Writers (Video)

Jesmyn Ward has been hailed as the standout writer of her generation, proving her “fearless and toughly lyrical” voice in novels, memoir, and nonfiction. She's been called “the new Toni Morrison.” Ward is a MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient and in 2017, she became the first woman and the first person of color to win two National Book Awards for Fiction—joining the ranks of William Faulkner, Saul Bellow, John Cheever, Philip Roth, and John Updike. Her books include "Let Us Descend," "Sing, Unburied, Sing," "Salvage the Bones," and "Navigate Your Stars." The professor of creative writing at Tulane University joins host Dean Nelson for this evocative conversation as part of the 30th anniversary of the Writer's Symposium by the Sea at Point Loma Nazarene University. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40217]

Sandra Cisneros is a Latina American short-story writer and poet regarded as a key figure in Chicano literature. She is best known for her first novel, "The House on Mango Street," and her subsequent short story collection, "Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories." Her work experiments with literary forms that investigate emerging subject positions, which Cisneros herself attributes to growing up in a context of cultural hybridity and economic inequality that endowed her with unique stories to tell. She is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellowship, the USA Literary Award, and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, As part of the 30th anniversary of the Writer's Symposium by the Sea, Cisneros joins host Dean Nelson for this passionate conversation at Point Loma Nazarene University. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40218]

Author, screenwriter, philanthropist, journalist and broadcaster Mitch Albom is an inspiration around the world. He is the author of numerous books of fiction and nonfiction, which have collectively sold more than 40 million copies in 48 languages worldwide. He has written eight number-one New York Times bestsellers — including "Tuesdays with Morrie," the bestselling memoir of all time. As part of the 30th anniversary of the Writer's Symposium by the Sea, Albom joins host Dean Nelson for this far-reaching conversation at Point Loma Nazarene University. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40219]

New York Times bestselling author Anne Lamott returns to the 2024 Writer's Symposium by the Sea to talk about her new book "Somehow: Thoughts on Love." In a funny and spirited conversation with host Dean Nelson, Lamott talks about grief, addiction, hope, faith and love. Lamott is author of "Bird by Bird," "Grace," "Plan B" and "Hard Laughter." Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 39512]

As part of the 2024 Writer's Symposium by the Sea, New York Times bestselling author Amor Towles talks about his new book "Table for Two" with Dean Nelson, director of Point Loma Nazarene University's journalism program. Towles is best known for his novels "Rules of Civility," "The Lincoln Highway" and "A Gentleman in Moscow," which was recently adapted as a television series starring Ewan McGregor as Count Rostov. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 39666]

As part of the 2024 Writer's Symposium by the Sea, novelist, poet, and memoirist Paulette Jiles explores her life as a writer, including her newest book, "Chenneville: A Novel of Murder, Loss, and Vengeance." Jiles is known for her books "Enemy Women Stormy Weather," "The Color of Lightning," "Lighthouse Island," and "News of the World," which was a finalist for the 2016 National Book Award. Jiles talks with Ben Cater, director of the Point Loma Nazarene University Honors Program. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 39009]

As part of the 2024 Writer's Symposium by the Sea, writers Nick Hornby and Susan Orlean have a far-reaching conversation about their work, inspirations and human connections with Dean Nelson, director of Point Loma Nazarene University's journalism program. Hornby is an award-winning author and Oscar-nominated screenwriter whose books include the best-selling novels "High Fidelity" and "About A Boy." His latest nonfiction book is "Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius." Orlean is the New York Times best-selling author of seven books, including "The Library Book," "Rin Tin Tin," and "The Orchid Thief." Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 39011]

Poet Laureate Jason Magabo Perez discusses his work, including his newest book, "I ask about what falls away," as well as his time as San Diego's Poet Laureate with UC San Diego University Librarian Erik Mitchell. Perez is an Associate Professor and Director of Ethnic Studies at California State University San Marcos. He is the author of “Phenomenology of Superhero” and “This is for the Mostless.” He's a recipient of a Challenge America Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and previous Artist-in-Residence at the Center for Art and Thought. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Show ID: 39322]

UC San Diego Library's Signature Event Series kicks off with a conversation with filmmaker and author Mason Engel. Engel talks about his current work, “Books Across America,” as well as his past films and his novel “2084.” The discussion is moderated by Audrey Geisel University Librarian Erik T. Mitchell. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Show ID: 39321]

What's the future look like with a changing climate? And who will lead the way to help us mitigate the environmental, economic and social impacts? In this program, internationally acclaimed author Kim Stanley Robinson talks about what motivates him to write science fiction that focuses on the environment. Robinson is author of more than 20 books, including "The Ministers for the Future," the "Mars" trilogy and "2312," which was a New York Times bestseller nominated for all seven of the major science fiction awards — a first for any book. He was named a “Hero of the Environment” by Time magazine and asteroid 72432 was named “Kimrobinson” in his honor. The program also features four UC San Diego students who talk about their research on dealing with climate change. Series: "Writers" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38733]

As part of the 2023 Writer's Symposium by the Sea, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Maria Hinojosa talks with host Dean Nelson about her work, including her experience being the first Latina in many newsrooms she worked in. She has written three books: "Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America," "Raising Raul: Adventures Raising Myself and My Son," and "Crews: Gang Members Talk with Maria Hinojosa." Her career includes reporting for PBS, CBS, WNBC, CNN, NPR, and anchoring the Emmy Award-winning talk show "Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One." She is anchor and executive producer of the Peabody Award-winning show Latino USA. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 38121]

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anthony Doerr sits down for a fun and heartfelt conversation about what inspires him with host Dean Nelson as part of the Writer's Symposium By the Sea. Doerr won the Pulitzer Prize and Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction for "All the Light We Cannot See," which was on the New York Times bestseller list for over 200 weeks. His other works include "Cloud Cuckoo Land," "About Grace," "Four Seasons in Rome," and the short story collections "The Shell Collector" and "Memory Wall." Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 38119]

Poet, novelist and Native American scholar N. Scott Momaday has spent decades bringing his culture and the landscape alive through his writing. He received a Pulitzer Prize for his first novel, "House Made of Dawn." His books include "The Way to Rainy Mountain," "In the Bear's House," "In the Presence of the Sun: Stories and Poems, 1961-1991," and "The Gourd Dancer." He is also the editor of various anthologies and collections centered on his Kiowa heritage. As part of the Writer's Symposium By the Sea, host Dean Nelson sat down with Momaday at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to talk about his life in literature. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 38122]

As part of the UC San Diego Author Talk Series, class of '76 alumnus and two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter and author Rex Pickett talks about his most recent novel, “The Archivist,” a murder mystery that takes a deep dive into the archiving world set in a fictional Geisel Library. Joining Pickett in the discussion are Brian Schottlaender, UCSD University Librarian Emeritus, Caryn Radick, Digital Archivist, Rutgers University, and UCSD's University Librarian Erik Mitchell. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Education] [Show ID: 38519]

Cornel West, Ph.D., is a prominent and provocative intellectual. He is Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary and has written 20 books and edited 13. He's best known for his classics, "Race Matters and Democracy Matters," and for his memoir, "Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud." His most recent book, "Black Prophetic Fire," offers an unflinching look at nineteenth- and twentieth-century African American leaders and their visionary legacies. As part of the annual Writer's Symposium by the Sea, director of Point Loma Nazarene University's journalism program Dean Nelson has an engaging and inspiring conversation with West about his lifelong work as a theologian, civil rights activist and author. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 37097]

David Brooks is an op-ed columnist for the New York Times. He is a commentator on The PBS Newshour, NPR's All Things Considered, and NBC's Meet the Press. His books include "Bobos in Paradise," "The Social Animal," and "The Road to Character." His latest book is "The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life," a New York Times No. 1 bestseller. As part of the annual Writer's Symposium by the Sea, director of Point Loma Nazarene University's journalism program Dean Nelson has a candid, humorous and inspiring conversation with Brooks about his lifelong work as a journalist and writer, how events in his life shaped who he is today and his spiritual journey. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 37096]

Nadia Bolz-Weber is an ordained Lutheran Pastor, founder of House for All Sinners & Saints in Denver, Colorado, and the author of three New York Times bestselling memoirs: "Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith Of A Sinner & Saint," "Accidental Saints: Finding God In All The Wrong People," and "SHAMELESS: A Sexual Reformation." In 2017, Bolz-Weber won the coveted Audience Award at the Nantucket Project. Her latest project is a podcast, "The Confessional with Nadia Bolz-Weber," a partnership with PRX and The Moth. As part of the annual Writer's Symposium by the Sea, director of Point Loma Nazarene University's journalism program Dean Nelson has a witty, probing and spiritual conversation with Bolz-Weber about her evolution from youthful rebellion to her journey of spirituality and compassion. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 37095]

“I'm not a racist, but…” In their new book, Racial Resentment in the Political Mind (University of Chicago Press), Goldman School Dean David C. Wilson and Notre Dame Professor of Political Science Darren Davis explore the concept of racial resentment. They argue that while prejudice and racism are fundamentally rooted in American politics, so are non-racial motivations, such as a belief in a “just” world, where people get what they deserve and deserve what they get. This instinct to make judgments about “deservingness” in politics often animates those who believe they are “not racist,” but tend to oppose policies and ideas that advance racial justice, and blame racial-ethnic minorities for their social, political, and economic positions. Join Dean Wilson and Professor Davis in conversation with Assistant Vice Chancellor Dan Mogulof about their research findings and why a nuanced conversation about race is critical to democracy.  Series: "Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 37781]

Joel Dimsdale discusses his latest book “Dark Persuasion: A History of Brainwashing from Pavlov to Social Media,” which traces the evolution of brainwashing from its beginnings in torture and religious conversion into the age of neuroscience and social media. Dimsdale is distinguished professor emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego. Series: "Writers" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Show ID: 37324]

Ilan Stavans of Amherst College, discusses The Seventh Heaven: Travels through Jewish Latin America (2020). In this travelogue, Stavans talks to families of the desaparecidos in Buenos Aires, to “Indian Jews,” and to people affiliated with neo-Nazi groups in Patagonia. He also visits Spain to understand the long-term effects of the Inquisition, the American Southwest habitat of “secret Jews,” and Israel, where immigrants from Latin America have reshaped the Jewish state. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 37322]

Barry Scott Wimpfheimer specializes in the Talmud and other Rabbinic Literature. His work focuses on the Babylonian Talmud as a work of law and literature. Part scripture and part commentary, it is written in a hybrid of Hebrew and Aramaic and is an unlikely bestseller. The Talmud has remained in print for centuries and is more popular today than ever. Barry Scott Wimpfheimer discusses his book, The Talmud, A Biography, which tells the remarkable story of this ancient book and explains why it has endured for almost two millennia. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35805]

Similarities between Veep and The West Wing, the perils of drawing TV plot lines from real political events, and the connection between the speed metal genre and today’s news cycle all arise in this conversation between writer/executive producer David Mandel, writer Eli Attie, and Carsey-Wolf Director Patrice Petro about Veep and The West Wing. In this video, Attie and Mandel share their admiration for one another’s work, and discuss the changing television landscape. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35771]

The narrative engine of Hill Street Blues, lessons in brevity from writing for advertising, and structural differences between Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU arise in this conversation between executive producer/writer Dick Wolf and Carsey-Wolf Center director Patrice Petro. In this video, Wolf describes his first experiences in a TV writing room and the foundations of the record-breaking run of Law & Order: SVU. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35772]

An internationally celebrated American novelist, short story writer, poet, and activist, Walker’s work has been translated into more than two dozen languages, and her books have sold more than fifteen million copies. She wrote The Color Purple, for which she won the National Book Award for hardcover fiction, and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Walker’s collected work includes poetry, novels, short fiction, essays, critical essays, and children’s stories. She was the recipient of a Rosenthal Foundation award and an American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters award for In Love and Trouble. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Show ID: 35143]

In her new book, Ecopiety, Sarah McFarland Taylor offers an absorbing examination of the intersections of environmental sensibilities, contemporary expressions of piety and devotion, and American popular culture. Ecopiety evidences the important "work" taking place as mediated popular culture plays an integral role in framing contemporary American environmental moral and ethical sensibilities. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Show ID: 35620]

Pico Iyer was named “arguably the world’s greatest living travel writer,” by Outside, and is the author of over a dozen books and countless essays. The New Yorker called Iyer an “intellectual and spiritual adventurer.” Iyer explores these two intertwined spheres—the inner and the outer—in his writings and in three recent TED Talks, which have racked up some eight million views. Iyer is the author of two novels and ten works of nonfiction, including such perennial favorites as Video Night in Kathmandu, The Lady and the Monk: Four Seasons in Kyoto, and The Global Soul. His best-selling 2008 book, The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, was drawn from decades of talks and travels with the Tibetan leader. Iyer's newest book, Autumn Light, out in April 2019, is a far-reaching meditation on impermanence, mortality, and grief that draws extensively on his more than 30 years of living in Japan. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Show ID: 35142]

Sonia Nazario is an award-winning journalist whose stories have tackled some of this country’s most intractable problems — hunger, drug addiction, immigration — and have won some of the most prestigious journalism and book awards. She is best known for "Enrique's Journey," her story of a Honduran boy’s struggle to find his mother in the U.S. Published as a series in the Los Angeles Times, "Enrique's Journey" won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 2003. It was turned into a book by Random House and became a national bestseller. Her recent humanitarian efforts to get lawyers for unaccompanied migrant children led to her selection as the 2015 Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Award recipient by the Advocates for Human Rights. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Show ID: 35141]

Writer/Producer David Mandel talked with Pollock Theater Director Matt Ryan about the challenges and successes involved in breaking the mold of Seinfeld and transporting the sitcom to an alternate universe. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35729]

Writer/Producer David Mandel talked with Pollock Theater Director Matt Ryan about the challenges and successes involved in breaking the mold of Seinfeld and transporting the sitcom to an alternate universe. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35729]

Ayelet Gundar-Goshen is a writer and Clinical Psychologist from Tel Aviv University. In her talk, she delves into the world of her newest novel, The Liar. Written with propulsive energy, dark humor, and deep insight, The Liar reveals the far-reaching consequences of even our smallest choices, and explores the hidden corners of human nature to reveal the liar, and the truth-teller, in all of us. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Show ID: 35471]

What does it mean to be a Jewish woman in America? Pamela Nadell, American University, talks about her book that looks at the history of Jewish women from colonial times to today. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Show ID: 35472]

This lecture by South African writer, playwright and academic Jane Taylor considers Ludwig Wittgenstein’s paper, “On Certainty” in which the philosopher engages with the taken-for-granted in everyday thought. Taylor notes, “In our contemporary context of the precarious, on one hand, and the political vehemence of conviction, on the other, it seems timely to pay attention to the faltering and tentative mode of regard and thought of one of the twentieth century’s most enigmatic thinkers.” Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35149]

As an increasingly polarized America fights over the legacy of racism, Susan Neiman, author of the contemporary philosophical classic Evil in Modern Thought, asks what we can learn from the Germans about confronting the evils of the past. In the wake of white nationalist attacks, the ongoing debate over reparations, and the controversy surrounding Confederate monuments and the contested memories they evoke, Susan Neiman’s Learning from the Germans delivers an urgently needed perspective on how a country can come to terms with its historical wrongdoings. She combines philosophical reflection, personal stories, and interviews with both Americans and Germans who are grappling with the evils of their own national histories. Series: "Writers" [Show ID: 35015]

UCSB Script to Screen interviewed this year's Emmy-nominated writers before the 2019 Sublime Primetime panel discussion at the Writers Guild Theater in Los Angeles. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35180]

UCSB Script to Screen interviewed this year's Emmy-nominated writers before the 2019 Sublime Primetime panel discussion at the Writers Guild Theater in Los Angeles. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35180]

In "Bad Rabbi and Other Strange but True Stories from the Yiddish Press" Eddy Portnoy mines century-old Yiddish newspapers to expose the seamy underbelly of pre-WWII New York and Warsaw, the two major centers of Yiddish culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34806]

Rachel Kadish is an American writer of fiction and non-fiction, author of several novels and a novella. Her fiction work has won the National Jewish Book Award and the Julia Ward Howe Prize, the John Gardner Fiction Prize, and the Association of Jewish Libraries Fiction Award. She discusses her latest book, "The Weight of Ink," a work of historical fiction set in London of the 1660s and of the early twenty-first century. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34680]

The former editor of Poetry Magazine, Christian Wiman is both a poet and an essayist who teaches Literature and Religion at Yale Divinity School. In an interview he discussed what he hopes readers might take from his work: I have no illusions about adding to sophisticated theological thinking. But I think there are a ton of people out there who are what you might call unbelieving believers, people whose consciousness is completely modern and yet who have this strong spiritual hunger in them. I would like to say something helpful to those people. His most recent book is He Held Radical Light: The Art of Faith, the Faith of Art, released in 2018. Other books include My Bright Abyss, Ambition and Survival, Every Riven Thing, Hammer is the Prayer, Hard Night, and The Long Home. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33947]

E.J. Dionne writes about politics in a twice-weekly column for the Washington Post, and is a government professor at Georgetown University, a visiting professor at Harvard University, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution. He is a frequent commentator on politics for National Public Radio. Before joining The Post in 1990 as a political reporter, Dionne spent 14 years at The New York Times, where he covered politics and reported from Albany, Washington, Paris, Rome and Beirut. His coverage of the Vatican was described by the Los Angeles Times as the best in two decades. In 2014-2015, Dionne was the vice president of the American Political Science Association. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 33946]

More recently known for her Black Panther and Wakanda Forever Marvel Comics, Nnedi Okorafor is an international award-winning novelist of African-based science fiction, fantasy and magical realism for both children and adults. Born in the United States to two Nigerian immigrant parents, Nnedi is known for weaving African culture into creative evocative settings and memorable characters. In a profile of Nnedi’s work titled, “Weapons of Mass Creation,” The New York Times called Nnedi’s imagination “stunning.” Game of Thrones author, George R.R. Martin and HBO are currently developing a show based on her World Fantasy Award Winning novel, Who Fears Death. Ta-Nehisi Coates has passed the torch on writing the Black Panther comics to Nnedi, and the women warriors from the mega-hit movie were such fan favorites that Marvel has tasked Nnedi to create a new spinoff comic, Wakanda Forever. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33945]

In The Lion Seeker and The Mandela Plot, two powerful novels full of raw, vividly-drawn characters, Kenneth Bonert has explored the unique and fascinating story of the Jews of South Africa. In this talk he explains why he became a novelist and the inspiration that he drew from growing up in Johannesburg. He talks about the history of his family and of the Jewish community in South Africa and reflect on his literary goals such as capturing the authentic voices of his characters and examining their moral and political struggles. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34564]

Author, Tova Mirvis reads from her memoir, The Book of Separation, which describes a woman who leaves her Orthodox Jewish faith and her marriage and sets out to navigate the terrifying, liberating terrain of a newly mapless world. She is the author of three novels and her essays have appeared in various anthologies and newspapers. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34065]