Stanford Fiction Writers in Conversation: An Evening with Molly Antopol

This is an Archive of a Past Event

Each program in this series will bring to center stage a distinguished author from the Stanford community. We will discuss a fiction writer’s process— from the genesis of an idea, to the nuts and bolts of the prose’s inner workings, to the editing and publication process—and engage the local community in a lively question-and-answer session.

The program will be hosted by Sara Houghteling, former Nancy Packer Lecturer in Continuing Studies.

An Evening with Molly Antopol
Molly Antopol has been praised as a writer of “seismic talent,” and compared by The New York Times to Grace Paley and Allegra Goodman. Antopol’s prize-winning debut short story collection The UnAmericans spans two centuries, three continents, and asks timeless questions of history and desire and what it means to be both American and un-American. Over the course of the evening, Antopol will share her insights into the writing and editorial process, and cover many of the essential tools of the writer’s craft: plot, point of view, structure, and the challenges of historical fiction. We will explore Antopol’s family’s own story—as refugees from Belarus and Communists in Los Angeles—to her research in Eastern Europe and Israel. Avid readers and aspiring writers alike will gain fresh insights into the art of fiction during this engaging discussion with one of this generation’s finest new literary voices.

Molly Antopol
Draper Lecturer in Fiction and Nonfiction, Stanford; Former Stegner Fellow
Molly Antopol has received the “5 Under 35” award from the National Book Foundation. Her writing has appeared on NPR’s This American Life and in The New Yorker, The Oxford American, The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, and elsewhere.

Sara Houghteling
Former Nancy Packer Lecturer in Continuing Studies, Stanford
Sara Houghteling is the author of Pictures at an Exhibition, a New York Times Editors’ Choice, San Francisco Chronicle Best of 2009 Book, and a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award.