Harbingers of Spring: Authors

Top: Susan Orlean, Laurie Frankel, Chigozie Obioma. Lower: Sarah Smarsh, Madeline Miller, C.J. Chivers.

The authors are coming! The Des Moines Public Library announced today the lineup of speakers for this spring’s AViD (Authors Visiting in Des Moines) Series, now in its 19th year. Other than the first program, all presentations in this free, public series begin at 7 p.m. in the Central Library.

Included are best-selling writers, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, a National Book Award finalist, a Man Booker Prize finalist and a NAACP Image Award winner, and the authors of some of 2018’s most revered and acclaimed works of fiction and nonfiction. We’re looking forward to all of these:

Susan Orlean – Saturday, March 30
The library is partnering with the DSM Book Festival to bring author Susan Orlean as a featured speaker at the festival in Capital Square. Orlean is the author of the acclaimed 2018 best-seller “The Library Book,” as well as the 1998 nonfiction classic “The Orchid Thief.”

Laurie Frankel – Thursday, April 18

Frankel is the author of the best-selling novel “This Is How It Always Is,” the story of a family struggling with the challenges of raising a transgender child. The author is the mother of a transgender child, as well.

Chigozie Obioma – Monday, April 22

The Nigerian-born author of the 2015 Man Booker Prize finalist and NAACP Image Award-winning “The Fishermen” releases his second novel, the much-anticipated “An Orchestra of Minorities,” today, Jan. 8. Obioma was named one of Foreign Policy magazine’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers in 2015.

Sarah Smarsh – Thursday, May 2

The journalist’s first book, “Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth,” was an instant best-seller upon release in 2018 and was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Madeline Miller – Thursday, May 16
Madeline Miller’s 2018 novel, “Circe,” was a New York Times No. 1 best-seller, appeared on dozens of best-of lists, and was named the Booklist 2018 book of the year. The novel, a retelling of the story of the goddess Circe, recasts the infamous figure from “The Odyssey” into a feminist hero.

C.J. Chivers – Thursday, May 23

Chivers is a respected war correspondent and a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner for The New York Times, including the 2017 award for feature writing. His 2018 book, “The Fighters,” tells the story of American combatants in the Middle East, exploring the consequences of military decisions.