First Draft - Tayari Jones

First Draft - Tayari Jones

From First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing by Mitzi Rapkin

March 9, 2026 · 1h 0m

About this episode

Tayari Jones discusses her novels and writing journey.

Tayari Jones is the author of four novels including An American Marriage, which was an Oprah’s Book Club Selection and also appeared on Barack Obama’s summer reading list as well as his year-end roundup. The novel was awarded the Women’s Prize for Fiction Aspen Words Literary Prize and an NAACP Image Award. It has been published in two dozen countries. Her other works include Leaving Atlanta, Silver Sparrow, and The Untelling. Her new novel is Kin. Jones is a graduate of Spelman College, University of Iowa, and Arizona State University. She is an Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University and the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Creative Writing at Emory University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Guest: Tayari Jones

Topics covered

  • writing
  • literature
  • novels
  • authors
  • education

Keywords

  • An American Marriage
  • Oprah’s Book Club
  • Women’s Prize for Fiction
  • Aspen Words Literary Prize
  • NAACP Image Award
  • Kin
  • Spelman College
  • University of Iowa
  • Arizona State University

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: First Draft, An American Marriage, the Women’s Prize for Fiction Aspen Words Literary Prize, an NAACP Image Award, Leaving Atlanta, Silver Sparrow, The Untelling

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