"I'm Optimistic Because It Saved My Life"

This week, Erica speaks with Madeline Berberian-Hutchinson about being a 16-year-old NYS and NYC Youth Poet Laureate Finalist and co-founder of a literary arts magazine, and Kelly talks with author Veronica Chambers about Ida In Love and Trouble, Black historical YA, and more.

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Books, Media, and Writers Discussed

Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson

Chen Chen 

Tony Hoagland

Danez Smith

A Tale for the time being by Ruth Ozeki 

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal

An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson

Ida, In Love and Trouble by Veronica Chambers

Veronica Chambers at The New York Times

Suffs on Broadway

Age of Innocence by Edith Whar