On a fall evening in Downtown Brooklyn, the Center for Fiction hosted Pulitzer Prize‑winner Adam Johnson to celebrate the release of his new novel, The Wayfinder. The event, attended by writers and readers, featured a moderated discussion led by Indian author Amitav Ghosh, known for the Ibis Trilogy.
Johnson, who has earned the National Book Award, the Story Prize, and the Pulitzer for The Orphan Master’s Son, spoke about the novel’s focus on resilience and the way personal and cultural struggles shape legacies. He explained that the narrative structure of The Wayfinder mirrors the fragmented nature of oral storytelling, with shifting points of view and disjointed chronology.
During the conversation, Johnson reflected on his experience interviewing North Korean defectors. He noted that their stories often arrived in pieces, out of order, and that capturing this reality required a novel that “had to fragment” and leave the reader to assemble the narrative. He added that the book’s form was a deliberate choice to honor the authenticity of the voices he heard.
Ghosh, who lives in Brooklyn, praised Johnson’s approach, noting the difficulty of translating oral traditions into the conventions of the novel. The discussion highlighted the broader conversation about how modern authors can respect and preserve the integrity of oral histories while crafting engaging prose.
Johnson, born in South Dakota and a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, currently resides in San Francisco with his family and teaches creative writing at Stanford University. The Center for Fiction, a literary nonprofit, continues to support writers and readers through events, reading groups, and workshops.