21st Century Literature discussion

Which authors, if any, have you met in-person? Which authors would you like to meet? How did it go? Any memorable anecdotes, good/bad experiences, etc.?

I once thought I saw Tom Robbins in a coffee shop in Seattle, but definitely unconfirmed and I couldn't figure out a way to confirm and get the guts to talk to him.

I've been to a lot of author speaking events, but nothing where I felt like I could say I "met" them.

My in-laws had Sonics season tickets a row behind Sherman Alexie, and it seemed like he was a great guy, until it seemed like he wasn't.

I would still like to meet Tom Robbins since I'm guess he's a fascinating guy, but google tells me he's almost 90 (?!) my chances are slim. I would also love to meet Gary Shtyengart, Patrick DeWitt, Martha Wells, and other authors that incoporate humor into their writing. They'd be fun to have a drink with.

Would love to meet Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. Dude's been overdue for a Nobel for the last twenty years. Karen Tei Yamashita, Ruth Ozeki, Marlon James, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Randa Jarrar would also be cool.

My best friend in college also happened to be John Cheever's son. Once when his dad came to campus the three of us went out to dinner. Falconer had just been published and people recognized him and came to pay homage to him while we were sitting there eating. I don't think he was used to it. I can't say whether he was happy about the attention or a little flustered, but he was very kind and he started to speak in a writerly way, almost as if he were playing the part to please others. He actually wore a tweed jacket. I liked him.

The one time I took a creative writing class it was taught by Allan Gurganus, who hadn't published anything yet except a handful of short stories. He was immensely kind to us.

Haven’t met an author , although was once at a Borders in Philadelphia leaving the ladies room when Joyce Carol Oates was entering it. Can’t exactly describe that as a meeting.

However, my husband and I once had dinner with French film maker Bertrand Tavernier. It was definitely not a tête-à-tête. Many people at the table. In all honesty, that wasn’t as exciting as attending a program featuring Bernardo Bertolucci and his cinematographer Vittorio Storaro at MOMA, a truly memorable experience.

My college advisor was Randall Jarrell’s first wife . Does that count as “close to famous”? ;)

I have met some authors:

The most memorable one was Louis de Bernieres, It was obvious that he didn't want to be there. Throughout his talk he huffed, made snappy comments and was an outright grump. When it came for book signing, I passed on my copy of Captain Corelli's Mandolin, telling him that a friend lent to me and then died shortly after. he asked if he should dedicate the book to the friend or me - I said me and he rolled his eyes and said. 'suit yourself then.

I met Patricia Duncker and she was great, a talkative person full of anecdotes. When it was time for the book signing I said that I we had just discussed hallucinating Foucault for our book club and it was the first time all ten of us of loved the book. She looked at me and said 'the only negative reviews of my books I've ever read are from book bloggers. They are so opinionated, I prefer proper critics or average readers. I didn't tell her I was a book blogger.

Being a school librarian I sometimes bring children's authors over and one year we invited Guy Bass - his talk was fantastic, super animated and VERY chatty. While this was happening I noticed that there was a woman standing far away and very quiet and almost anti social. After the talk, I invited them for the customary coffee and biscuits I found out the woman was Guy's wife. Once she found out that we have the exact same tastes in books she was super chatty, animated and loud, while Guy sat in a far corner just dipping his burbon biscuits and nodding now and then, without saying a word - complete role reversal.

When Naomi Klein came over she said that she said that Malta's political situation was in turmoil (this was a year after the murdered journalist , the secret companies our Prime Minister was feeding his money into and the discovery that our economy just rested on passport sales and the gaming industry) that our Prime Minister will have to resign or Malta will suffer from an economic crash. One year later our Prime Minister resigned.

Irvine Welsh will be visiting Malta in November. I wonder how that will turn out.

Robert wrote: "I met Patricia Duncker and she was great, a talkative person full of anecdotes."

I would love to meet Duncker! I'm a big fan of her earlier books.

I've met some authors whose work I really enjoy. San Francisco is a relatively small town, and might be easier to connect with people.

Kevin Killian was a stalwart of the New Narrative movement, and a tireless organizer of local art events. His generosity, humor, and love of life are greatly missed in San Francisco. I'm lucky to have spent time with Kevin and his partner Dodie Bellamy, at gallery events, parties, etc; they're both wonderful writers and lovely people.

I've also hung out with Dennis Cooper, at a residency, and also whenever we happen to be in the same town. Dennis is another endlessly fascinating writer and all around wonderful and supportive person. His blog features a lot of edgy art and culture that I can't get enough of.

I met Brian Evenson at a book release event at a Brooklyn bar (for the limited edition of the novella Baby Leg). We chatted for awhile after his reading and book signing, and I commiserated with him on his tenure as department chair. He's the nicest guy (I know, you might not expect this from his fiction!) We've exchanged a little email since then, but not in ages.

I met Jon McGregor as the friend of a friend at a couple of gigs before I knew who he was - I only made the connection when I saw the picture on his second book. I have met a few other writers at book signings, but I struggle to find good questions in that sort of situation.

Hugh wrote: "I met Jon McGregor as the friend of a friend at a couple of gigs before I knew who he was - I only made the connection when I saw the picture on his second book. I have met a few other writers at b..."

Gosh, yes, what is the right thing to ask or say if you DO meet an author you like?

Aubrey wrote: "Would love to meet Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. Dude's been overdue for a Nobel for the last twenty years. Karen Tei Yamashita, Ruth Ozeki, Marlon James, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Randa Jarrar would also be cool."

The closest and easiest way to feel like I'm chatting with Marlon James is listening to him enjoy himself talking books on his podcast 'Marlon and Jake Read Dead People' - Jake being his friend/editor Jake Morrissey.

I always think of myself as having not met any authors, but I've met a few.

Took two poetry classes with Nikki Giovanni (she was as open with writing advice as she was with life advice; she used to chastise college students for sleeping with each other before they'd even had a meal together and for not checking their eggs for cracks before purchasing them in the grocery store; actually, every time I buy eggs I think of her and check for cracks).

Met Kathy Acker after a reading where our professor invited a few students over to socialize. We didn't really chat much. She mentioned moving from London to Roanoke (Virginia) where she was teaching for the semester. I said something about that being a big change, culturally. She said not really. I found that hard to believe and sort of asked her to confirm again. And then I just felt like an idiot and played with my professor's young children who were running around in their pajamas and wearing Halloween masks (it wasn't near Halloween as I recall). (Same professor introduced me to the writing of Dennis Cooper---glad to hear he's as interesting as he seems, Bill.)

Got to hang out a bit with Rafael Alvarez (former Baltimore Sun journalist, wrote for THE WIRE tv series, and has a few fiction books of his own published). We were both helping out with a local arts journal and I ended up on the back of a pickup truck, helping him transport a refrigerator through the alleys of Baltimore. He was very into hearing about how the woman I was dating was married and her husband owned a glock (this all sounds very dramatic, but that woman and I got married and her husband knew we were dating as their marriage was coming to an amicable end already). Rafael is a funny guy and seems to know everyone, everywhere. We keep in touch sporadically.

I went to the Small Press Expo a few years ago and sort of stumbled into Emil Ferris (My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Vol. 1) signing posters of her book. She is ridiculously nice and took all this time to look at the artwork of a lot of the other artists there to sell/display at the event. I don't usually think of myself as "starstruck", but I don't recall anything intelligent coming out of my mouth during our brief chat and I was so excited I walked off without paying for the poster she just signed (I came right back when I realized what I'd done).

Also took a writing class with Edward Falco. I really have no idea how well known he is or isn't. Very smart and humble guy. Advised us not to get a day job where we had to write as we would likely have no energy/motivation to work on our own creative writing outside of such a job.

Bretnie wrote: "I've been to a lot of author speaking events, but nothing where I felt like I could say I "met" them.

My in-laws had Sonics season tickets a row behind Sherman Alexie, and it seemed like he was a great guy, until it seemed like he wasn't. "

Most of my author encounters have also been a brief exchange at events or signings, but one that stands out is Temple Grandin A friend texted me at a veterinary conference that she was in the hallway signing books. I immeadiately abandoned whatever class I was in to head there. There was no one else there yet, so I shook her hand and had her sign a book. I was in complete fan-girl mode and mumbled something about how much I appreciated her work. Given that Grandin is one of the few people more socially awkward than I am, extensive discussion wasn't going to get off the ground.

Funnily (or not), I also briefly met Sherman Alexie at the premier of "The Business of Fancydancing", as a friend was in a film program with him. I agree, he seemed like a great guy - until we all found out he wasn't. But it's usually the charming men with some degree of power who tend to get away with the bad behavior, isn't it?

Marc wrote: "Got to hang out a bit with Rafael Alvarez (former Baltimore Sun journalist, wrote for THE WIRE tv series, and has a few fiction books of his own published). We were both helping out with a local arts journal and I ended up on the back of a pickup truck..."

You win, this story is great on so many levels, Meeting an artist or writer you admire in a situation unrelated to their art is the best, as you get past the stilted stage of conversation. Then there's the story of the husband with the glock, and also the fact that you clicked enough to stay in touch.

Bretnie wrote: "Gosh, yes, what is the right thing to ask or say if you DO meet an author you like?"

I actually deleted some writer meetings from my original post, since they were minimal interactions at book events. But since Bretnie brought this up...

At the only Samuel Delany book event I've been to, I told him how inspirational his books were when I was a scared closeted teen growing up in homophobic places. He was appreciative.

I met Joy Williams at a reading. She was charming and bubbly. During the Q&A, I asked if she had seen Robert Altman's film "Three Women", which could have been adapted from one of her novels (but was not, of course). She had not, but was intrigued.

Gretchen Worden, then curator at the Mutter Museum, was in town to promote her book on the museum. As you might expect, she was friendly and full of great anecdotes. Later, she shooed away the fan ahead of me in the book signing line, who was talking her ear off. We started talking shop on curiosities and books to look for. (A few years later, I sadly found out she'd passed away through an NPR obit while on a road trip.)

Also met William E. Jones through a collaborator. Interesting author and filmmaker, and super nice guy. (New novel out soon!)

Sounds like I've been lucky; I've met quite a few interesting writers, and they were mostly fun to engage with (even if briefly). I'm also friends with Alvin Orloff and M Kitchell (both locals), and have hung out with Trebor Healey (through a mutual good friend). No glocks though.

Bill wrote: "I met Brian Evenson at a book release event at a Brooklyn bar (for the limited edition of the novella Baby Leg). We chatted for awhile after his reading and book signing, and I commiserated with him on his tenure as department chair. He's the nicest guy (I know, you might not expect this from his fiction!) We've exchanged a little email since then, but not in ages. ..."

My new favorite author, Bill! Coincidentally I read his story "Black Bark" about 11 times yesterday, just to figure out how it works so well.

Bill, Gretchen Worden sounds so interesting!

That reminds me I’d LOVE to meet Mary Roach. I bet she is fascinating.

lark wrote: "My new favorite author, Bill! Coincidentally I read his story "Black Bark" about 11 times yesterday, just to figure out how it works so well."

I count Evenson as one of my very favorite authors. Now I feel bad because I've only read "Black Bark" once! Let me dig it up again...

And Evenson's new collection is out!

The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell

Can't wait.

Bill wrote: "And Evenson's new collection is out!

The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell

Can't wait."

I was in a group read of Miss MacIntosh, My Darling on Facebook. Evenson was part of the group, and commented at one point that he loved Young's phrase, "The glassy burning floor of hell", and said he would probably steal it for a title for something. Mission accomplished.

Whitney wrote: "I was in a group read of Miss MacIntosh, My Darling on Facebook. E..."

I have MMMD lined up for next year. Glad to hear that others are giving it attention.

That is a fun anecdote, Whitney! I love how these threads take such interesting turns...

Aubrey wrote: "Whitney wrote: "I was in a group read of Miss MacIntosh, My Darling on Facebook. E..."

I have MMMD lined up for next year. Glad to hear that others are giving it attention."

I highly recommend checking out the facebook group, which is public. The notes provided by our fearless leader remain. We did one chapter a day.

Years ago....I must have been 20 ish....Stephen R Donaldson spoke at the Community College I was attending. He was interesting and signed books when he was done. There was probably only 100 people or so there.

I have a friend who is an author - Mark Hussey - he’s a literature professor specialising in Virginia Woolf & writes mainly academic texts.
I’m not sure there are any authors I am dying to meet, any more than anybody else. I would rather be a fly on the wall for conversations between certain writers. Kazuo Ishiguro & his daughter for one.

There was a book event at London’s Southbank recently with Kazuo Ishiguro talking to his daughter (albeit I am sure a private conversation would be rather different)

An idea for another question of the week - another 'which author would you prefer' type of question that Marlon James and his editor Jake Morrissey talked about on their most recent podcast: Which book do you wish had been written by a different author? (They were only referring to dead authors.) For example, one they came up with was The Woman in White, written by Shirley Jackson. The idea being that the chosen writer could have done much more with the book than the actual author did.

I worked at a couple of bookstores in Palm Beach about 20 years ago and was able to meet a number of authors due to our clientele and our heavy book-signing event roster. My absolute favorite was hanging out with John Connolly for an afternoon, making fun of James Patterson with him. Patterson lived in Palm Beach and would frequently stop by the store to critique his books’ placement. Sometimes he’d even bring the actual author with him. (This was before he was crediting them).
I would have loved to meet Sir Terry Pratchett and still hold out hope I’ll meet Pat Barker.

Ahh - John Connolly is the greatest. I've been to his book signings in Harrisburg, PA, Portland, ME, and London, UK and have every book he has written. The largest book signings have been in Portland Maine, probably because his character Charlie Parker meets a lot of his clients in restaurants and bars there. Once I was lucky enough to have a glass of wine with him when we were both dining alone at a Portland restaurant, and a year or so later a cup of coffee at the Congress Street Starbucks when he was in Portland finishing up one of the Parker series. Connolly is great company.
I've met many authors at book signings. The ones I remember best (in a good way) are Bonnie Jo Campbell, Helen Phillips, Monica Wood, Kathleen Norris, Richard Russo, Ron Currie, Jr., Colum McCann, and Bill Roorbach.

I also worked on church events a couple of decades ago with the poet Julia Kasdorf, a lovely person.

The authors I would most like to meet/hear speak in person are Marilynne Robinson, C.E. Morgan, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Ali Smith, Rachel Kushner, and Mary Doria Russell, as well as many authors of translated fiction but that would require a number of translators as well, so I'll stick to those who write in English.