Welcome! We’re so glad you’re joining us for our celebration of the power of reading.
Here you will find special resources, exclusively available for ticket holders, to support your engagement with this year’s celebration. Resources and links to videos will be available through December 2020.
Ayad Akhtar in Conversation with Dr. Seth Lerer
DISCUSSION ABOUT HOMELAND ELEGIES
Who: Ayad Akhtar, Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of Homeland Elegies in conversation with Dr. Seth Lerer, Distinguished Professor of Literature, UC-San Diego about Homeland Elegies
When: Available at your leisure. Available until December 31, 2020.
Time: 50 minutes
Access: Password was emailed to ticket holders and is on a postcard in the package you received with your novel. Please contact [email protected] for assistance.
Please note the capitalization of the password when entering it.
Ayad Akhtar Addresses Words Alive’s Young Adults
“If you can find the thing you love, it can get you through anything.” - ayad Akhtar
Who: Ayad Akhtar, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, shares a story of how a teacher changed his life through literature.
When: Available at your leisure
Time: 2 minutes
New! Exclusive Essay by Ayad Akhtar
To wrap up our month-long exploration of Homeland Elegies, we're sharing an exclusive essay by the author himself. Read it here!
Curated Discussions of Homeland Elegies
We encourage you to engage with the national conversation about this book by hearing what others have to say about Homeland Elegies. We have collected a few reviews of the book and interviews with Ayad Akhtar for you here.
“...a beautiful novel about an American son and his immigrant father that has echoes of “The Great Gatsby” and that circles, with pointed intellect, the possibilities and limitations of American life.”
“The many unacknowledged failures of American policy and the coarsening of popular attitudes form the matrix in which Akhtar’s stories grow. He has an unerring sense for the sore spots, the bitter truths that have emerged from this history.”
“With its sprawling vision of contemporary America, “Homeland Elegies” is a phenomenal coalescence of memoir, fiction, history and cultural analysis. It would not surprise me if it wins him a second Pulitzer Prize.”
“A novel that blends fact and fiction, reading like a combination of essay, memoir, and perhaps most notably, national character study. ”
““I always knew that at the end of the book there would have to be some affirmation of American identity, notwithstanding all of the critique,” Akhtar told me. It’s a threshold moment, looking at once back and forward.”
“That question about what is real and what’s not real is at the heart of what we’re dealing with every day in our lives, and I wanted the texture of the book to reflect that confusion.”
Silent Auction & Online Boutique
Bid on once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to bring acclaimed and engaging authors on virtual visits to all the places that readers gather in your life!
Shop a remarkable collection of restaurants and shops believing in the power of reading and donating proceeds to support Words Alive.
Connect with Event Attendees
Facebook Group
We invite you to join Words Alive on Facebook in discussion about the book. We look forward to an active and lively discussion!
Special Attendees
We are honored to welcome special guests to this year’s celebration.
Click HERE to view our Special Attendees to see who else is joining the celebration this year!
Tours of Novel Ideas
Join us for an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour, just for event attendees, of Novel Ideas, our virtual gallery of art and writing of more than 400 students!
Special Thanks
This event is possible thanks to our Authors Circle sponsor:
And our community supporters:
With technical assistance and thought leadership from:
A very special thank you to the many volunteers and supporters who have graciously given their time and talent in support of this event. You can view the list of these remarkable volunteers here.
Your investment in Words Alive makes a difference, perhaps now more than ever, in the lives of children, teens, and families. Thank you for your support!