Have a sitting president write to you praising your work isn’t an item many writers can check off their author bingo card, but three-time National Book Award finalist Lauren Groff can. So enamoured was President Obama with Groff’s 2015 novel Fates and Furies he named it his book of the year and wrote to the author personally to express his admiration.

Similar admiration from the literary world and readers followed for Groff’s Matrix, her short story collection Florida and her most recent novel The Vaster Wilds. Part historical fiction, part thriller, part survival adventure, it follows a spirited girl alone in the wilderness trying to survive (and Obama has remained a fan, for those curious – The Vaster Wilds also appeared on his 2023 list).

Don’t miss one of America’s finest contemporary writers in conversation with Claire Mabey as she discusses her lauded work, her unique approach to historical fiction and how, according to a New York Times interview, she wrote the first draft of The Vaster Wilds in iambic pentameter … “just for fun”