Tucson Festival of Books

Love and the Stories We Tell


What drives our desire to connect? How do love and longing reveal who we really are? In this panel, our three authors will explore the exhilaration, confusion, and vulnerability of intimacy. They will reflect on the humor, tenderness, and heartbreak that define our closest relationships.


Panelists
Naeem Murr

Naeem Murr is the author of several novels, including, "The Boy," which was a New York Times Notable Book, and "The Perfect Man," awarded The Commonwealth Writers' Prize for the Best Book of Europe and South Asia....

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Helen Schulman

Helen Schulman is The New York Times bestselling author of seven novels, including "Come with Me" and "This Beautiful Life." She is the fiction chair at the Writing Program at The New School and executive director of WriteOnNYC....

Alejandro Varela

Based in NYC, Alejandro Varela's work has appeared in the Boston, Yale, and Georgia Reviews, Harper’s, and the Offing. His debut novel, "The Town of Babylon," was a finalist for the National Book Award and his short story collection, "The People Who Report More Stress," was a finalist for the International Latino Book Award, and longlisted for the Aspen Literary Prize, the Story Prize, and the Jean Stein Award....

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Books:
Every Exit Brings You Home
A Novel
Naeem Murr
Fiction / Literature
W. W. Norton, Incorporated
February 2026
ISBN 9781324117902
336 pages
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Fools for Love
Stories
Helen Schulman
Fiction / Literature
Random House
July 2025
ISBN 9780593536254
208 pages
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Middle Spoon
A Novel
Alejandro Varela
Fiction / Literature
Penguin Group
September 2025
ISBN 9780593835173
336 pages
Buy now