Poets & Writers Theater

In this 2020 video hosted by Philip Brady, Johnny Temple, publisher and editor-in-chief of Akashic Books, and Ibrahim Ahmad, the press’s former editorial director, discuss a day in the life of a small press and offer insights on the publishing process. Ahmad, currently an executive editor at Viking, is featured in Agents & Editors in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this video, Kaiama L. Glover, associate professor at Barnard College, discusses Caribbean Feminisms on the Page, an event series featuring conversations with writers from the Caribbean. Glover’s translation from the French of René Depestre’s novel Hadriana in All My Dreams (Akashic Books, 2017) is featured in Page One in the May/June issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

Joe Meno reads seventh grader Tasia A.'s story "How to Laugh" as part of nonprofit 826CHI's Video Project. Meno's latest novel, Marvel and a Wonder, is out this month from Akashic Books.

"The door closes slowly, I'm spinning way out of the city, out of my own body, out of his life forever." Eric Gamalinda's latest novel, The Descartes Highlands (Akashic Books, 2014), interweaves the stories of two men sold for adoption by their father.

Kaylie Jones reveals the inspirations behind the title of her new novel, The Anger Meridian (Akashic Books, 2015), which is featured in Page One in the current issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

Rick Moody moderates a panel of writers whose work appears in anthologies of noir fiction set in Iran and Israel, both published by Akashic Books in October 2014. Salar Abdoh is the editor of Tehran Noir, and Etgar Keret and Assaf Gavron are the editors of Tel Aviv Noir.

Author Adam Mansbach's sequel to the popular children’s book for adults Go the F**k to Sleep, was published by Akashic Books yesterday. Illustrated by Owen Brozman, the audio book is read by actor Bryan Cranston.

The third installment of Akashic's Drug Chronicles series, The Heroin Chronicles, edited by Jerry Stahl, includes stories by Eric Bogosian, Lydia Lunch, Nathan Larson, Ava Stander, and many others. In this video from Open Road Media, Stahl talks about William Burroughs, the difference between an alcoholic and a junkie, and how he selected the pieces for the anthology.

Akashic Books publisher Johnny Temple, author Adam Mansbach, and illustrator Ricardo Cortés talk about the genesis of the best-selling book Go the F**k to Sleep in this video from Open Road Integrated Media. For more of the inside story, including the long-term impact of such success on Akashic, read "Glass-Slipper Economics: Cinderella Stories in Indie Publishing" in the current issue.