Nation of Writers cover art

Nation of Writers

Nation of Writers

By: The American Writers Museum
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 A new series presented in conjunction with our forthcoming virtual exhibit American Voices. Throughout this monthly series we will talk with experts around the country about the writers that have shaped our nation with their words and you'll get the inside scoop about these writers and their processes© 2021 The American Writers Museum Art
Episodes
  • Episode 55: Gertrude Stein

    Episode 55: Gertrude Stein
    Oct 6 2025
    In this episode, we discuss the life and legacy of Gertrude Stein. A poet, novelist, and essayist, Stein was a towering literary figure in her time. She moved to Paris in 1902 with her partner Alice B. Toklas, where they would spend the remainder of their lives. Together they held regular salons in their apartment that became the stuff of legend, hosting the likes of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, and more. Stein’s fame as a mentor to other writers often obscures her own accomplishments. Her writing was experimental, both in language and in form. She [...]
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    49 mins
  • Episode 54: James Weldon Johnson

    Episode 54: James Weldon Johnson
    Aug 29 2025
    In this episode, we discuss the life and legacy of James Weldon Johnson. A leader of the Harlem Renaissance, he wrote fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. He also wrote lyrics for many songs, including “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” popularly regarded as the Black National Anthem. Johnson raised public awareness of lynching and fought Jim Crow laws through his activist work with the NAACP, of which he was President during the 1920s. He was also a lawyer, diplomat, newspaperman, opera libretto translator, and creative literature professor at Fisk University. Johnson celebrated the artistry and diversity of African-American culture—most of it overlooked, [...]
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    41 mins
  • Episode 53: Nguyễn Quí Đức

    Episode 53: Nguyễn Quí Đức
    Jun 6 2025
    In this episode, we discuss the life and legacy of Nguyễn Quí Đức. Born in Da Lat, Vietnam in 1958, Đức arrived in the United States at 17 as a refugee of the Vietnam War. He would go on to become a journalist, translator, writer, and radio producer, working for the BBC in London, KALW-FM in San Francisco, and for NPR. He was the host of Pacific Time, KQED-FM Public Radio’s national program on Asian and Asian American life. In addition to his journalistic work, Đức also published the hugely influential family memoir Where the Ashes Are: The Odyssey of [...]
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    53 mins
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