Celebrated author Claire Messud with memoirist Dani Shapiro.

American Ancestors/NEHGS and Boston Public Library present this virtual event in the American Stories, Inspiration Today author series.

Join us for this glimpse into the beloved novelist’s inner world, shaped by family, art, and literature: a discussion of Claire Messud’s latest work, Kant’s Little Prussian Head and Other Reasons Why I Write: An Autobiography in Essays. In twenty-six intimate, brilliant, and funny essays, Messud reflects on her own life and family and meditates on contemporary classic works of literature as she explores her own drive to write.

Claire Messud is the author of six works of fiction including the New York Times bestsellers The Emperor’s Children and The Burning Girl, which was also a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize

Moderator Dani Shapiro is novelist, memoirist, and creator and host of the Family Secrets podcast

This virtual author event is free the public.