Advertisement

arts entertainmentBooks

David Brooks, Melinda Gates, Maria Semple and more are coming to Arts and Letters Live 

It's another season of literary bliss for Dallas as the schedule features top novelists and more.

Celebrated novelists, a Pulitzer-winning historian, some Oprah friends and a touch of Hollywood are part of the just-announced spring season of Arts & Letters Live, the Dallas Museum of Art's literary and performing arts series.

Highlights include:

Dave Eggers and Mokhtar Alkhanshali

Eggers is the literary giant who spoke in Richardson earlier this year about The Circle; Alkhanshali is the remarkable subject of Eggers' The Monk of Mokha, which offers lessons in coffee history, the war in Yemen and Alkhanshali's incredible determination. (Jan. 11)

Advertisement
News Roundups

Catch up on the day's news you need to know.

Or with:

Brad Meltzer

The best-selling thriller author will release his nonfiction book The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot Against George Washington and the Birth of American Counterintelligence in January. Former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton are fans. (Jan. 15)

Advertisement

Lauren Groff and Tessa Hadley

Lauren Groff will visit Dallas on Jan. 27 as part of the Arts & Letters Live series.
Lauren Groff will visit Dallas on Jan. 27 as part of the Arts & Letters Live series. (Invision/AP / Brad Barket)

Groff, author of Fates and Furies, was named one of America's best young novelists by Granta magazine. Hadley, author of Late in the Day, has written several New York Times notable novels. (Jan. 27)

Dani Shapiro

The novelist, memoirist and Oprah Winfrey guest will present Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy. (Feb. 4)

Advertisement

Reyna Grande and Valeria Luiselli

Grande's memoir A Dream Called Home is about the emotional rifts that opened when her family was divided by immigration; she'll be in conversation with Luiselli, whose Lost Children Archive will publish in February. Publisher's Weekly says, "Her superb novel makes a devastating case for compassion by documenting the tragic shortcomings of the immigration process." (Feb. 25)

Jessie Burton

Her novel The Miniaturist was made into a three-part miniseries that aired as part of Masterpiece on PBS. She'll appear with Susie Rogers and Kevin Mulvany who made miniatures for the series. (March 6)

Maria Semple

Dallas gets a visit from the author of the wildly popular Where'd You Go Bernadette days after the movie version, starring Cate Blanchett, is scheduled to hit theaters. (March 26)

Advertisement

Madeline Miller and Mary Norris

Circe, a fresh imagining of the story of the mythological figure, has been one of the most-lauded novels of the year; Norris is the New Yorker copy editor who wrote Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen and the forthcoming Greek to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen. (April 9)

Susan Choi and Nell Freudenberger

Susan Choi
Susan Choi(Heather Weston)

Pulitzer finalist Choi (American Woman) will be discussing her forthcoming novel Trust Exercise; she'll be paired with Freudenberger, a 2010 New Yorker "20 Under 40" writer, whose forthcoming novel is Lost and Wanted. (April 14)

Rick Bragg and Helen Ellis

It'll be a celebration of things Southern as the Pulitzer-winning journalist, whose best-selling and recipe-filled memoir is The Best Cook in the World: Tales From My Momma's Table, is paired with Ellis, the author of American Housewife (which NPR called a "better cure for winter blahs than hot chocolate.") Her new collection is Southern Lady Code. (April 17)

Advertisement

Tayari Jones

The Oprah's Book Club selection (and one of critic Chris Vognar's top books of 2018) makes a return appearance to Dallas for An American Marriage. (April 23)

Advertisement

David Brooks

The New York Times columnist will be talking about The Second Mountain. (April 24)

Melinda Gates

Melinda Gates
Melinda Gates( Pivotal Ventures / Jason Bell)

The one-time Ursuline Academy valedictorian will talk about her debut, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World. (May 3)

Jared Diamond

He won a Pulitzer for Guns, Germs and SteelUpheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis is due to be released in May. (May 13)

Advertisement

Also

In addition, Elaine Pagels, who canceled her November event for Why Religion?, has rescheduled for Jan. 6. And David Sedaris will be back for his 10th year on May 1.

Details

Ticket prices vary and go on sale for DMA members on Dec. 4 and for the general public at 10 a.m. Dec. 7 at DMA.org/all, where full details on these and additional events can be found.