Literature

James Ellroy

Acclaimed author of The Black Dahlia, L.A. Confidential, American Tabloid, Perfidia, and This Storm

Through crime fiction, we can see the bright truth in our dark secrets.

Margaret Atwood

Two-time Booker Prize-Winning Author of over 50 Books, Including The Handmaid’s Tale and its Recordbreaking Sequel,The Testaments

A master of speculative fiction proves that literature can show us our future—if we look.

Isabel Allende

Legendary writer and cultural icon | Author of The House of the Spirits

Write what should not be forgotten.

Teju Cole

Professor of Creative Writing at Harvard | Author of Open City and Tremor | Former Photography Critic for NYT Magazine

This is a time for protest and activism, but it is also a time for subtlety, ambiguity and complexity.

Stephen Marche

Author of first AI-generated novella, Death of an Author | Writer on AI for New Yorker, The Atlantic

ChatGPT is blurring the line between human and machine—which means uniquely human creativity is more important now than ever before.

John Kaag

Chair of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts, Lowell | Award-winning author of Sick Souls, Healthy Minds

It takes conscious, consistent, and creative effort to make a life worth living.

Angie Thomas

#1 New York Times bestselling author of Concrete Rose and The Hate U Give

Young Black people need stories about how their dreams, voices, and lives matter. How do we tell those stories?

Gabby Rivera

Author of Juliet Takes a Breath and the Marvel comic series America

Living a revolutionary life starts with joy.

Patti Smith

Punk rock legend in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame | Author of Just Kids and Year of the Monkey | Winner of the National Book Award

The idea of redemption is always good news, even if it means sacrifice or some difficult times.

Chuck Klosterman

Renowned Cultural Critic | Author of Ten Books, Including Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs

The goal of being alive is to figure out what it means to be alive.

Clint Smith

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author of How the Word Is Passed and Above Ground | Atlantic Staff Writer

The legacy of slavery still shapes our cities, roads, and stories today. Understanding our history will help us make sense of our world—and fight for a better one.

Suki Kim

New York Times bestselling author of Without You, There Is No Us, Expert on North Korea

What can we learn from totalitarian regimes? And how can we connect with their human victims?

Sir Salman Rushdie

One of the most celebrated writers of our time

What one writer can make in the solitude of one room is something no power can easily destroy.

Kwame Anthony Appiah

One of America's leading public intellectuals | President of the American Academy of Arts & Letters

Honor and shame can be used to change the world for the better.

Lavin’s literature speakers — legends and next-wave authors alike — can conjure entire worlds with just language and imagination. But for all their skill on the page, each, importantly, is also an enlivening public speaker.