An Evening With Katie Yee | Featured Book "Maggie; Or, a Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar"

The National Writers Series is thrilled to welcome Katie Yee, a bold new voice in literary fiction, to discuss her darkly funny and deeply moving debut novel, Maggie; Or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar.

Told in inventive fragments, Maggie follows its narrator as she navigates motherhood, identity, and survival, crafting bedtime stories rooted in Chinese folklore, writing a guide to her ex-husband for the other woman, and speaking to the tumor as if it’s a roommate she never asked for. With echoes of Crying in H Mart and the acerbic wit of Nora Ephron, this unforgettable novel transforms personal tragedy into artful comedy—and tender reflection.

Katie Yee is a writer from Brooklyn whose work has appeared in The Believer, Los Angeles Review of Books, Literary Hub, and more. She’s a past fellow of the Center for Fiction, Kundiman, and the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, and currently works at the Brooklyn Museum. When she’s not writing, she’s hanging out with her very judgmental rescue dog, Ollie.

Join us for an unforgettable evening of laughter, insight, and literary brilliance as Katie Yee takes the stage to share how heartbreak, illness, and mythology intersect in her wildly original debut.