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Guest Speakers

Every summer, award-winning and passionate intellectual leaders visit Great Books Summer Program to share their invaluable stories and insights with our students, to inspire them and talk about the importance of the humanities.

Below, you can find biographies of Guest Speakers who have participated in Great Books in the past.

Past Guest Speakers Included:

Sarah Kay

Spoken Word Poet, Founder and Co-Director of Project Voice

Wesley Morris

New York Times Cultural Critic at Large

Chris Columbus

Filmmaker- Screenwriter, Producer, Director

Doris Kearns Goodwin

Pulitzer Prize-winning Author

Dr. Debby Applegate

Pulitzer Prize-winning Author

Sara Novic

Novelist and Literary Scholar

Luke Dittrich

Journalist and Travel Writer

Scott Bukatman

Professor and Cultural Theorist at Stanford University

Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Award-winning, Best-selling author & co-author and daughter, Samantha van Leer

Dennis Lehane

Author

Dr. Joseph J. Ellis

Pulitzer Prize-winning Author

Peter Hedges

Novelist, playwright, and filmmaker

Chris Hansen

Civil Liberties Litigator

Laurence Yep

Author

Naomi Jackson

Author

Barry McGovern

Actor

Andre Dubus III

Award-winning, best-selling author, and educator

Nell Scovell

Journalist, speechwriter, and television writer, producer and director

Yiyun Li

Award-winning writer and educator

Tom Barbash

Author and educator

Allyson Hobbs

Stanford historian and author

Jane Smiley

Best-selling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author

Martin Espada

Editor, Essayist, Translator, and Award-winning Poet

Dr. Debby Applegate

Pulitzer Prize-winning Author

Shannon Sun-Higginson

Filmmaker, Writer, Director

Torrey Maldonado

Author and Educator

Maile Meloy

Award-Winning Author

Anita Diamant

Best-Selling, Award-Winning Author

Guest Speakers from Previous Summers included:

Timothy Ferris
Award-winning science writer, documentary filmmaker, journalist
Alan Zweibel
Playwright, author and Emmy Award-winning writer
Peter Straub
Award-winning author
Susan Straub
Founder of READ TO ME Program
Jacob Lewis
Co-founder of Figment.com, a mobile publishing site for young adult readers
Barry Eisler
Best-selling, award-winning author
Cammie McGovern
Award-winning author
Laura Dave
Award-winning author
Robin Hessman
Award-winning documentary filmmaker
Aaron Lansky
Author and Founder and President of the National Yiddish Book Center
Dr. Richard Reeves
Award-winning author, journalist and documentary filmmaker, syndicated columnist and Senior Lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California
Janis Cooke Newman
Award-winning author
Laura Shaine Cunningham
Memoirist, novelist, playwright and journalist
Kurt Andersen
Writer, editor and Co-creator of Studio 360 radio show
Laurence Yep
Best-selling, award-winning author
Larry Beinhart
Screenwriter and award-winning author
Howard Greene and Dr. Matthew Greene
President and Educational Director (respectively) of the nation's leading independent educational consulting company
Martin Espada
Editor, essayist, translator and award-winning poet
Amity Gaige
Award-winning author
Sharon Robinson
Author, educator, and Vice Chairman of The Jackie Robinson Foundation
John Rocco
Award-winning author and illustrator
David Ewing Duncan
Award-winning author, journalist, television, radio and film producer
Maile Meloy
Award-winning author
Jerome Charyn
Award-winning author, filmmaker and educator
Nathan Bransford
Author, blogger and former publishing executive
Torrey Maldonado
Author and educator
Jan F. Constantine
General Counsel of the Author’s Guild
Suzzy Roche
Recording Artist and co-founder of the singing group The Roches, author

Guest Speakers

Past Guest Speakers Included:

Sarah Kay

Wesley Morris

Chris Columbus

Doris Kearns Goodwin

Dr. Debby Applegate

Sara Novic

Luke Dittrich

Scott Bukatman

Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Dennis Lehane

Dr. Joseph J. Ellis

Peter Hedges

Chris Hansen

Laurence Yep

Naomi Jackson

Barry McGovern

Andre Dubus III

Nell Scovell

Yiyun Li

Tom Barbash

Allyson Hobbs

Jane Smiley

Martin Espada

Dr. Debby Applegate

Shannon Sun-Higginson

Torrey Maldonado

Maile Meloy

Anita Diamant

Guest Speakers from Previous Summers included:

Thanks!