Nothing is more exciting than reading a dazzling debut novel. So we are showcasing two of the very best: If I Survive You by JONATHAN ESCOFFERY, a finalist for the 2023 Pen/Faulkner Award, and All This Could Be Different by SARAH THANKAM MATHEWS, shortlisted for the 2023 National Book Award. Escoffery’s book, a collection of linked stories, was hailed in a starred Kirkus review as a “sharp and inventive debut . . . that looks at the complexities of cultural identity with humor, savvy, and a rich sense of place.” Mathews’s story of a first-generation queer millennial in Milwaukee was a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice, the reviewer noting her “big heart and sharp tongue . . . (and) a wonderful eye for the things that make friendship and community just as valuable as romance.” Escoffery and Mathews will talk with writer ANNE TAYLOR FLEMING about their literal and literary roots, the daunting excitement of success, and what is next in their writing lives.