To culminate \;DC Reads\, join the Lib rary and the PEN/Faulkner Foundation for a final conversation with our thr ee featured authors. \;
\nThis panel will bring together DC writ ers K.T. Nguyen\, Dolen Perkins-Valdez\, and Nikki Payne with moderator Lu pita Aquino for a conversation about their books\, being a writer in DC\, and more. The event will include a Q&\;A with the audience\, and the Li brary will provide ASL interpretation.
\nK.T. Nguyen is a former editor at Glamour magazine. Her new psychological thriller received the Agatha Award for Best First Myster y and was named a Lefty Award finalist for Best Debut Mystery. It is curre ntly nominated for an Anthony Award in the category of Best First Novel. W hen she&rsquo\;s not writing\, you&rsquo\;ll find K.T. practicing Krav Mag a\, watching the Mets\, or gardening. A graduate of Brown University\, K.T . lives just outside Washington\, D.C. with her family and their adopted t errier Alice. K.T. is a proud member of Crime Writers of Color\, Sisters i n Crime\, Mystery Writers of America\, and International Thriller Writers.
\nDolen Perkins-Valdez is the New York Times bests elling author of four novels\, including Take My Hand (2022) and\, most re cently\, Happy Land (2025) which was named a Most Anticipated Book of 2025 by Harper&rsquo\;s Bazaar\, Ms.\, Real Simple\, Woman&rsquo\;s World\, Pe ople\, Reader&rsquo\;s Digest\, and elsewhere. Take My Hand was awarded a 2023 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work\, Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association\, Fiction Award from Black Caucus of the American Library Association and was longlisted for the Mark Twain Americ an Voice in Literature Award. A three-time nominee for a United States Art ists Fellowship\, Dolen is widely considered a pre-eminent chronicler of A merican historical life. She is Associate Professor in the MFA Program at American University in Washington\, DC.
\nNikki Payne: By day\, Nikki Payne is a civic anthropologist building accessible gov ernment services for vulnerable populations\, by night\, she dreams of way s to subvert Canon literature. Hailed as "incandescent" by the Washington Post\, Nikki Payne's debut novel\, Pride and Protest\, was a Phenomenal Bo ok Club pick and was selected by the Library of Congress to represent the District of Columbia for the National Book Festival. Featured in the New Y ork Times\, NPR\, Elle\, Oprah Daily\, and BuzzFeed\, Nikki Payne is writi ng black women into their happily ever after.
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\ nLupita Aquino is the cr eator of a popular Instagram account &ndash\; @Lupita.Reads\, which has tu rned into a passionate bookish movement to build literary social media spa ces for readers to connect. The @Lupita.Reads spaces are dedicated to buil ding human connections through literature by highlighting the importance o f reading and discussing books by authors of different backgrounds\, ethni cities\, and identities.
\nDC Reads i s a DC Public Library program that promotes citywide conversations focused on a single book. Past titles have included How the Word is Passed by Cli nt Smith\, Good Talk by Mira Jacob\, and Heads of the Colored People by Na fissa Thompson-Spires. We are delighted to work with PEN/Faulkner to host three titles this year and focus on writers from right here in the DC comm unity.
\nThe PEN/Faulkner Foundation ch ampions the breadth and power of fiction in America. Their participation i n this event is made possible by Shreve Williams Public Relations.
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