Aspen Words Author Talk: Ayana Mathis
Throughout the summer and fall, working writers from around the country arrive in the Roaring Fork Valley for a special opportunity to nurture their creative spirit as participants in a program created by Aspen Words in partnership with the Catto Shaw Foundation.
Ayana Mathis received her MFA at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop where she became the first African-American woman to hold the position of Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing. Mathis’s first novel, “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie” (Knopf, 2012), was a New York Times Bestseller, a 2013 New York Times Notable Book, NPR Best Book of 2013, and second selection for Oprah’s Book Club. She is the recipient of fellowships from the New York Public Library’s Cullman Center, Civitella Ranieri Foundation, and Bogliasco Foundation; and was a 2020-2021 American Academy in Berlin Prize Fellow. Her second novel, “A Violent Woman,” is forthcoming with Knopf.
Enjoy this live conversation between the author and moderator Ellie Scott, recorded on July 20, 2021, on the lawn of the Red Brick Center for the Arts, as part of the 2021 Aspen Words Writers in Residence program, and sponsored by Aspen Public Radio.