Literary Partners Program: Kweli International Literary Festival

Author Jakob Guanzon reads from his forthcoming book Abundance (Graywolf Press, March 2021) and has a conversation with writer Jean Kyoung Frazier.

In an ingenious structural approach, Jakob Guanzon organizes Abundance by the amount of cash in Henry’s pocket. A new chapter starts with each debit and credit, and the novel expands and contracts, revealing the extent to which the quality of our attention is altered by the abundance—or lack thereof—that surrounds us. Set in an America of big-box stores and fast food, this incandescent debut novel trawls the fluorescent aisles of Walmart and the booths of Red Lobster to reveal the inequities and anxieties around work, debt, addiction, incarceration, and health care in America today.

This event is made possible through the Poets House Literary Partners program.

Jakob Guanzon is the author of Abundance (Graywolf Press March 2021). He holds an MFA from Columbia University, and lives in New York City.

Jean Kyoung Frazier’s funny and bittersweet debut novel, Pizza Girl, focuses on a pregnant teenager who’s deeply ambivalent about motherhood. Jean Kyoung Frazier lives in Los Angeles.