Kristin Hannah will present once again at the Kauai Writers Conference in November. Her previous appearance at our 2016 event was greatly enjoyed by all. This time she will give a keynote address on the inside stories behind her recent works, The Nightingale and The Great Alone. She’ll also conduct a small group workshop on her unique approach to the craft of writing. And along with Christina Baker Kline and Alice Hoffman, she will lead a three-day master class on Turning Life into Art.
While researching The Nightingale (2015), the tale of two sisters in pre-World War II France, Hannah found “the historical stories of the women of the French Resistance … mesmerizing, heartbreaking, intimate and universal. I was appalled that their stories were not better known.” Thanks to her book, now they are. And though she’s been writing 30 years and published more than 20 books, Hannah was blown away by its popularity. It was a No. 1 New York Times bestseller, an Amazon top five book-of-the-year, and best book of the year by Buzzfeed, iTunes, Library Journal, and The Wall Street Journal. Her other books include Home Front, Winter Garden, True Colors, and the blockbuster Firefly Lane.
Hannah’s many awards include the Golden Heart, the Maggie, and the 1996 National Reader’s Choice award, the RITA Award for Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements, and Goodreads Choice Awards Best Historical Fiction.
The Great Alone is set in 1970s Alaska, where the protagonist, Leni, deals with her struggling Vietnam vet father and her counterculture mother.
Kirkus writes: “A tour de force. There are many great things about this book…It will thrill her fans with its combination of Greek tragedy, Romeo and Juliet-like coming of age story and domestic potboiler. She recreates in magical detail the lives of Alaska’s homesteaders… and is just as specific and authentic in her depiction of the spiritual wounds of post-Vietnam America.”
The Nightingale has been published in 43 languages and is currently in movie production at TriStar Pictures, which also optioned her novel, The Great Alone. Her novel, Home Front has been optioned for film by 1492 Films (produced the Oscar-nominated The Help) with Chris Columbus attached to direct.
Fun fact that Hannah shared at the 2016 Kauai Writers Conference: she writes all her novels longhand on a legal pad.
Learn more about Kristin Hannah at kristinhannah.com
Kristen Hannah has a way of keeping me immersed in her novels, and I’m not in the present, I am there, and forget everything in my daily life…I have not yet gotten my copy of The Great Alone…
I just finished “binge” reading THE GREAT ALONE. It was unbelievably wonderful. I would put it in my top ten all time favorites! I cannot wait to see her at the conference.
Hi Kristin,
It will be nice to see you on Kauai again. I enjoyed pondering with you, whether we have mutual friends at UW—perhaps your sorority sisters who graduated from Interlake. I enjoyed reading Nightingale and will likely read a few more of your books before the conference. See you on Kauai!
Aloha,
Katharine