When eminent physician and writer Abraham Verghese was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Obama, he was praised both for his efforts to emphasise empathy in his medical practice and in his esteemed fiction writing.

In an extraordinary life spanning a childhood in Ethiopia, medical training in the US and India, and working in rural US healthcare at the peak of the HIV epidemic, Verghese’s decision to gain an MFA at the Iowa Writers Workshop during a career break from medicine soon added a new strand to his work: that of best-selling author.

His novel Cutting for Stone spent over two years on The New York Times bestseller list and the immersive and sweeping Kerala-set epic The Covenant of Water is another phenomenal bestseller, an Oprah’s Book Club pick, and a clear favourite among Aotearoa New Zealand’s readers.

He joins Paula Morris in conversation about his remarkable career and writing.

Supported by Platinum Bold Patron Anna Gibbons.