Writers in Conversation: Gabriel Smith

Writers in Conversation, part reading, part Q&A, is a relaxed and engaging event featuring writers reading their work and talking about their writing lifestyle.

Debut novelist Gabriel Smith joins award-winning writer and journalist Carole Burns to discuss his inventive, shape-shifting novel, BRAT: A Ghost Story (Simon & Schuster, 2024).

BRAT! A Ghost Story tells the story of a young author, also named Gabriel, reeling from his father’s death and his mother’s admission to a nursing facility. Suffering from writer’s block, he moves into the family home, and strange things begin to happen. A hideous man appears in the garden, a home video hints at a long-buried family secret, and Gabriel begins to molt, his skin falling away.

“Instead of resolving his novel’s many mysteries, Smith explores how this family navigates the disputed borders of its shared memories, pondering what it means to choose one story over another — as well as the consequences of refusing to choose, especially in the wake of grief.” – The New York Times