Susan Orlean in Conversation with Mark Medley

Each time Susan Orlean graces the Writers Fest with a visit, audiences are reminded why she is called “a national treasure” by The Washington Post. The New Yorker staff writer, and author of The Library Book joined us to celebrate her latest work—a collection of musings, meditations, and in-depth profiles about animals. “I think I’ll always have animals and I think I’ll always write about them. Their unknowability challenges me. Our affection for them intrigues me,” she explained, when sharing the motivation behind these works, written on her farm and amidst her travels. "On Animals" is yet another stunning example of Orlean’s transcendent skill as a writer to make us newly recognize and think differently about items and creatures in our midst.