Matt Bell on Writing – with Kirstin Chen and Jac Jemc

An evening of writers talking about writing and celebrating the publication of "Refuse To Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts," by Matt Bell, published by Soho Press. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis. You can purchase copies of "Refuse To Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/refuse-to-be-done-ht-write-rewrite-a/ Matt Bell is the author most recently of the novels "Appleseed"(a New York Times Notable Book of 2021), "Scrapper" (a Michigan Notable Book), and "In the House upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods"(a finalist for the Young Lions Fiction Award). His stories have appeared in Best American Mystery Stories, Esquire, Tin House, Conjunctions, Fairy Tale Review, Gulf Coast, and many other publications. A native of Michigan, he now teaches creative writing at Arizona State University. Kirstin Chen is the author of "Soy Sauce for Beginners" and "Bury What We Cannot Take." Her new novel, "Counterfeit," is forthcoming from William Morrow/HarperCollins in June 2022. She has received fellowships and awards from the Steinbeck Fellows Program, Sewanee, Hedgebrook, Djerassi, the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, the Toji Cultural Foundation, and the National Arts Council of Singapore. She teaches creative writing at the University of San Francisco and in Ashland University’s Low-Residency MFA Program. Born and raised in Singapore, she currently lives in San Francisco. Jac Jemc is the author of "False Bingo," "The Grip of It," "My Only Wife," and "A Different Bed Every Time." "My Only Wife" was a finalist for the 2013 PEN / Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction and winner of the Paula Anderson Book Award, and her story collection "False Bingo" won the Chicago Review of Books Award for fiction, was a Lambda Award finalist, and was longlisted for The Story Prize. Jemc has been the recipient of two Illinois Arts Council Professional Development Grants and currently teaches creative writing at UC San Diego. This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation