Robert Stone and Lauren Groff (2012)

Robert Stone and Lauren Groff in a reading that we called Free Radicals: Two writers explore the idealism and aftermath of utopian aspirations. The reading took place at the Folger Elizabethan Theatre on Nov. 12, 2012, and conversation with the authors was moderated by David Talbot, founder of Salon.com and author most recently of Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror and Deliverance in the City of Love.

Robert Stone is the author of seven novels, as well as two story collections and a memoir. His novel Dog Soliders, published in 1974, won the National Book Award and his 1998 story collection Bear and His Daughter, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His most recent collection, Fun With Problems, was published in 2010.

Lauren Groff’s first novel The Monsters of Templeton was a New York Times bestseller and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for New Writers. Her collection of short fiction, Delicate Edible Birds, was published in 2009, and her latest novel Arcadia, received incredible critical reception when it was published this spring and was just named one of the best books of the year by the Washington Post.