Monday-Friday, Mar. 23-27
12:15-1:00 pm each day
Martin Family Hall
The annual Writers’ Week is a series of lunchtime talks by professional and student writers.
Monday: Andy Weir, author of New York Times bestseller The Martian.
It’s the book you’ve been seeing on everyone’s bedside table and in every teen’s backpack! A self-described geek who loves nothing more than studying “orbital dynamics” in his free time, Weir has managed to use his immense smarts to write a book that reads “like a rocket ship afire.” We feel fortunate that Weir has graciously agreed to take time from his new-found stardom to come read and answer our questions. Don’t miss this superstar’s visit!
Tuesday: Stephanie Kuehn, winner of the prestigious Morris Award and author of young adult psychological thrillers such as Delicate Monsters, Complicit and Charm and Strange.
For any teenager, or anyone who’s been a teenager, Stephanie Kuehn’s intriguing, haunting fiction is sure to resonate. A Berkeley native and Bay Area mother of three, Kuehn writes books that ask some of life’s biggest, most provocative questions. Her work is smart and well-structured, each novel unfolding in unexpected ways that will have you reading well into the night.
Wednesday: Zoe Ferraris, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and author of Saudi-based mysteries including The Kingdom of Strangers and Finding Nouf.
Zoe Ferraris takes us deep into Saudi Arabia as her gripping series of mysteries elucidates cultural differences while speaking to human nature as a whole. Intensely readable, Ferraris’s mysteries are absorbing and exciting. Menlo is very lucky to have a writer of such serious import and talent.
Thursday: Anya Kamenetz, author of The Test: How to Survive our National Obsession with Standardized Testing and DIYU: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education.
Who doesn’t want to hear the woman Huffington Post calls a “game changer in education”? Anya Kamenetz is hip, intelligent and not afraid to take a very close look at the way we are taught and measured. A voice of the upcoming generation, Anya has important points about debt, standardized testing and other issues we should all think on a little more! Celebrated columnist for Fast Company Magazine, The Village Voice and other exceptional publications, Kamenetz will round out our week with incisive nonfiction that matters.
Friday: Menlo students at the Student Literary Cafe.
Hear from Menlo’s own writers and thinkers as they read their work!