Crossing Borders in Life and in Literature

A conversation with the fiction writers Said Sayrafiezadeh, Akhil Sharma, and Deborah Treisman about immigration, cultural identity, and finding oneself in different places, in life and in literature.  

The theme of the evening is “Confusion.” Join us for a night of storytelling as Stranger’s Guide writers each share tales from their own travels, and times when they discovered that they’d completely misunderstood the world around them. We anticipate a lively night of wit and humor.

Followed by cocktails and conversation at Dorlan’s Tavern around the corner at 213 Front St.

Deutsches Haus at NYU presents readings by acclaimed authors Sasha Marianna Salzmann (currently the Max Kade writer-in-residence at Deutsches Haus at NYU) and Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, from their latest works, followed by a conversation – with a thematic focus on writing in times of turmoil and war – with Ulrich Baer (NYU).

House of SpeakEasy’s flagship program, “Seriously Entertaining,” is an acclaimed series of literary cabarets where authors take the stage to riff and ruminate informally, dinner-theater-style, on the evening’s theme. Since our debut show in 2014, House of SpeakEasy has been proud to feature a diverse range of authors and performers, from Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists to acclaimed novelists and poets, as well as comedians, musicians, and emerging writers.

NEXT UP: January 10 at 7pm

“This Must Be the Place”

featuring Michael Frank, Jean Hanff Korelitz, Setha Low, and Saïd Sayrafiezadeh.

Buy tickets here:

The Roosevelt House at Hunter College invites you to attend a new public program presented in person and on Zoom

Phil Klay on his new book Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless, Invisible War

In conversation with Saïd Sayrafiezadeh

Monday, November 21, 6:00 PM (ET)

Click Here to RSVP

Reception and Book Signing to Follow

When National Book Award-winning graduate of the Hunter College MFA program Phil Klay left the Marines a decade ago, after serving as an officer in Iraq, he found himself a part of the community of veterans grappling with the meaning of their wartime experiences. In Uncertain Ground, Klay’s new collection of introspective and urgent essays, he contends with the longtime link between war and American identity—asking what current and recent wars say about who we are as a country, and how we should respond to them as citizens. To discuss these and other questions integral to the relationship between American citizenship and the country’s ongoing military engagements, the author will be in conversation with Hunter College MFA program faculty member, memoirist, and fiction writer Saïd Sayrafiezadeh.

As part of the Inspired Writers Series, host Phil Klay and I will be in conversation about my new book American Estrangement.

Our friends who run the book author series #YeahYouWrite bring together three fantastic writers for an evening in the Ostrich Room with Nick Flynn, Caroline Leavitt, and Saïd Sayrafiezadeh. This is a free event, with dinner and drinks available.

Reserve by writing: yeahyouwritereadings@gmail.com

Since 1996, The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books has gathered writers, poets, artists, filmmakers, musicians and emerging storytellers. Now in its 27th year, it is the largest event of its kind in the United States.

The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes are dedicated to discovering new voices and celebrating the highest quality of writing across the spectrum of book publishing. American Estrangement is a finalist in the fiction category this year.

To Lie or Not to Lie? How Writers Choose Between Fiction & Nonfiction

(Adrienne Brodeur, Beth Nguyen, Mira Jacob, Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, Joanna Rakoff)

How do writers decide between fiction and memoir? How does the process of writing shift when shifting genres? In this panel, writers who have written and published in both genres will discuss the craft choices, ethical questions, research inquiries, and publishing concerns that lie behind each. Rather than approaching the topic as fiction vs. nonfiction, we will offer examples of how to navigate both and encourage people to consider the possibilities that emerge from multigenre writing.

St. Francis College, 180 Remsen Street - 1:00pm

The Meaning of Home

Complex lives and motives are at the core of every home, and in this program, three authors discuss how families embody sacrifice, loss, and renewal. In K'wan’s The Reluctant King, the fun-loving protagonist must live up to his family’s aspirations and secrets. Saïd Sayrafiezadeh situates his second collection of short stories, American Estrangement, amid the intricate family dynamics and thorny conflicts of contemporary America. And in The Five Wounds, debut novelist Kirstin Valdez Quade focuses on a multigenerational family’s reckoning with addiction, religion, and rebirth. Moderated by Catherine LaSota.

Brooklyn Book Festival is New York City’s largest free literary festival and connects readers with local, national and international authors and publishers during the course of a celebratory literary week.

The Festival presents original programming and enthusiastically welcomes New York City’s cross cultural book readers as well as national and international attendees. The Festival is known for fostering creative dialogue among the authors, presenting new literary voices as well as established authors, and for serving the literary community by providing a highly visible platform for the work of authors and publishers.

I will be in conversation with Adam Haslett about my latest collection of stories, American Estrangement, as part of Hunter College’s Distinguished Writers’ Series. Stay tuned for more information about how to connect via Zoom!

WRITE BETTER, PUBLISH SMARTER. GET INSPIRED.

:: Faculty includes Rick Moody, Jeffrey Ford, Michael Thomas, James Patrick Kelly, Elizabeth Hand, Francine Prose, Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, Kevin Larimer, Steven Salpeter, and TWH Directors Shanna McNair and Scott Wolven. More faculty is TBA. We're excited to read your work! ::

WE ARE VERY EXCITED TO OFFER AN ALL-FICTION WRITERS CONFERENCE IN NYC!

2020 will be a very special year for The Writer’s Hotel. We will be focusing only on fiction, which will allow for fiction writers to get even more comprehensive attention than ever before. All of the 2020 offerings will be fiction-centered, from our lectures to our Genre Labs. Writers may submit work in any fiction sub-genre. Novels, novels-in-progress, short stories, and short story collections-in-progress are all welcome.

WRITE BETTER, PUBLISH SMARTER. GET INSPIRED.

:: Faculty includes Rick Moody, Jeffrey Ford, Michael Thomas, James Patrick Kelly, Elizabeth Hand, Francine Prose, Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, Kevin Larimer, Steven Salpeter, and TWH Directors Shanna McNair and Scott Wolven. More faculty is TBA. We're excited to read your work! ::

WE ARE VERY EXCITED TO OFFER AN ALL-FICTION WRITERS CONFERENCE IN NYC!

2020 will be a very special year for The Writer’s Hotel. We will be focusing only on fiction, which will allow for fiction writers to get even more comprehensive attention than ever before. All of the 2020 offerings will be fiction-centered, from our lectures to our Genre Labs. Writers may submit work in any fiction sub-genre. Novels, novels-in-progress, short stories, and short story collections-in-progress are all welcome.