The word SPEAKERS in bold yellow text is displayed against a black background with abstract book-like shapes.
  • A man with short gray hair and glasses is wearing a black polo shirt. He is standing in front of a bookshelf filled with various books and decorative items, looking at the camera with a slight smile.

    Jeff VanderMeer

    Jeff VanderMeer is the New York Times bestselling author of the Southern Reach series, including 2024’s Absolution. His other novels include Hummingbird Salamander; the Borne novels (Borne,…

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  • A person with shoulder-length brown hair and glasses smiles at the camera. They are wearing a black blazer over a blue top, and their arms are crossed. The background is a plain, light-colored wall.

    Lynn Vavreck

    Lynn Vavreck is the Marvin Hoffenberg Professor of American Politics and Public Policy at UCLA, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a…

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  • A bearded man with wavy, dark hair is smiling gently at the camera. He is wearing a white shirt and a black cardigan. The background is a plain, beige color.

    Ilia Venyavkin

    Ilia Veniavkin is a historian, civic engineer, and a journalist. For 15 years he has been studying Stalinist culture and subjectivity. He wrote an ebook, Master’s Inkwell.…

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  • A woman with curly brown hair, wearing a navy blue sweater with yellow stars and gold earrings, sits against a light background, looking at the camera with a soft smile.

    Viktorya Vilk

    Viktorya Vilk (she/her/hers) is the director for digital safety and free expression at PEN America. She created and runs the organization’s digital safety program, which equips writers…

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  • An older man with a gray beard and glasses wears a maroon blazer and white shirt. He looks directly at the camera against a neutral background.

    D.J. Waldie

    D. J. Waldie is a historian of Los Angeles, a memoirist, and a translator. He has published six non-fiction books. Holy Land: A Suburban Memoir (Norton, 1996…

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  • A smiling person with long dark hair and glasses is wearing a black top. They are sitting in a room with framed pictures on a light-colored wall in the background.

    Weike Wang

    Weike Wang is the author of Chemistry (Knopf 2017), Joan is Okay (Random House 2022) and Rental House (Riverhead 2024). She is the recipient of a Pen…

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  • A person with long dark hair and a neutral expression is wearing a black top. The background is a plain gray color.

    Yaqiu (Rachel) Wang

    Yaqiu (Rachel) Wang is a human rights and democracy researcher and advocate. Most recently, she was the Director for China Research at Freedom House. Before that, she…

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  • A person with gray hair and a mustache is wearing oversized glasses and a checkered shirt. They are looking directly at the camera. The background is softly blurred with warm lighting.

    Eugene Yelchin

    Eugene Yelchin is a writer and illustrator of books for children and young adults. Yelchin is a National Book Award finalist for The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge…

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