Author Talk

Critically acclaimed, award-winning author Maggie O’Farrell will discuss her latest novel, Land, on Thursday, July 2, at Vanderbilt University. O’Farrell will be in conversation with author Ariel Lawhon beginning at 2 p.m. in the Commodore Ballroom at the Student Life Center. Read More

The rise of practical phrenology in the U.S. via the work of one 19th-century family, who not only built a cultural empire around the pseudoscience but made it central to various reform movements, will be the topic of a talk on Tuesday, April 14, at the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. Read More

Bestselling contemporary romance author Sarah Adams will discuss her latest book, In Your Dreams, on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, at Vanderbilt University. Adams will be in conversation with fellow author Ally Carter beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Commodore Ballroom at the Student Life Center. Read More

Elizabeth Gilbert, who has mined personal experience and deep observation for three bestselling memoirs, will discuss her latest work, "All the Way to the River: Love, Loss and Liberation," in a Sept. 17 talk at Vanderbilt University. Read More

R.F. Kuang, the "New York Times" bestselling author of "Babel," "Yellowface" and the Poppy War trilogy, will discuss her new novel, "Katabasis," on Sunday, Aug. 31, at Vanderbilt University. Read More