Welcome to Lit Up, a sanctuary for people crazy about books, stories and the literary life. Here, you will hear from the world's most provocative thinkers and writers about the power of stories, the importance of literature in 2018, and why they're compelled to create the work they do. 

You most likely know Karl Ove from his six-volume sensation, My Struggle. His new book, Autumn, is an autobiographical quartet based on the four seasons. Addressed to his unborn daughter, Autumn is like an encyclopedia of everyday things, which Knausgaard suggests are rather extraordinary on closer inspection.

This week I talk to debut author Zinzi Clemmons about her book “What We Lose: A Novel.” This novel signals the launch of an important new voice who we’ll be turning to to make sense of our world for years to come.

Actress and writer Anna Kendrick talked to me all about her memoir Scrappy Little Nobody, at Barnes & Noble in NYC to celebrate her paperback release. We talk about Anna’s childhood, dealing with anxiety, and how she decided that sticking up for herself was more important than being “nice.”

Our guest this week is Colson Whitehead. His latest novel, The Underground Railroad, chronicles a young slave’s adventures, from the hellish Georgia plantation where she is born, through many treacherous Southern states with varying barbaric laws, towards freedom in the north.

Angie talks to Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jennifer Egan about her latest novel “Manhattan Beach,” which was 15 years in the making. They also talk about Jennifer’s first solo European trip that helped forged her writing life, her intensive research for the book, and much more…

As many of you know, Mary-Louise is the Tony, Emmy, and Golden Globe award-winning actress and writer of the exceptional memoir-in-letters, Dear Mr. You. It was such a pleasure to have such an open and honest conversation with someone I admire so much.