Anna North's Blog

Hi and welcome to my page! I'll be posting some of the books I'm reading or want to read, and I'm also happy to answer questions about my new book Outlawed, which comes out in January 2021, or my previous novels The Life and Death of Sophie Stark and America Pacifica (or about writing and reading in general). Thanks for visiting!

The Life and Death of Sophie Stark comes out in paperback on June 14, 2016! You can preorder a copy from a variety of sellers here. Also, some events!

 

Sunday, June 19, 4 PM

BookCourt, Brooklyn

Conversation with Larissa Pham, Eric Sasson, and Amy Rose Spiegel on writing about sex and sexuality

 

Monday, June 20, 7 PM

Videology, Brooklyn

Conversation with Heidi Ewing, co-director of DETROPIA, Jesus Camp, and Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You

 

Friday, August 26

Women and Children First, Chicago

Reading and conversation with Rebecca Makkai

 

Very excited to hang out with these wonderful writers, and a wonderful filmmaker! Come say hi!

Thanks so much to everyone who came out to the New York launch party at BookCourt! Here���s what���s coming up for the next month or so, Sophie Stark-wise:

June 3, 7 PM: Reading and conversation with Maggie Shipstead at Book Soup, Los Angeles, CA

June 7, 11:30 AM: Panel with Christine Sneed, Shanna Mahin, and Charles Finch at Printers Row Lit Fest, Chicago, IL

June 18, 7 PM: Panel with Sarah Heyward and Carolita Johnson at the Center for Fiction, New York, NY

June 25: Pete���s Reading Series, Brooklyn, NY

June 30, 8 PM: Flint Fiction Reading Series, New York, NY

Will update with more details and possibly some more events soon!

Before my launch reading at BookCourt on May 21, I’ll also be reading at a couple of other events in New York. Come hear me, Nina Maclaughlin, Ariel Schrag, and musical guest Shilpa Ray at The Finest Hour, 33 Flatbush Ave., at 8 PM on May 8. I’ll also be reading at the Twitter Fiction Festival, with Myke Cole, Lyndsay Faye, Gayle Forman, Daniel José Older, Nick Turner, and Michael Arthur, on May 13 (this one is ticketed). Both promise to be a lot of fun — if you happen to be in New York, come check them out!

Check out the new Tumblr for The Life and Death of Sophie Stark! It has reviews, news, and a bunch of extras, like this playlist for the book and this snippet of the original ending. More to come as we approach publication.

If you’re in New York or LA, you can hear me read from and talk about The Life and Death of Sophie Stark pretty soon. Save the dates:

May 21: BookCourt, Brooklyn, NY (in conversation with Isaac Fitzgerald)

June 3: Book Soup, Los Angeles, CA (in conversation with Maggie Shipstead)

I’ll also be at the Printers Row Lit Fest in Chicago, June 6-7 — more details on that to come!

I'm excited to report that my second novel, The Life and Death of Sophie Stark, will be published by Blue Rider Press on May 19, 2015! It’s the life story of a film director, told by the people who love her most — people she sometimes harms as she incorporates them and their histories into her work. Unlike America Pacifica, it is not set in a bleak, post-climate change future. Like America Pacifica, it is about a woman who has difficulty making her way in the world, though Sophie’s difficulties may be more of her own making than Darcy’s. You can, in a few months, be the judge. Much more information about events, etc. to come, but for now you can preorder The Life and Death of Sophie Stark here, if you so desire.

I'm very excited to be reading in the Sackett St. Writers' Workshop Reading Series at BookCourt in Brooklyn on Monday, Sept. 24. I'll be reading with Catherine Chung, Aryn Kyle, and Joe Sullivan — come see us do our thing!

Also at BookCourt, this Saturday (Aug. 25), is the release party and reading for the lovely Hanna Pylväinen's debut novel, We Sinners. Go help Hanna celebrate her awesome new book.

Excited to announce that I'll be reading at Malaprop's in Asheville on August 9 with the wonderful Eric Sasson, author of the short story collection Margins of Tolerance. And at The Regulator in Durham on August 13 with the equally wonderful Kristen-Paige Madonia, whose debut novel Fingerprints of You comes out August 7. Come see us if you're in NC, and wherever you are, do check out Kristen-Paige and Eric's books!

Also, I just finished Madeline McDonnell's sad, funny collection There Is Something Inside, It Wants To Get Out, and you should read it if you like good books. It reminded me of Lorrie Moore's Who Will Run The Frog Hospital, but is also its own awesome thing. I recommend it highly.

I'm excited to be moderating a panel at Comic-Con on Thursday, July 12, at 3 PM. It's called "Hungry for Dystopia," and will feature panelists Neal Shusterman (Unwind trilogy), Lissa Price (Starters), Paolo Bacigalupi (The Drowned Cities), Michael Grant (BZRK), Daniel H. Wilson (Amped), Gennifer Albin (Crewel), and Marie Lu (Legend trilogy). We'll be talking about the end of the world, which is always fun, so come see us if you're at the Con. Signing will follow.