TRAVERSE CITY — Jodi Picoult, Anna Quindlen and Geraldine Brooks are among the authors in the lineup for the National Writers Series' new season.
Picoult, author of 18 novels that have sold more than 14 millions copies worldwide, will be interviewed March 12 by returning author Paula McLain ("The Paris Wife").
Quindlen, a former New York Times and Newsweek columnist-turned-author, will be interviewed by Oprah magazine editor and author Susan Casey ("The Wave") on May 14.
This season's lineup is "80 percent" women, said Doug Stanton, series co-founder.
The "guest host spotlight" interviews are one of the new fixtures in this year's series. Other changes include lower prices, discounts for book clubs and "NWS Introduces," which brings in a debut author, Stanton said.
Student registration is under way for the Front Street Writers Program, a collaboration between the writers series and the Traverse City Area Public Schools. Students will receive credit for spending about five hours a week creating a portfolio, working with writers series guests and being taught by a University of Michigan Masters of Fine Arts graduate.
"We wanted something -- and I think Doug said it best -- that would legitimize student writers," said Stephanie Long, a principal at Traverse City West Senior High School. "We want them to know adults take them seriously."
The writers series is still looking for a place to hold the program, which they hope will be in downtown Traverse City. "We want to show we value writing," Stanton said. "It should be on Main Street."
• The writers series season kicks off Feb. 4 with Vince Gilligan, writer and creator of the TV series "Breaking Bad." Gilligan attended the Interlochen Arts Academy for his ninth-grade year and also spent several years as a writer and producer of "The X-Files."
"TV writing is not the television we grew up with," Stanton said.
• Picoult and McLain are the March guests. "We've brought 20,000 people downtown" during the four years of the series, Stanton said. "Because we do this monthly, the impact might not seem as big. It's like doing a pushup a day."
• Alan Cheuse, of National Public Radio, got to choose who he wanted to interview, Stanton said, and he chose Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "March," a book about Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" as told from the point of view of the March family's absent father. They will be here April 5.
• Michael Sandel, a professor at Harvard University, will talk May 2. He has a PBS series, "Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?" and his latest book, "What Money Can't Buy" will be out April 24.
"For one night, you get into Harvard for 15 bucks," Stanton said.
• Quindlen and Casey are the May guests. All events are held at the City Opera House.
• Debut author Natalie Bakopoulos ("The Green Shore"), a professor at her alma mater, the University of Michigan, will be interviewed by her friend and fellow U-M graduate Elizabeth Kostova, author of "The Historian." That event is scheduled for June 21.
