Lit Riffs

Jonathan Lethem is the bestselling author of thirteen novels, including Brooklyn Crime Novel, The Feral Detective, and Motherless Brooklyn, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. His five story collections include Men and Cartoons and Lucky Alan, and his short fiction has appeared in the New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, and the Paris Review, among other publications, garnering a Pushcart Prize, a World Fantasy Award, and inclusion in The Best American Short Stories. The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship, he lives in Los Angeles and Maine.

Tom Perrotta is the bestselling author of ten works of fiction,
including Election and Little Children, both of which were made into critically acclaimed movies, and The Leftovers and Mrs. Fletcher, which were both adapted into series. He lives outside Boston.

Amanda Davis is a teacher, artist, writer, and innovator who uses her words and pictures to light up the world with kindness. Amanda is the author of 30,000 Stitches: The Inspiring Story of the National 9/11 Flag, illustrated by Sally Wern Comport and Moonlight Memories, illustrated by Michelle Jing Chan. Her poetry and illustrations are featured in the anthologies Friends & Anemones: Ocean Poems for Children and Gnomes and Ungnomes. Amanda also has over ten years of experience as a classroom teacher and was selected as Massachusetts Secondary Art Educator of the Year for 2020. She's passionate about telling stories that allow children to feel seen, comforted, and less alone. When she's not busy creating, you can find her sipping tea, petting dogs, and exploring the natural wonders of The Bay State with her family and her rescue pup, Cora.

Neal Pollack is the author of the bestselling memoir Alternadad and several books of satirical fiction, including The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature and the rock novel Never Mind the Pollacks. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and son.

Touré is an author who has published six books, including I Would Die 4 U: Why Prince Became an Icon and Who's Afraid of Post-Blackness?: What It Means to Be Black Now, a New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book. He was a TV host at MSNBC, MTV, and BET, and a correspondent at CNN. He hosts the podcast Touré Show. He has written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, The Nation, Vogue, and many other publications. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children. Follow his Instagram @Toure.