna Moï, Hoài Huong Nguyen, Vaan Nguyen, Isabelle Thuy Pelaud, Bao Phi, Paul Tran, and Vu Tran. Order your copy of McSweeney's 78: The Make Believers here.

About our guests:

THI BUI is a writer and artist from Viet Nam, California, and New York, now planting roots in New Orleans. Best known for her graphic memoir, The Best We Could Do, she has also been a longtime educator in public high schools, a professor of comics, an organizer and artist-activist, an ambivalent sculptor and puppeteer, and a fledgling screenwriter. She received a Caldecott Honor as the illustrator of her first children’s book, A Different Pond, by Bao Phi.

VU TRAN is the author of Dragonfish and a forthcoming novel, Your Origins. His other writing has appeared in publications like The O. Henry Prize Stories 2007:...

This week, author Sash Bischoff discusses her hit debut novel Sweet Fury, a twisty, thought-provoking novel in conversation with the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Bischoff is interviewed by author Kathleen Rooney. This conversation originally took place February 12, 2025 and was recorded live at the American Writers Museum.

We hope you enjoy entering the Mind of a Writer.

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About Sweet Fury:

When a beloved actress is cast in a feminist adaptation of a Fitzgerald classic, she finds herself the victim in a deadly game of revenge in which everyone, on screen and off, is playing a part.

"Cunningly ambitious, twisty, and immersive, it seduces you into a story so compelling that you aren’t ready for the sucker-punch of its deeper truths. This is a hell of a debut." —Rebecca Makkai

Lila Crayne is America’s sweetheart: she’s generous and kind, gorgeous and magnetic. She and her fiancé, visionary filmmaker Kurt Royall, have settled into a stunning new West Village apartment and are set to begin filming their feminist adaptation of Fitzgerald’s Tender Is the Night.

To prepare for the leading role, Lila begins working with charming and accomplished therapist Jonah Gabriel to dig into the trauma of her past. Soon, Lila’s impeccably manicured life begins to unravel on the therapy couch—and Jonah is just the man to pick up the pieces. But everyone has a secret, and no one is quite who they seem.

A twisty, thought-provoking novel of construction and deconstruction in conversation with the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald and told through the lens of the film industry, Sweet Fury is an incisive and bold critique of America’s deep-rooted misogyny. With this novel, Bischoff examines the narratives we tell ourselves, and what happens when we co-opt others into those stories; and she probes the blurred lines between victim and perpetrator and the true meaning of justice.

SASH BISCHOFF is a writer and theater director. She has written plays that have been developed at theaters throughout the US. As a director, she has worked on Broadway and off. Broadway/National Tours include Dear Evan Hansen, The Visit, On the Town, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Shrek. Sash grew up as an actor and won the National Arts Award (NFAA) for Acting. She currently lives in New York with her husband and their many pets. Sweet Fury is her first novel.

KATHLEEN ROONEY is a founding editor of Rose Metal Press, a nonprofit publisher of literary work in hybrid genres, as well as a founding member of Poems While You Wait, a collective of poets and their vintage typewriters who compose poetry on demand. Her most recent books include the novels Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk and Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey. Her poetry collection Where Are the Snows won the 2021 X. J. Kennedy Prize and was published by Texas Review Press in fall of 2022. She is a winner of the Ruth Lilly Prize from Poetry magazine and the Adam Morgan Literary Citizen Award from the Chicago Review of Books, and her criticism appears in the New York Times, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Brooklyn Rail, Chicago magazine, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere. She lives in Chicago with her spouse, the writer Martin Seay, and teaches English and creative writing at DePaul University.

This week, poets CM Burroughs and Adrian Matejka discuss the groundbreaking legacy of poet Melvin Dixon, who "wrote extensively about the complexities of being a gay Black man" (Poetry Foundation). Presented by the Poetry Foundation. This conversation originally took place May 19, 2024 and was recorded live at the American Writers Festival.

We hope you enjoy entering the Mind of a Writer.

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About the writers:

CM BURROUGHS is Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Columbia College Chicago and author of The Vital System and Master Suffering, which was longlisted for the National Book Award, Lambda Book Award, and the LA Times Book Award. Burroughs’ poetry has appeared in journals and anthologies including Poetry, Ploughshares, Cave Canem’s Gathering Ground, and Best American Experimental Writing.

ADRIAN MATEJKA is the author of five collections of poetry, most recently Somebody Else Sold the World (Penguin, 2021), which was a finalist for the UNT 2022 Rilke Prize and the 2022 Indiana Authors Award. His first graphic novel Last On His Feet: Jack Johnson and the Battle of the Century was published by Liveright in 2023. He serves as Editor of Poetry magazine.

From the Poetry Foundation: Scholar, novelist, and poet MELVIN DIXON was born in Stamford, Connecticut. He earned a BA from Wesleyan University and an MA and a PhD from Brown University. Dixon wrote the poetry collections Change of Territory (1983) and Love’s Instruments (1995, published posthumously) and two novels, Trouble the Water (1989), winner of a Nilon Award for Excellence in Minority Fiction, and Vanishing Rooms (1991). Influenced by James Baldwin, Dixon wrote extensively about the complexities of being a gay black man. Speaking on this topic at a speech to the Third National Lesbian and Gay Writers Conference, Dixon said, "As white gays deny multiculturalism among gays, so too do black communities deny multisexualism among their members. Against this double cremation, we must leave the legacy of our writing and our perspectives on gay and straight experiences." Dixon produced scholarship on and translated writing by several African American writers, including Leopold Sedar Senghor, Geneviève Fabre, and Jacques Roumain. Dixon was the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and he taught at Wesleyan University, the City University of New York, Fordham University, Columbia University, and Williams College. He died from complications related to AIDS at age 42.

This week, writers from around the world discuss their journeys, finding community in creativity, and making a home in Chicago. Featuring multidisciplinary writers Nestor Gomez, Lani T. Montreal, and Ugochi Nwaogwugwu; moderated by Jane Hseu. Presented by the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame.

This conversation originally took place May 19, 2024 and was recorded live at the American Writers Festival. We hope you enjoy entering the Mind of a Writer.

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About the writers:

NESTOR "THE BOSS" GOMEZ traveled from Guatemala to Chicago with his family in the mid 80s. He was 15 years old, stuttered, didn’t know the English language and was undocumented. He didn’t have a voice. Today, he is an American citizen, speaks English with a sexy latinx accent and has become a storyteller. He has won the Moth slam more than 80 times. He is also the creator of 80 Minutes Around the World, a storytelling show that features the stories of immigrants, refugees, their descendants and allies.

LANI T. MONTREAL writes to create her home in the diaspora. She is a queer feminist Filipina writer/educator/performer/activist based in Chicago. Her poems and essays have been anthologized in journals and books, and her plays, produced in the Philippines, Canada, and the U.S. She is CIRCA Pintig’s resident playwright and a Chicago Dramatist Network Playwright. She is a two-time recipient of 3Arts Residency Awards, a 2017 VONA Writers of Color Workshop alumni, a 2017 Free Street Theatre Resident Artist, and a 2024 Links Hall Co-MISSION Fellow. She teaches writing at Malcolm X College.

UGOCHI NWAOGWUGWU is a multidisciplinary creative. Her poems have been published in Storm Between Two Fingers & Too Young, Too Loud, Too Different, both international anthologies released in the UK. Golden Shovel Anthology, honoring Gwendolyn Brooks, The Eternal Year of African People, and Wherever I’m At released nationwide. Not My President published by Third World Press in 2017. Her first book of poetry & prose entitled Seasons of Separation, in 2023. Ugochi also created an original pan African poetry form called, “Ike,” (pronounced EE-kay) #Ikepoem, paying homage to her Igbo heritage of Nigeria and fostering black appreciation worldwide.

JANE HSEU is Professor of English at Dominican University. She specializes in teaching/researching Asian American and Latinx literatures and writing creative nonfiction. In addition to academic essays, she has published personal essays on funky Chinese American names, growing up in her mother’s Shiseido cosmetics store, and mental health, literature, and community. Jane enjoys being in creative community, especially being an organizer for Banyan: Asian American Writers Collective and telling stories in Ada Cheng’s storytelling productions. She is currently working on a memoir about how her journey with mental health necessitates coming to terms with a family history of mental illness.

This week, two acclaimed children’s book authors discuss the state of children’s literature today.

This program originally took place May 19th, 2025 and was recorded live at the American Writers Festival.

We hope you enjoy entering the Mind of a Writer.

This week, award winning writer and scholar Eve L. Ewing discusses her new book Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism. She is interviewed by AWM President Carey Cranston.

This program originally took place February 10th, 2025 and was recorded live at the American Writers Museum.

We hope you enjoy entering the Mind of a Writer.

This week, in celebration of Valentine’s Day, three of America’s leading romance writers—Xio Axelrod, Swan Huntley, and Claire Legrand—talk about how they write love stories and the love stories that inspired them. Moderated by author Pamala Knight.

This conversation originally took place May 19, 2024 and was recorded live at the American Writers Festival. We hope you enjoy entering the Mind of a Writer.

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Books by these authors:

A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand — A lush, sweeping, steamy, forbidden romance series starter that’s perfect for fans of Bridgerton and A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Girls with Bad Reputations by Xio Axelrod — All her life, Kayla heard the same refrain: Don’t be so loud. Don’t act so wild. Don’t take up so much space. Now she’s the beating heart of an up-and-coming rock band...and the whole world is going to know her name.

I Want You More by Swan Huntley — A ghostwriting gig in the Hamptons becomes far more than a job in this sexy, atmospheric, and deliciously tense story.

About the writers:

XIO AXELROD [she/her] is a USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary fiction and romance. Growing up in the music industry, Xio began her recording career at a young age. Her experiences bring a lyrical quality to her writing and vibrancy to her characters, offering a unique perspective that adds depth and authenticity to the worlds she creates.

SWAN HUNTLEY’S novels include I Want You More, Getting Clean with Stevie Green, The Goddesses, and We Could Be Beautiful. She’s also the writer/illustrator of the darkly humorous The Bad Mood Book and You’re Grounded: An Anti-Self-Help Book to Calm You the F*ck Down. Swan earned an MFA at Columbia University and has received fellowships from MacDowell and Yaddo. She lives in Los Angeles.

PAMALA KNIGHT writes historical paranormal, regency romance and mystery. She’s a member of the Regency Fiction Writers, Hearts through History and the Chicago-North Romance Writers where she’s a past president and programs chair. She’s the current co-chair of the biennial conference, Spring Fling.

CLAIRE LEGRAND used to be a musician until she realized she couldn’t stop thinking about the stories in her head. Now she is the New York Times bestselling author of twelve novels, most notably A Crown of Ivy and Glass and the Empirium Trilogy, as well as The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, the Edgar Award-nominated Some Kind of Happiness, and Sawkill Girls, which was nominated for both a Bram Stoker Award and a Lambda Literary Award. She is also one of the four authors behind The Cabinet of Curiosities, a critically acclaimed anthology of short stories for young readers. Her next book, A Song of Ash and Moonlight, came out in September 2024. When not writing, Claire enjoys tending to her many plants, learning about fashion and interior design, rooting for the Phillies, and quoting Star Trek to anyone who will listen.