Speakers

Joyce Carol Oates, born in 1938 in Lockport, New York, is a writer, essayist, and academic. The author of an extensive body of work including novels, short stories, essays, and poetry, she has published titles such as Them (National Book Award, 1970), Blonde, We Were the Mulvaneys and The Falls.

Katie Kitamura, born in 1979 in Sacramento, California, is a writer and academic. She debuted with the novel The Longshot (2009), followed by Gone to the Forest and A Separation (2017), a finalist for the Folio Prize.

Olivier Guez, born in Strasbourg in 1974, is a French writer and journalist. He has contributed to Le Monde, The New York Times, and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He is the author of La scomparsa di Josef Mengele, winner of the Prix Renaudot.

Ira Sachs, born in Memphis in 1965, is an American film director and screenwriter. His independent films include Forty Shades of Blue, Love Is Strange, Little Men, and Passages.

Colum McCann, born in Dublin in 1965, is a writer and journalist. He has published novels and short stories including This Side of Brightness, Dancer, Zoli, and Let the Great World Spin, winner of the National Book Award.

Stuart Klawans is an American film critic and essayist. He was a long-time contributor to The Nation and writes for publications such as The New York Times, Film Comment, and Sight & Sound.

Brian Selznick, born in 1966, is an American writer and illustrator. After debuting with The Houdini Box (1991), he gained widespread success with La straordinaria invenzione di Hugo Cabret (2007), winner of the Caldecott Medal and adapted into a film by Martin Scorsese.

Nicholas Boggs, born in 1973 in Washington, D.C., is a writer, critic, and academic. In 2018, he co-edited the reissue of James Baldwin’s Little Man, Little Man and in 2025 published Baldwin: A Love Story, a biography that was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize.

A. M. Homes, born in 1961, is an American writer and screenwriter. She debuted at the age of 19 with the novel Jack (1989), followed by In a Country of Mothers, The End of Alice, Music for Torching, This Book Will Save Your Life, and May We Be Forgiven, winner of the 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Benjamin Taylor, born in 1952, is an American writer, critic, and university professor. He debuted with the novel Tales Out of School (1995), followed by The Book of Getting Even (2008).