Description:

This event is presented by the Chicago Humanities Festival. Chicago Humanities Festival's Northwestern Day is presented in partnership with the Buffett Institute.

"Nothing short of miraculous.” That’s how The New York Times describes Kaveh Akbar’s first novel, Martyr! Akbar, an acclaimed poet based at the University of Iowa, will take us into the world of the novel’s protagonist, Cyrus Shams, a young man grappling with an inheritance of violence and loss whose obsession with martyrs leads him to examine the mysteries of his past. Akbar will also share the challenges and opportunities that came with writing his first novel, as well as the community of writers around him—what he calls a “super-team Avengers squad of writers”—who have inspired and supported him throughout his career. Akbar will be joined by moderator John Green, author of the The Fault in Our Stars.