Erin Cox | House of SpeakEasy NYC

Posts From Author: Erin Cox

Seriously Questioning…James Geary

James Geary is the author of four previous books, including the New York Times bestseller The World in a Phrase, and is the deputy curator at Harvard University’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism. A sought-after speaker and avid juggler, he lives near Boston, Massachusetts. On November 12th, he will be speaking at House of SpeakEasy’s Seriously Entertaining show, For Good Measure alongside Nina Burleigh, Maggie Paxson, and Monique Truong. What is your earliest memory involving reading or writing? Of reading, discovering the Quotable Quotes page in Reader’s Digest when I was 8 and reading my very first aphorism: “The difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.” This sparked a lifelong obsession with aphorisms—and two books about them. Of writing, after watching a sci-fi film on television with my eldest brother, also when I was about 8, and thinking, ‘I could write a story like that.’ I immediately went upstairs to my room to do so, writing a story about a desert planet, about which the only thing I remember is that poisonous snakes looked like dry sticks until you reached down to pick them up, when they would unleash themselves and bite you. What is your favorite line from your current […]

Seriously Questioning…Monique Truong

Monique Truong is the author of three novels—The Book of Salt; Bitter in the Mouth; and now, The Sweetest Fruits, and her work has been published in fifteen countries. Her awards and honors include the PEN/Robert Bingham Fellowship, the New York Public Library Young Lions Award, the Asian American Literary Award, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Rosenthal Family Foundation Award. On November 12th, she will be speaking at House of SpeakEasy’s Seriously Entertaining show, For Good Measure alongside Nina Burleigh, James Geary, and Maggie Paxson. What is your earliest memory involving reading or writing? I remember reading thin paperbacks of Vietnamese legends and stories when I was growing up in S. Vietnam—so I would have been six or younger. I remember speeding through them, begging my mother to buy me more each week. What is your favorite line from your current work? First line of The Sweetest Fruits: “Patricio Lafcadio Hearn was born hungry.” It was also the first line that I wrote of this novel. To me, it’s the key to understanding Hearn and how he behaved and interacted with the women, who in the TSF, narrate his life and theirs. What is your favorite first line of […]

Seriously Questioning…Kwanza Osajyefo

Kwanza Osajyefo is the author and creator of BLACK, a comic that asks: what if only black people had superpowers. Kwanza has been a part of the comics for nearly 20 years. Beginning his career as an online producer at Marvel before moving into other media roles. He later returned to comics and launched DC Comics’ digital publishing initiatives. In addition to creating his own properties, Kwanza is also a creative architect of H1 Comics line from the premiere French publisher, Humanoids – co-writing their flagship title, Ignited with comics legend, Mark Waid. On October 22nd, he will be speaking at House of SpeakEasy’s Seriously Entertaining show, Into the Silence alongside Roxana Robinson, Caleb Scharf, and Nadine Strossen. What is your earliest memory involving reading or writing? I started to read very early, to the disbelief of some relatives. The first comics I remember reading were Charles Schultz’s Peanuts, Walt Kelly’s Pogo and Power Pack. Novels and books that I gravitated towards as a child were Where the Wild Things Are, Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh and books about Greek mythology. I think I read D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths a hundred times. I wrote my first comic when I was around […]

Seriously Questioning…Torrey Maldonado

Torrey Maldonado is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Tight and Secret Saturdays. He is a teacher in Brooklyn, New York, where he was born and raised. His books reflect his students’ and his experiences. On September 17, he will be speaking at House of SpeakEasy’s Seriously Entertaining show, No Sleep Till, alongside William Dalrymple, Nicole Dennis-Benn, and Helen Phillips. What is your earliest memory involving reading or writing? Imagine me as a little Afro’d boy chef. Picture me as that boy tasting food then thinking, “This is good. Let me try to make it on my own” or “This could taste better if . . .” Now picture me as a little boy sampling comic books and early childhood books that way. I read as if I were food-tasting. Then I’d go write or draw thinking, “That comic or story was good. Let me see if I can redo it with my spin on it” or “Maybe if that story looked like this, then it might be better . . .” Where’d that habit come from? My mom. With one tiny question, she conditioned me to get into a big habit with reading and writing. After I read, she’d ask, “How could it […]

Seriously Questioning…Helen Phillips

Helen Phillips is the author of, most recently, the novel The Need. Her collection Some Possible Solutions received the 2017 John Gardner Fiction Book Award. Her novel The Beautiful Bureaucrat, a New York Times Notable Book of 2015, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the New York Public Library Young Lions Award. Her collection And Yet They Were Happy was named a notable collection by The Story Prize. Helen has received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award and the Italo Calvino Prize in Fabulist Fiction, and her work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, Tin House, and on Selected Shorts. On September 17, she will be speaking at House of SpeakEasy’s Seriously Entertaining show, No Sleep Till, alongside William Dalrymple, Nicole Dennis-Benn, and Torrey Maldonado. What is your earliest memory involving reading or writing? I remember being ferociously jealous when I was about four years old and would watch my parents reading novels or the newspaper. I wanted to know what it was about those markings on the page that so absorbed them. What is your favorite line from your current work? I don’t know if it’s my favorite line, but I’m attached to […]

Seriously Questioning…Trish Hall

Trish Hall is a writer and journalist who worked for the New York Times for more than two decades. She initially joined the paper as a food reporter and eventually oversaw all the feature sections as a member of the masthead. For almost five years, she served as the Op Ed editor. She expanded the reach and the nature of digital offerings, winning an Emmy for an Op Doc produced by her team. She also created the Sunday Review, which since its inception has been one of the most popular sections at the Times. Her book for Norton, Writing to Persuade, was published in June. She lives in New York City. On June 18, she will be speaking at House of SpeakEasy’s Seriously Entertaining show, The Song Sings Itself, alongside Michael Bronski, John Burnham Schwartz, and Darcey Steinke. We spoke to Trish ahead of the show. What is your earliest memory involving reading or writing? I asked for a diary every year for Christmas, and every year my mother complied. I think I started my first one when I was seven. I wrote entries every day for a few weeks and then stopped. They were earth-shattering entries like, “Got up. Washed my hair.” […]

Seriously Questioning…John Burnham Schwartz

John Burnham Schwartz is the author of five acclaimed novels, including The Commoner, Claire Marvel, Bicycle Days, Reservation Road, which was made into a motion picture based on his screenplay, and his new novel, The Red Daughter. His books have been translated into two dozen languages, and his writing has appeared in many publications, including The New Yorker and The New York Times. A winner of the Lyndhurst Foundation Award for mastery in the art of fiction, Schwartz has taught at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Harvard University, and Sarah Lawrence College, and is currently literary director of the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference. On June 18, he will be speaking at House of SpeakEasy’s Seriously Entertaining show, The Song Sings Itself, alongside Michael Bronski, Trish Hall, and Darcey Steinke. We spoke to John ahead of the show. What is your earliest memory involving reading or writing? There was a picture-book author who was a friend of my aunt’s. When I was quite small, he generously promised me that he would put me in his next book – and then one day the book arrived, and there it was: my name, written into the drawing of a truck. He had put me inside a story! […]

Seriously Questioning…Darcey Steinke

Darcey Steinke is the author of the New York Times Notable memoir Easter Everywhere, as well as five novels. In 2017 Maggie Nelson wrote a foreword for a new edition of Suicide Blonde. With Rick Moody, she edited Joyful Noise: The New Testament Revisited. Her books have been translated into ten languages, and her nonfiction has appeared widely. Her web-story Blindspot was a part of the 2000 Whitney Biennial. She has been both a Henry Hoyns and a Stegner Fellow and Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi, and has taught at the Columbia University School of the Arts, Barnard, The American University of Paris, and Princeton. Flash Count Diary is her most recent book. On June 18, she will be speaking at House of SpeakEasy’s Seriously Entertaining show, The Song Sings Itself, alongside Michael Bronski, Trish Hall, and John Burnham Schwartz. We spoke to Darcey ahead of the show. What is your earliest memory involving reading or writing? I remember going to the Library with my mother when I was three. The dark room with all the books. I had been there with my parents before but now I really wanted my own library card. The librarian said no, I had to be […]

Poetry to the People: Darrell Bourque

Darrell Bourque is the former poet laureate of Louisiana and professor emeritus of English at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where he held positions as the Director of Creative Writing, Coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Humanities program, and Head of the English Department. Darrell has served as the Friends of the Humanities Board of Regents Endowed Professor, the President of the National Association for Humanities Education, and on the board for the Ernest J. Gaines Center. He is the recipient of several academic awards including the University of Louisiana College Education Centennial Recognition Medal for Distinguished Achievement and The Acadiana Arts Council award for Outstanding Artist of the Year. He is the author of several poetry collections, including Megan’s Guitar and Other Poems from Acadie (2013) and “if you abandon me, comment je vas faire: An Amede Ardoin Songbook” (2014). He is the recipient of the 2014 Louisiana Book Festival Writer of the Year Award. On June 20, he will participate in events at the NUNU Collective in Arnaudville and the Ernest J. Gaines Center in Lafayette as part of our Poetry to the People book truck tour with Narrative 4. This 10-day, 10-city, 1800-mile journey from New York to […]

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