Today, Tayari Jones is interviewing Khaled Hosseini, the author of Kite Runner. She’s been compiling and polishing questions to pose:
When you go see an author, what types of things would you like to hear discussed?
— Tayari Jones (@tayari) September 21, 2013
Over 500 tickets have been sold for the event, so I want it to be informative and fun.
— Tayari Jones (@tayari) September 21, 2013
First of all, I love Tayari’s approach to life. I really enjoyed meeting her in person during the release of her novel, Silver Sparrow. She was vibrant and full of encouragement. I follow her musings and world traveling via social media, and I always find her updates authentic, thoughtful, or inspiring.
The tweets above are no exception. She realizes Hosseini may be tired from a long flight, and she concedes the participants may not want to hear the standard questions asked of authors in general, or of this author in particular. I appreciate her open-minded, open-hearted approach to frame this experience for all involved.
I responded to Tayari on Twitter and FB. Here are a few questions I’d want an author to discuss:
- Talk about your writing journey. Not just professionally, but personally. How/why did you begin writing?
- You’re best known for {insert topic or genre here}. What other {topic or genre} would you be willing to tackle? Why?
- What’s the dream project you’d love to write? (But maybe you haven’t b/c of time, expertise, doubt, etc.).
- Do you ever have to balance writing authentically vs. writing for commercial success? If so, how do you navigate that? In other words, do you find yourself writing for the audience, more than self?
- Regarding an author’s favorite piece: What makes this piece your favorite? What do you hope readers will take from this work?
- Especially of fiction writers: What is the writer’s role in today’s society?
- Especially for seasoned writers: How has your approach to writing changed as your life circumstances have changed?
That’s my list! If you could pose any question to an author, what would you ask?