Good Writing: An Evening with Anne Lamott & Neal Allen

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Beloved author Anne Lamott has a new book out in March 2026 co-written with her husband, Neal Allen. Based on rules of writing Neal has collected over the years, it’s also a sideways glimpse into how Anne and Neal collaborate on writing, editing, and living together.  Together, they bring humor, warmth, and wisdom to audiences seeking relief from political fear, help with roadblocks to creativity, and methods for taming life’s everyday gremlins.

In conversation, Neal—drawing on his years in journalism, corporate communication, and coaching—will unpack the essential rules he developed over decades: favoring strong verbs, trimming the dull bits, twisting clichés until they gleam, and honoring the reader’s time and curiosity. Anne, the beloved and bestselling author of Bird by Bird and many other modern classics, will offer her signature wit, tenderness, and hard-won wisdom as she responds to (and occasionally debates) her husband’s rules, adding her own vivid essays and examples on how to write sentences that sing.

Together, they’ll explore both the craft and the mindset of writing: how to finish work when life gets messy, how to trust editors, how to break the rules in service of truth, and how to tap into the senses, the self, and the world to create prose that matters.

Whether you’re just starting out or deep into a lifelong writing practice, this conversation promises to be generous, practical, and delightfully human—much like Anne and Neal themselves. Come for the inspiration; stay for the stories, the laughter, and the reminder that anyone can learn to write better, one sentence at a time.