The National Writers Series is honored to welcome Angela Flournoy, National Book Award finalist and author of The Turner House, to share her stunning and long-awaited second novel, The Wilderness—a kaleidoscopic, emotionally resonant portrait of friendship, identity, and adulthood.
Spanning two decades in the lives of five Black women—Desiree, Danielle, January, Monique, and Nakia—The Wilderness traces their journeys through young adulthood and into midlife as they navigate motherhood, ambition, estrangement, viral fame, and the trials of building lives in rapidly shifting cities like New York and Los Angeles. With humor, insight, and a rare depth of emotional intelligence, Flournoy explores the fragile and enduring bonds of chosen family amid the backdrop of a restless, often volatile America.
Flournoy, a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Paris Review, brings extraordinary nuance to the complexities of contemporary womanhood and the connections that sustain us.
Don’t miss this unforgettable evening with one of the most gifted voices in American literature today.
“These women, these friends—in their grief and loss, their dedication and their communion—are so achingly real it’s hard to let them go.” —Justin Torres, National Book Award-winning author of Blackouts
The event begins at 7 p.m. and includes a Q&A and author signing. Tickets do not include a book. If you’d like to purchase a book please navigate to the “purchase book” button above. Please note: signed books are only available at the live event.
Virtual Option
Even if you can’t make it to the Milliken Auditorium, you can still enjoy National Writers Series events from the comfort of your own home on event night or later on-demand when it’s more convenient. Learn more about virtual tickets by clicking the “virtual tickets” button above.
Audrey Irontree is a fiction writer, developmental editor, ghostwriter and educator. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Fiction degree from Northwestern University, her Bachelor of Arts from Brown University and her Associate Degree from The Bard College at Simon’s Rock. Her short story, “The Toad,” recently appeared in the Portland Review, and her short story, “Koan,” was featured in Meridian, University of Virginia’s literary journal. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of Muse Literary, an award-winning small, independent publisher.
2025
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