This week, acclaimed writers Daniel Kraus and Susan Orlean discuss the process of adapting books into film and television, as well as their latest releases. Kraus—who won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for his novel Angel Down—developed the story for the film The Shape of Water and co-wrote the novel with Guillermo del Toro. Kraus also recently adapted his hit novel Whalefall into a feature film coming out this October from 20th Century Fox. Orlean—whose book The Orchid Thief lead to the creation of the film Adaptation—is currently at work adapting her bestselling nonfiction book The Library Book for television.
This program was part of the 2026 American Writers Festival. Co-hosted by the American Writers Museum and Chicago Public Library, the American Writers Festival is a free literary event featuring in-depth conversations with diverse writers from across genres and backgrounds. This conversation took place June 7th, 2026 and was recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center.
About the speakers:
DANIEL KRAUS is a New York Times bestselling writer of novels, TV, and film. His latest novel, Angel Down, won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction and was a New York Times Top 10 Book of 2025. His novel Whalefall won the Alex Award, was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist, and was named a Best Book of 2023 by NPR, The New York Times, Amazon, Chicago Tribune, and more. With Guillermo del Toro, he cowrote The Shape of Water, based on the same idea the two created for the Oscar-winning film.
SUSAN ORLEAN is the author of nine books, including The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup; My Kind of Place; Saturday Night; and On Animals. In 1999, she published The Orchid Thief, a narrative about orchid poachers in Florida, which was made into the Academy Award-winning film Adaptation starring Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep. Her book, Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend won the Ohioana Book Award and the Richard Wall Memorial Award. In 2018, she published The Library Book, about the arson fire at the Los Angeles Public Library. It won the California Book Award and the Marfield Prize and was longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal. It is being adapted for television. Her memoir, Joyride, was published in October 2025. Orlean has been a staff writer for the New Yorker since 1992, and has also contributed to Vogue, Rolling Stone, Outside, and Esquire. She has written about taxidermy, umbrellas, origami, chickens, and a wide range of other subjects. She was a 2003 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and a 2014 Guggenheim Fellow. She lives with her husband and son in Los Angeles.