Hua Hsu and Namwali Serpell

Stay True is New Yorker writer Hua Hsu’s debut memoir of friendship, grief, the search for self, and the solace that can be found through art. 

“It feels like one of those books that is the sum total of a writer’s life in thinking, craft, and curiosity, made felt at last, so that when the sentences come, they come with a deliberate, patient, and precise force," wrote Ocean Vuong. “This is the endeavor of writing at its most open, meticulous, forgiving and tender—which is to say, this is writing at its best.”

Namwali Serpell—whose first novel, The Old Drift, was hailed as “a dazzling debut” by Salman Rushdie—now publishes The Furrows, a bold exploration of memory and mourning that that twists unexpectedly into a story of mistaken identity. that twists unexpectedly into a story of mistaken identity, double consciousness, and the wishful—and sometimes willful—longing for reunion with those we’ve lost.  

“This book reads like a ghost story, a murder mystery, a thriller, and a redemptive love story that never loses its knife edge of danger,” wrote Kiran Desai. “It is a daring and masterful novel about how we respond to the mystery of death.”  

This event takes place at NYPL’s Bruno Walter Auditorium.