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Héctor Tobar is a Los Angeles born author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. His recent book, Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino”, explores how a century of immigration policy and the evolving image of the “alien” in US culture have helped shape American notions of racial identity and “whiteness.” Tobar’s other books include the New York Times bestseller, Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle That Set Them Free, the novels, The Tattooed Soldier, The Barbarian Nurseries, and The Last Great Road Bum. He’s written for The New YorkerThe New York Times Magazine, Harpers, National Geographic, and was a contributing writer for the New York Times opinion pages. Tobar has also been a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and its bureau chief in Buenos Aires and Mexico City.

Ingrid Rojas Contreras was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Her memoir, The Man Who Could Move Clouds, was a Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist. Rojas Contreras interweaves family stories, resurrects Colombian history, and writes her way through the incomprehensible and into her inheritance.  The book won a Medal in Nonfiction from the California Book Awards. It was named a “Best Book of the Year” by TIMEPeople, NPR, Vanity Fair, and Boston Globe, among others. Her first novel, Fruit of the Drunken Tree, was the silver medal winner in First Fiction from the California Book Awards, and a New York Times editor’s choice. Her work has appeared in the New York Times MagazineThe CutZyzzyva, and is forthcoming from Harper’s. Rojas Contreras has received numerous awards and fellowships from Bread Loaf Writers Conference, VONA, Hedgebrook, The Camargo Foundation, and the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture. She is a Visiting Writer at Saint Mary’s College.

Sehba Sarwar, is an author and speaker, inspirational artist, and a dynamic community and cultural activist, dedicated to creating connections between communities around the globe. Her work tackles immigration and border issues and has appeared in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, Creative Time Reports, and ASIA: Magazine of Asian Literature. Sarwar’s short stories are anthologized by Feminist Press, Akashic Books, and Harper Collins India. Her essays, fiction, and poems have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, LA Parent, Houston Chronicle, Altadena Literary Review, Asia: Magazine of Asian Literature, and Callaloo. In 2019, a second edition of her novel, Black Wings, was released in the US. It is the story of a mother and daughter who struggle to meet across the continents, generations, cultures, and secrets that separate them. Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, Sehba spent the first half of her life in a home filled with artists, activists, and educators. She is based in Pasadena, and her papers are archived at the University of Houston.


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Héctor Tobar

2023 Author

Héctor Tobar is a Los Angeles born author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. His recent book, Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino”, explores how a century of immigration policy and the evolving image of the “alien” in US culture have helped shape American notions of racial identity and “whiteness.” Tobar’s other books include the New York Times bestseller, Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle That Set Them Free, the novels, The Tattooed Soldier, The Barbarian Nurseries, and The Last Great Road Bum. He’s written for The New YorkerThe New York Times Magazine, Harpers, National Geographic, and was a contributing writer for the New York Times opinion pages. Tobar has also been a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and its bureau chief in Buenos Aires and Mexico City.

Ingrid Rojas Contreras

2023 Author

Ingrid Rojas Contreras was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Her memoir, The Man Who Could Move Clouds, was a Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist. Rojas Contreras interweaves family stories, resurrects Colombian history, and writes her way through the incomprehensible and into her inheritance.  The book won a Medal in Nonfiction from the California Book Awards. It was named a “Best Book of the Year” by TIMEPeople, NPR, Vanity Fair, and Boston Globe, among others. Her first novel, Fruit of the Drunken Tree, was the silver medal winner in First Fiction from the California Book Awards, and a New York Times editor’s choice. Her work has appeared in the New York Times MagazineThe CutZyzzyva, and is forthcoming from Harper’s. Rojas Contreras has received numerous awards and fellowships from Bread Loaf Writers Conference, VONA, Hedgebrook, The Camargo Foundation, and the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture. She is a Visiting Writer at Saint Mary’s College.

Sehba Sarwar

2023 Moderator

Sehba Sarwar, is an author and speaker, inspirational artist, and a dynamic community and cultural activist, dedicated to creating connections between communities around the globe. Her work tackles immigration and border issues and has appeared in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, Creative Time Reports, and ASIA: Magazine of Asian Literature. Sarwar’s short stories are anthologized by Feminist Press, Akashic Books, and Harper Collins India. Her essays, fiction, and poems have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, LA Parent, Houston Chronicle, Altadena Literary Review, Asia: Magazine of Asian Literature, and Callaloo. In 2019, a second edition of her novel, Black Wings, was released in the US. It is the story of a mother and daughter who struggle to meet across the continents, generations, cultures, and secrets that separate them. Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, Sehba spent the first half of her life in a home filled with artists, activists, and educators. She is based in Pasadena, and her papers are archived at the University of Houston.


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Héctor Tobar is a Los Angeles born author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. His recent book, Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino”, explores how a century of immigration policy and the evolving image of the “alien” in US culture have helped shape American notions of racial identity and “whiteness.” Tobar’s other books include the New York Times bestseller, Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle That Set Them Free, the novels, The Tattooed Soldier, The Barbarian Nurseries, and The Last Great Road Bum. He’s written for The New YorkerThe New York Times Magazine, Harpers, National Geographic, and was a contributing writer for the New York Times opinion pages. Tobar has also been a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and its bureau chief in Buenos Aires and Mexico City.

Ingrid Rojas Contreras was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Her memoir, The Man Who Could Move Clouds, was a Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist. Rojas Contreras interweaves family stories, resurrects Colombian history, and writes her way through the incomprehensible and into her inheritance.  The book won a Medal in Nonfiction from the California Book Awards. It was named a “Best Book of the Year” by TIMEPeople, NPR, Vanity Fair, and Boston Globe, among others. Her first novel, Fruit of the Drunken Tree, was the silver medal winner in First Fiction from the California Book Awards, and a New York Times editor’s choice. Her work has appeared in the New York Times MagazineThe CutZyzzyva, and is forthcoming from Harper’s. Rojas Contreras has received numerous awards and fellowships from Bread Loaf Writers Conference, VONA, Hedgebrook, The Camargo Foundation, and the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture. She is a Visiting Writer at Saint Mary’s College.

Sehba Sarwar, is an author and speaker, inspirational artist, and a dynamic community and cultural activist, dedicated to creating connections between communities around the globe. Her work tackles immigration and border issues and has appeared in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, Creative Time Reports, and ASIA: Magazine of Asian Literature. Sarwar’s short stories are anthologized by Feminist Press, Akashic Books, and Harper Collins India. Her essays, fiction, and poems have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, LA Parent, Houston Chronicle, Altadena Literary Review, Asia: Magazine of Asian Literature, and Callaloo. In 2019, a second edition of her novel, Black Wings, was released in the US. It is the story of a mother and daughter who struggle to meet across the continents, generations, cultures, and secrets that separate them. Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, Sehba spent the first half of her life in a home filled with artists, activists, and educators. She is based in Pasadena, and her papers are archived at the University of Houston.


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Héctor Tobar

2023 Author

Héctor Tobar is a Los Angeles born author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. His recent book, Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino”, explores how a century of immigration policy and the evolving image of the “alien” in US culture have helped shape American notions of racial identity and “whiteness.” Tobar’s other books include the New York Times bestseller, Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle That Set Them Free, the novels, The Tattooed Soldier, The Barbarian Nurseries, and The Last Great Road Bum. He’s written for The New YorkerThe New York Times Magazine, Harpers, National Geographic, and was a contributing writer for the New York Times opinion pages. Tobar has also been a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and its bureau chief in Buenos Aires and Mexico City.

Ingrid Rojas Contreras

2023 Author

Ingrid Rojas Contreras was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Her memoir, The Man Who Could Move Clouds, was a Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist. Rojas Contreras interweaves family stories, resurrects Colombian history, and writes her way through the incomprehensible and into her inheritance.  The book won a Medal in Nonfiction from the California Book Awards. It was named a “Best Book of the Year” by TIMEPeople, NPR, Vanity Fair, and Boston Globe, among others. Her first novel, Fruit of the Drunken Tree, was the silver medal winner in First Fiction from the California Book Awards, and a New York Times editor’s choice. Her work has appeared in the New York Times MagazineThe CutZyzzyva, and is forthcoming from Harper’s. Rojas Contreras has received numerous awards and fellowships from Bread Loaf Writers Conference, VONA, Hedgebrook, The Camargo Foundation, and the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture. She is a Visiting Writer at Saint Mary’s College.

Sehba Sarwar

2023 Moderator

Sehba Sarwar, is an author and speaker, inspirational artist, and a dynamic community and cultural activist, dedicated to creating connections between communities around the globe. Her work tackles immigration and border issues and has appeared in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, Creative Time Reports, and ASIA: Magazine of Asian Literature. Sarwar’s short stories are anthologized by Feminist Press, Akashic Books, and Harper Collins India. Her essays, fiction, and poems have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, LA Parent, Houston Chronicle, Altadena Literary Review, Asia: Magazine of Asian Literature, and Callaloo. In 2019, a second edition of her novel, Black Wings, was released in the US. It is the story of a mother and daughter who struggle to meet across the continents, generations, cultures, and secrets that separate them. Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, Sehba spent the first half of her life in a home filled with artists, activists, and educators. She is based in Pasadena, and her papers are archived at the University of Houston.

Richard White

2022 Author

Richard White is an historian of the United States specializing in the American West, the history of capitalism, environmental history, history and memory, and Native American history. His work has occasionally spilled over into Mexico, Canada, France, Australia and Ireland. He is a MacArthur Fellow and a recipient of the Mellon Distinguished Professor Award. White has won numerous academic prizes, and twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Who Killed Jane Stanford? penetrates the fog of corruption and cover-up still surrounding the murder of a Stanford University founder to establish who did it, how, and why. Deftly sifting the scattered evidence and conflicting stories of suspects and witnesses, Richard White gives us the first full account of Jane Stanford’s murder and its cover-up. Against a backdrop of the city’s machine politics, rogue policing, tong wars, and heated newspaper rivalries, White’s search for the murderer draws us into Jane Stanford’s imperious household and the academic enmities of the university.

Tania James

2024 PFWA

Loot is Longlisted for the National Book Award

Set in 18th Century India, England, and France, Tania James’ novel, Loot, is the story of a young woodcarver, Abbas, who dreams of leaving his mark on the world. Centering on Tipu’s Sultan Tiger, an actual wooden automaton, Loot follows the fate of the wooden tiger mirroring the history of nations and dynasties ravaged by war across India and Europe. A love story, a hero’s quest, a heist, and a coming-of-age story, Loot takes its readers on a thrilling journey. Raised in Kentucky, James earned a B.A. in filmmaking at Harvard and an MFA from Columbia.  She lives in Washington, D.C., and is an associate professor in the MFA program at George Mason University.  She has been a finalist for the Dylan Thomas prize and has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and the Fulbright Program.  Loot was long-listed for the National Book Award for fiction.

“Captivating . . . James is a master miniaturist who can create the illusion of a saga in a chapter.  Her pages feel as full as a 19th-century bildungsroman, with collapsing kingdoms, sailing ships and elaborate schemes . . . And her prose is lush with the sights, sounds and smells of India, France and England, and always laced with Dickensian wit.” The Washington Post

Helen Elaine Lee

2024 PFWA

Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction

Pomegranate tells the story of Ranita, who, after four long years, is released from prison. But she’ll never be completely free until she can answer these questions: Can she stay clean and sober? When will she see her children? What were the demons that caused her to derail her life at a young age despite growing up in a nice middle-class family? Lee earned her BA at Harvard and her law degree from Harvard Law school. The author of two previous novels, The Serpent’s Gift and Water Marked, Lee is Professor of Comparative Media Studies/Writing at MIT. She was on the board of PEN New England for 10 years, serving on its Freedom to Write Committee, and helping to start its Prison Creative Writing Program.

“Lee’s handling of trauma is deft, and her portrayal of the carceral system’s cruelty is unflinching and empathetic…a cache of jewels.” – Kirkus Reviews. 

Pomegranate has been longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in fiction.


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Marisa Silver

2010

Marisa Silver  started her career as a screenwriter and film director, later switching to a prolific writing career with her fiction debut in The New Yorker when she was featured in that magazine’s first “Debut Fiction” issue. Her fiction has been included in The Best American Short Stories, the O. Henry Prize Stories, as well as other anthologies. Her first collection of short stories, Babe in Paradise (2001) was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and was a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year. A story from the collection was included in The Best American Short Stories 2000. Her next novel, No Direction Home, was followed by The God of War (2008), a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for fiction. Her second short-story collection, Alone with You, was published in 2010 with The New York Times calling her “one of California’s most celebrated contemporary writers.” Silver’s third novel, Mary Coin (2013) is a New York Times Bestseller and winner of the Southern California Independent Bookseller’s Award. Her most recent work, a novel titled Little Nothing, was released in 2016. In 2017, Silver was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.      (197 words)

Mona Simpson

2015

The celebrated and award-winning Mona Simpson first achieved literary fame with her novel Anywhere But Here, which won the Whiting Prize and was made into a movie starring Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman. Four acclaimed novels later, she brings us Casebook, named an Amazon Best Book of the Month. NPR called it “a sort of cross between The Catcher in the Rye and Harriet the Spy. But it is very much its own book, singular and haunting.” Mona Simpson is a professor of English at UCLA and the Sadie Samuelson Levy Professor in Languages and Literature at Bard College. Her awards include the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, a Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Award, a Guggenheim grant, a Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, and most recently, a Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Jane Smiley

2016

Jane Smiley is one of America’s most admired and prolific writers.  Her numerous novels include The Age of Grief, The Greenlanders, Ordinary Love and Good Will, A Thousand Acres, Moo, Horse Heaven, Good Faith, Ten Days in the Hills, and Golden Age, the final volume in her trilogy, which also includes Some Luck and Early Warning. In addition, she has written five works of nonfiction; five young adult novels, as well as essays in magazines like Vogue, The New Yorker, Harper’s, and others. She won an O. Henry Award for her short story “Lily.” and a Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for A Thousand Acres. She was elected a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2001, won the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, and chaired the judges’ panel for the prestigious Man Booker International Prize in 2009. She obtained a BA in literature at Vassar College, and an MA, MFA, and PhD from the University of Iowa. From 1981 to 1996 she was a Professor of English at Iowa State University.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said, “The term Golden Age may well refer to this stage of Ms. Smiley’s career, for her trilogy is thoroughly radiant.” The Los Angeles Times said, “. . . a satisfying if solemn finale to a monumental portrait of an American family and an American century.”


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Héctor Tobar

2023 Author

Héctor Tobar is a Los Angeles born author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. His recent book, Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino”, explores how a century of immigration policy and the evolving image of the “alien” in US culture have helped shape American notions of racial identity and “whiteness.” Tobar’s other books include the New York Times bestseller, Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle That Set Them Free, the novels, The Tattooed Soldier, The Barbarian Nurseries, and The Last Great Road Bum. He’s written for The New YorkerThe New York Times Magazine, Harpers, National Geographic, and was a contributing writer for the New York Times opinion pages. Tobar has also been a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and its bureau chief in Buenos Aires and Mexico City.

Ingrid Rojas Contreras

2023 Author

Ingrid Rojas Contreras was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Her memoir, The Man Who Could Move Clouds, was a Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist. Rojas Contreras interweaves family stories, resurrects Colombian history, and writes her way through the incomprehensible and into her inheritance.  The book won a Medal in Nonfiction from the California Book Awards. It was named a “Best Book of the Year” by TIMEPeople, NPR, Vanity Fair, and Boston Globe, among others. Her first novel, Fruit of the Drunken Tree, was the silver medal winner in First Fiction from the California Book Awards, and a New York Times editor’s choice. Her work has appeared in the New York Times MagazineThe CutZyzzyva, and is forthcoming from Harper’s. Rojas Contreras has received numerous awards and fellowships from Bread Loaf Writers Conference, VONA, Hedgebrook, The Camargo Foundation, and the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture. She is a Visiting Writer at Saint Mary’s College.

Sehba Sarwar

2023 Moderator

Sehba Sarwar, is an author and speaker, inspirational artist, and a dynamic community and cultural activist, dedicated to creating connections between communities around the globe. Her work tackles immigration and border issues and has appeared in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, Creative Time Reports, and ASIA: Magazine of Asian Literature. Sarwar’s short stories are anthologized by Feminist Press, Akashic Books, and Harper Collins India. Her essays, fiction, and poems have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, LA Parent, Houston Chronicle, Altadena Literary Review, Asia: Magazine of Asian Literature, and Callaloo. In 2019, a second edition of her novel, Black Wings, was released in the US. It is the story of a mother and daughter who struggle to meet across the continents, generations, cultures, and secrets that separate them. Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, Sehba spent the first half of her life in a home filled with artists, activists, and educators. She is based in Pasadena, and her papers are archived at the University of Houston.