Join Kundiman Mountain West for a conversation with author Claire Jia, emceed by Willa Zhang, on Jia’s novel, craft, and the life and business of being a writer.

On the following day, Claire Jia will lead a workshop at Please Poetry Library, offering those interested a chance to present their work.

Claire Jia is a writer from the suburbs of Chicago. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Modern Love column, The Rumpus, Reductress, and more. She writes for television and video games, including the 2024 Peabody Award-winning We Are OFK. Her family is from Beijing, and nothing puts her at peace like haggling in a chaotic Beijing marketplace. She lives in Los Angeles with her friends. Wanting (Tin House) is her debut novel.

Willa Zhang is a writer from the suburbs of Los Angeles. Her essays have appeared in The Southern Review, The Hopkins Review, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. She completed her MFA in nonfiction at the University of Montana, where she was the recipient of a Truman Capote Scholarship. She lives in Missoula, Montana and misses her best friend Claire.