Susanna Kwan on the lauded debut of AWAKE IN THE FLOATING CITY.
On Thursday October 23rd, 5:30-7:00pm, I’ll be speaking with Susanna Kwan, whom some of my writers first met as a fellow student in my friend Michael David Lukas’s year-long workshop. The novel she was working on then, AWAKE IN THE FLOATING CITY, was published by Pantheon (PRH) this May to great accolades, including being long-listed for the Center for Fiction 2025 First Novel Prize, named a Best Book of the Spring by ELLE, a Best New Release of May by Alta, and a Most Anticipated Book of the Year by People, the San Francisco Chronicle, Electric Literature, Axios San Francisco, 7x7, and HeatMap.
Join me to discuss with Susanna what this yearned-for debut was like, and where her path will take her next. You can save your seat here.
Susanna’s headshot by Adria Lo
October will also see me turning up with five author-and-writing-instructor friends to give Writing Tips and Tastes at the Dandelion Bookshop in Oak Park, Illinois. Its owner, Jamie Ericson, is one of the Uninventables, my group of personal coachees. By wonderful coincidence, the partner of one of my Chicago friends rents the studio above Dandelion. They are throwing us a post-reading party (thanks, Mich!); if you’re in the area, please join us!
Another opportunity to celebrate is now scheduled for October 24th, and not on October 10th as stated in my last newsletter. Elizabeth Kemp will be launching her debut novel, TREAD LIGHTLY from Sibylline Press, at Books Inc. in Campbell, CA on Friday, October 24th at 7pm. She’ll be in conversation with author Jordan Rosenfeld (Women in Red) and will sign books afterward. You can find out more about Elizabeth’s launch event here.
For those of you who would like to build closer writing communities of your own, here’s an offer from Poets & Writers.
Poets & Writers has been in the business of meeting writers’ needs for more than fifty years. We created Groups because we found that many writers long for creative community but have a hard time connecting with people who share their dedication to the craft. At Poets & Writers Groups, you’ll find:
Hundreds of writers, many of them published, looking for community
Easy ways to introduce yourself to other writers
Dozens of groups for poets, fiction writers, essayists, and memoirists
A simple, intuitive process for starting your own group
Tools for arranging meetings, sharing your work, and getting feedback
Resources for running an effective group and contributing in a way that is productive and satisfying
Clear community standards to ensure that the platform is inclusive and respectful
Real people—not anonymous online avatars
Access to P&W staff when you have questions or need guidance
If you’re looking to join a professionally facilitated writing group instead of creating your own, Story Summit has groups starting in October.
"At Story Summit, small groups are ‘Virtuous Circles.’ These writing groups must be honored as such. By definition, a ‘virtuous circle’ is one where a good event feeds on itself in a positive, constructive feedback loop. Our small groups have two purposes: 1) to advance the skill set of every writer who participates and 2) to push forward the specific project the writer is bringing to the group."
— David Paul Kirkpatrick, former president of Paramount Pictures and former production chief of Walt Disney Studios, Story Summit Founder
Please bear in mind that I’m not endorsing either of these offerings, just letting you know they are available, as many of you have expressed interest.
If you want to start your own writers’ group in a simple grass-roots way but don’t know enough writers, give me a hoy and I would be happy to announce your call for writers in a future newsletter.
Until then, happy writing, and don’t forget to drop me a line if you have news to share!
Shirin