Quiara Alegría Hudes

Quiara Alegría Hudes, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and author of The White Hot, discusses her captivating debut novel centered on a mother named April seeking self-discovery. She explores the contradictions of female agency in literature, contrasting it with male narratives of spiritual quests. Hudes reflects on her family's migration from Puerto Rico and her mother's spiritual practices. Literary critic Maureen Corrigan reviews John Banville's ‘Even the Dead,’ adding to the rich tapestry of storytelling and identity explored in their conversation.

Quiara Alegría Hudes, Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright, composer, and novelist, discusses her new novel and creative shifts. She talks about why fiction was necessary, crafting an unapologetic antiheroine, and the role of rage and dissociation in survival. She also shares how music, form, and ten-day structure shaped the story.

Justin Chang, film critic, offers crisp takes on the German film Sound of Falling. Quiara Alegría Hudes, Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright and novelist, discusses her new novel about a mother who leaves to find herself. Rachel Eliza Griffiths, poet and memoirist, speaks about her memoir, trauma, dissociative identity, and caregiving after Salman Rushdie’s attack. Multiple short conversations span memory, art, and difficult choices.