As a renowned author and screenwriter, Helen Schulman’s work makes the isolated feel less alone. Her latest novel, Lucky Dogs, is a perfect example in its deep navigation of themes like mental illness, social media, duplicity and betrayal. In her novels and short story collections, which include A Day at the Beach, This Beautiful Life, Come with Me and The Revisionist, she explores topics like tragedy, technology, lost love and escape, affected by the lens of her own unique experiences. She wrote the screenplay adaptation of her acclaimed novel, P.S., which was made into a feature film starring Laura Linney, Topher Grace, Gabriel Byrne, Paul Rudd and Marcia Gay Harden. And she co-edited, along with Jill Bialosky, the anthology Wanting A Child. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in such places as Vanity Fair, Time, Vogue, GQ, The New York Times Book Review and The Paris Review. Helen is Fiction Chair of the Creative Writing Program at The New School, where she is a tenured Professor. She also serves as Executive Director for WriteOn NYC, a fellowship program that provides free creative writing instruction to underserved New York City school children. In our conversation, we discussed her take on the evolution of New York City throughout the years; her experiences as a student and professor at Columbia, where P.S. was shot, and The New School; being taught by Gordon Lish; the seeds of her new book; and her friendship with Peter Farrelly. Lucky Dogs was published by Knopf/Random House, and will be released June 6, 2023, wherever you buy your books; it is available for pre-order now.

Opening credits: 1in10_Varia - a million ways; Noaidi - angelville. Closing credits: voyageurs - The Distance